My heart aches today. I love nothing more than having nice cute blogs, but the fact of the matter is that we all go through things sometimes, and I have been going through something for a while now. It's easy to cover up, and make-believe that the world is lovely, and nothing goes wrong, but the fact is that nothing is perfect, except God himself.
It's hard to fathom eternity. A place where time doesn't exist. I sometimes forget that this life I'm living right now isn't eternal. I am young, so I know that many years are ahead of me. I can't imagine what it will be like 30 years from now, when I am almost 60, and will probably have grandchildren of my own. If I can't picture 30 years from now, how will I picture 100 million years from now, or longer? Eternity is something that is hard to imagine, but it is very real.
The Bible teaches us that there is Heaven, and that there is Hell. Hell on earth is nothing like the eternal Hell. I feel like we go through hell on earth, for a couple reasons. One is so that we can have emotions, and compassion for other's situations. I also believe that we go through hell on earth, so that we have hope for the after life. Heaven will be so glorious, and magnificent, that we have no idea what is in store.
There has been a lot of talk and debate lately over hell not being real. People are now saying that it (hell) is a scare tactic to con people into getting saved, and going to church. It scares me to think that people who are not yet saved, are being swayed into this way of thinking. The truth is that Hell is talked about all over the Bible. The Bible being the Word of God. To say that there is no hell, is basically like spitting in the face of God and calling Him a liar. And if God is a liar, then he is a sinner, which would make him imperfect, which in turn, would make Him not God.
The argument is, how can a God, who loves us so much, send us to a place as evil as hell? I can understand where people are coming from with that. I don't even pretend to fully understand why this is. But the truth is that God gave each of us the power of free will, and the ability to make decisions. He tests us to see how we handle situations. But wthout hell, than what would be the reward? What would be the point of Heaven? Will He say "Come now my good and faithful servant" to everybody? Al Capone? Charles Manson? All of the cold-blooded killers, and heartless child molestors? All of the crooks who stole everything that someone was worth? The man that violently attacked his own wife and children day after day? The other man that laid "lovingly" next to his wife, just hours after he laid with another woman? The absense of hell would make things so much easier. I could go on with my life, and do whatever I wanted. No repercussions. Nothing to answer for. I could just treat everyone how I wanted, and it would be ok.
I would just like to know what this world is coming to. Eye for an eye, instead of turn the other cheek. We are already headed towards a war within ourselves. We are in an age that women care more about their own rights than the innocent rights and freedom of the unborn. Where prime time tv is getting more and more lax on their standards. Where it's ok to throw someone else under the bus, in order to save yourself. The standards as a whole, of everyone in the word is just going down-hill. I see in the future of this "free country" that Christian's will be persecuted like they are in third world countries. That it won't be ok to worship God. We are already not allowed to pray as a whole, in fear that someone, somewhere may be offended. Around this country, you are free to be a Muslim, you are free to be a Buddist, you are free to be an Athiest, but you are not free to be a Christian.
Like I say, I'm not the judge. I don't have the Book of Life sitting on my bookshelf. What you do and believe is between you and God. Jesus sat with sinners, and hung out with sinners, but that didn't mean that he loved their sin. And God calls us to love our neighbors, but he never said you had to agree with what they do. There are people in my life whom I love dearly, but do thingsI don't agree with. They have a place in my heart, and I don't think we should end our friendship based on choices that they make, that don't ultimately affect me.
I serve a loving God. He loves me, in spite of who I am, or where I came from. He loves me in spite of how I look, or who my friend are, or how good I am with money. And through his love there is hope, and strength, and purpose. I am saved from hell, because I chose to be. I asked Jesus to live within me, ad I repented of my sins. I gave up my old lfe, and He made me new. I now worship Him, and have a relationship with Him. Jesus is the only way to Heaven. I will follow him all of my days.
Wow, its been 7 months since my last post.
Alyssa is 2 years old today. She has developed so much. Her favorite things right now are Barney, Princesses and learning to count and say her alphabet. She also loves dancing, and her "Gampa" is trying to make sure she is a drummer. She will definitely do something with music.
We have also taken the plunge finally after 8 years of marriage and bought a house! It's a 3/2 in Auburndale, FL! I am especially happy to be in Auburndale, because ever since we moved from Ohio, I wanted to live here. It's a little small town, and it has a nice walking downtown with a park, and thrives off of small businesses. Luckily we bought a house that we feel like we can grow old in, because the buying process was very stressful.
I am planning on starting a new blog soon. Not that it will be kept up with any better than this one, but I'm very excited about it. It will be used for photography and before and after stuff with the house. I will still keep this one with updates on family life. I'm not exactly sure when that blog will take effect, but I know that it won't until after I settle in, and actually start doing projects around the house. But for now I will give you a little bit of a tour. These pics are from when the previous owners lived here, so it has their furniture and paint colors and everything. I will show you more pictures when I get a chance.
