Integrity, Whaaht?

Integrity, ya...it means that you don't fall apart when someone pokes, provokes or prods you in an attempt to change or at least modify your position on an issue.

Actually, position is never a safe place to be on any issue.  Just imagine with me for a moment: You must balance, standing on a yoga ball.  That is what it is like to be in politics if you are a candidate.  If you change your position, once you get comfortable, you will fall, but if you don't you will find that you have exhausted all of your resources.

Real life: A candidate takes a position of 100% ProLife, No Exceptions...He builds his base with that position, but he is running out of backers, there are only so many...He decides he must increase his base, but how?  By expanding and including those with other stands.  He comes out and rejects the 100% model and accepts exceptions.  He knows some of the base will be put off, but he figures he can replace them and still add more.

The problem? He is now wobbly. 

One must stand on principle, never position.  Principle is a foundational concept, not at all dependent on feelings or whim.  In our current culture, Principle is thought to be too dangerous.  Unlike the yoga ball, it doesn't move.  It won't roll with the times.  It won't go forward!

It is a stable place to stand.  The key is framing it, because it isn't always attractive.  As a matter of fact, it isn't attractive at all, in some cases.  Take industry, not business or even commerce.  I mean individual drive and ingenuity, self reliance. It used to be a highly sought compliment, to be called industrious.  But in a culture where large segments of society have been brought up on Uncle Sam's plantation, "Go take care of yourself." is a harsh sentence. How?  With what resources? 

Many people have no idea, because they have been relegated to ignorance of the greatness they possess within themselves.  They don't even know how awesome they are.  The talent, the intelligence, the creativity, the strength has been ignored, if not, maligned. The public dole has covered the eyes of our countrymen. 

It will take proper messaging to open the possibilities to their minds.  They need only to know they can.  Of course, there will be some who won't even want to know. They've settled.  The idea of struggling for a different life is much harder than floating down stream.  But I believe with the hope and valuable Truth, people would rather earn honor than exist in mediocrity and poverty. I do think they would rather say, "I did it. I've earned this." than demand someone give it to them.

I pray God would raise up the people standing on Principle and that they will properly apply the message to turn the country around.  My heart breaks for people living in poverty. I grew up in great poverty, but my grandmother taught us that it was temporary.  We shared housing, sometimes eight people in a two bedroom flat. I learned how to make the thinest tuna sandwiches you ever saw, but we had dignity.  People need to know they can outgrow their circumstances.

Principles like: honor, industry, gratitude, creativity and truthfulness are way to prosperous living.

How do you impart your core principles to the people around you?

Overcome Fear

Fear can be immobilizing. Literally.

People in leadership often talk about fear and its ability to keep you from reaching goals.  Fear of failure surely can keep a person from starting new things or taking on tasks.

I have experienced fear that is way beyond that.  When I was a teen, my friend's black labrador bit through my hand.  Later, he tore the deltoid muscle from a two year old's shoulder.  I developed a fear of dogs.  In my twenties, it had devolved into petrification. 

One day I was pushing my children in a stroller. As a large dog approached, I froze.  He was barking and the kids were afraid, but I couldn't move.  I decided that day that I would have to deal with it. There would be no more avoiding dogs in my life.

So, I got a puppy.  I bought a chocolate Lab.  It was a little less scary than a black one.  As we went through the process, I met the Dam and the Sire.  As our puppy grew, I learned more about dog behavior and read more books.  I will say that books didn't help before the experience, but they did during and after.

I was badly abused as a child and in my teen years I was kidnapped and raped more than a few times.  I was often sold among the mill buildings of our small city, down by the river.  I was kept there by manipulation and fear, not with physical ties or locks.  One time, though, I stood my ground and wouldn't go.  So, I was forced into the car and when I tried to fight, my captor pushed my head to the floor and cut off my air by wedging his foot under the front seat repeatedly until I was unable to fight anymore.  He then brought me up metal stairs to his cousin's gym in the three story, all brick structure.

The long lasting feelings of fear were very strong and caused panic sometimes.  I would breathe in rapid shallow breaths and that would cascade into immobilization rapidly whenever I was in the area or one similar for many years.  I shuddered and occasionally became disoriented or unable to articulate to those around me.

Obviously, that is no way to live.  So, I took some self defense classes at a small martial arts studio in a rural strip mall.  

One of the things we did often in class was breaking choke holds. At first, I panicked and didn't use the moves I was taught.  After a number of times of telling myself that I was safe, my coach can be trusted, the people in the room with me cared for me and that I was in control of my situation, I was able to use the new skills I'd learned. 

Then, I signed up for classes designed for women.  They are held in a mill building, down by the river in another city.  The stairs are metal, the walls, brick, the rivets stick up a little and the paint is peeling.  It is not an updated, beautified building.  It is very similar to the one connected to the experience I had. Again, I have to talk to myself.

This time, I know I can without a doubt.  Baby steps are all we need to overcome fear.  One step at a time.  

The fear you face may or may not be as intense as what I have related, but it can be just as immobilizing in your life, your business, your relationships or progress toward other goals.

How do you over come fear?

Cut Flowers, Not People

These beautiful tulips were a gift from my daughter for my birthday.  The appearance of spring is welcome, even if it is in a vase.  They lasted nicely for a littler more than a week.

Then they looked like this:

They are kind of wrinkly, wilted, maybe a bit saggy and dry looking.  Their leaves are drooping and they are less bright, but they are still colorful and they are still lovely. 

    Life can seem like that.  We start out small, grow, blossom and open our blooms wide.  Then we fade a bit, wrinkle etcetera. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever. Isaiah 40:8  "For God so loves the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should have eternal life. Our Creator God wants us to live with Him forever." John 3:16

Observing the tulips’ transition reminded me of my age and that of others around me.  As we age, we can be relegated to a corner because we aren’t as bright as we used to be or maybe not as colorful, as entertaining as one thought of.  We wrinkle.  We droop.  We age.  The same basic process is universal. 

Some people age well, acquiring wisdom with experience and sharing their knowledge to enhance the people around them.  While others, not so much.  They get bitter and resentful. Scorn is their trademark.  They are the ones left to themselves, feeling neglected, the vicious cycle is perpetuated by their own demeanor. 

Even people of faith can fall into this trap.  Offense has a way of destroying people.  It dwells and is stronger when we feed it by mulling over the past hurts and injustices.  It becomes a root of bitterness in our hearts and as it grows, it becomes a strangle weed, choking the love out of our lives.

Like the flowers in my vase, we can be cut off from the life giving love that our relationship with Jesus Christ gives us.  Unlike the flowers, we can simply decide to ask God to restore our relationship and we will again be nourished by His love supernaturally.  We can cut off the root of bitterness and receive the life giving, life preserving love of God in our lives.  We can look and feel younger, brighter, more colorful and entertaining.  We can live well until the end of our natural lives. 

As ProLifers involved in the political/legislative process, our concern is not just with our own lives, but we are actively promoting the right to life for all people, even and especially those with a root of bitterness.  We hope they live to find love, especially the love of the Father.  While society is ready to throw out people who they deem unworthy, we work to preserve their right to life because we clearly see that they are still beautiful in His sight.

How can we convey the value of people as they lose their vibrant expression?

Plenty of Time

We have plenty of time.  Right?

I have a tendency to pay attention to the things that are right in front of me to the exclusion of some things that are really important.  Things like relationship building, checking on family and friends and managing important tasks can take a back seat to the seemingly urgent distractions of the moment.

Last week, a very good friend of mine was taken ill.  It was sudden and severe.  The fragile line between life and death was stark through the weekend.  He came through, but it was a real wake up call for those of us who tend to flitter through our days, thinking "There's plenty of time."

I had been thinking about calling for more than a week.  The day before, I had planned to call to make an appointment to see my friend, but he was gone.  He was in ICU unable to visit.  How often do we think about calling someone or going for a visit, dropping a note or card or we think about doing something really important, but put it off because we think there's plenty of time?

There are truly important things we should do.  What you should do and what I should do is different from what someone else should do.  Each of us is unique and gifted to be the solution for a problem here on earth.  Each of us has purpose and there are very important reasons for our presence here.  

What is on your heart to do?  Who is on your mind to call?  Where do you believe you could make a difference in our world? How do you determine that way you spend your time?  Why do you think you have the gifts and talents you have?

Thinking about doing great things doesn't accomplish anything.  Actually, it can make one feel guilty and ashamed.  When we have goals, especially attainable goals and we don't work toward them, it can lead to depression.  We feel loss.  Unresolved expectations can plague us and stifle the genius within.  

You are important and you have important things to say and do.  You are still breathing.  It is a new day.  All things in the past are gone and a fresh start is given each and every day.

Begin again today. Move in purpose and be fulfilled.

How can you fulfill your special purpose today?

We Have History

I live in an area where the English birth of the US is commemorated on markers by the side of the road.  They are so common that sometimes people who live here have never taken the time to read them.  Bike tours and other tourists can be seen reading them in good weather.

It is said that George Washington, among other Founders stayed in a local inn.  Many local buildings are dated 1700s and 1800s. So much has happened in these last couple hundred years.  The explosion of knowledge, spoken of in the Book of Daniel in the Scriptures of the Bible is here. Not only can we know important things and historical information to learn from, we can know frivolous details and useless imaginations.  US Americans and many in other countries can access practically any information they might desire on any subject imaginable.

This little school house is a replica, but less than a mile from here the actual school house still stands.

We have history, but those who neglect to learn from it are doomed to repeat it.  

Our country was founded to escape tyranny.  The lives and fortunes of the founders were pledged, not for us to flitter away our time and energy while elitist return us to a state of serfdom.  Our state and national Constitutions were drafted with the knowledge that there will always be wicked people in our world.

The safety net clauses are there for us to adhere to in matters of government.  While so many US Americans are grabbing the remote control and engaging in someone else's imagination and fantasy, there are elitists taking real control of government, agencies, corporations and controlling huge amounts of money and power.  These elitist believe they know better than you how you should live, work and eat, how much energy you should use, how many children you should have and what resources you'll be allowed to access.

We have history.  Starting with Adam, Eve, Cain and Able...  Cain killed Able.  One fourth of the population of that day was hateful and murderous.  In Nazi controlled Germany a relatively small number of people were able to convince a large percentage of the population to become that hateful murderous too.  Today, we have Planned Parenthood.  Hating pre-born children and murdering them has convinced much of the population that the value of human life is debatable and subjective.

With our President calling on god to bless Planned Parenthood, where will we be in history?