The Top Ten Things the (almost) Government Shutdown has taught me

According to the US Census Bureau at the time I wrote this post, there are approximately, 316,792,241 people in the United States.  And our Federal Government (The Legislative and Executive branch anyway) is made up of 537 people.  And those 537 people are keeping our Country hostage in a game of tug of war.  That is 0.0001695 % of the population.  Am I the only one that bothers? 

It's time we set down our ipads, our games of Candy crush (and trust me, I am an addict) , and small world views.  We need to look around and see what is becoming of our Great Nation!  America has never been perfect, but it has been good.  At the rate things are going, good won't be here much longer...and many argue it's already gone. 

You know what makes America great?  Service.  Serving as an elected official to run the government by the people FOR the people.  Americans who proudly volunteer to serve in their US Military.  Neighbors serving neighbors.  A place where it isn't about ME, it's about WE. 

I fear we've lost that. 



The Top Ten Things the Government shut down has taught me:

10.  People don't know the basics of how their US government works.

9.    People don't CARE about how the government works as long as their style of living remains unchanged.

8.   The government is encroaching more and more on our personal rights as private citizens.

7.    I care more than I thought and feel incredibly overwhelmed that there aren't more people wanting to challenge and change our government Status quo.

6.    The elderly and the military are used as pawns in the tug of war Congress has going on.  Fear tactics are unbecoming Uncle Sam.  Just thought you should know.  We will not bow down to fear.  Remember Pearl Harbor?  9/11?  Where is that American spirit in the face of this domestic threat?

5.   The media is no longer a source of unbiased information.  And despite what you may have heard, you can't trust everything you see on TV, read in a newspaper or find on the Internet.  Making fact finding that much harder. 

4.  Our society teaches our kids it's ok, no, it's NORMAL to have debt. 

3.  My husband and I can agree on a budget.  He is the sole source of income in our family and yet, we manage to compromise and agree on a budget.  Then we stick to it.  Without him threatening me to a grocery store shut down.  Nor will he raise my debt ceiling.   Want something new?  Can't afford it?  I have to save for it.

2.  No matter what happens, I have a family I love.  We have quirks and a diverse range of opinions, but we love each other and work together for the greater good. 

1.  God is great.  All the time.  He will provide us what we need.  It may not be what we WANT, but it will be what we need. 

If you agree with anything I have written, I'd love to hear from you.  And pass this along would you?

If you disagree with me, I'd like to hear from you too! 

Diversity

I haven't been very active here, have I? 

 I didn't really have anything to talk about.  Maybe I have the back to school blues.  Maybe I have the "oh no winter is going to come" depression, or maybe, I just haven't been moved to write. 

I think a million times about blogs to write.  I wish when I had the thoughts I could drop everything and hop to my computer and write my brilliant words.  Haha.  But often they come and go. 

Today, I've been thinking a lot about how we separate ourselves.  Labels.  Brainy.  Popular.  Beautiful.  Ugly.  Mean.  Naive.  White.  Black.  Good.  Bad.  Friendly.  Lutheran.  Baptist. 

Not all labels are bad.  But it seems to me that labels have really limited us. Do we label ourselves?  Do we let others label us?  We do.  But what difference does it make what I think on labels?  Not much, except how I can help reach out and help someone regardless of their label or my own.  The only label you should accept and wear is the one God gives you.  And I guarantee you, he thinks you're lovely.  He thinks you are enough.  He thinks you have unlimited potential with Him by your side.  He doesn't just think this, He knows it.

Jesus speaks to us in the bible about diversity.  I strongly suggest reading 1 Corinthians 12 in it's entirety.  But for the purpose of this blog, I'll only be sharing parts. 

The words of God share this point more eloquently than I ever could. (1 Cor 12:12-14 and 24b-31)

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many....(vs 24 b)But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.  If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.  Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

That is a label I can live with..."Hi, I'm Trisha and I am a part of the body of Christ. " I like how that sounds. 

I've been a student of the bible since before I can remember, mainly because I had to...I had to at church, I had to at school, but I felt imprisoned by a moral code I couldn't live up to.  I was told either verbally or by action that I failed, that I couldn't be good.  My life as a checklist Christian was miserable.  Go to church, check.  Pray before eating, check.  Memorize bible verses, check.  And when I failed, no one pointed out mercy to me.  In truth, maybe someone tried, I was probably already starting my rebellion period.  Which if I am honest, I still rebel at times.  What did it take to get me back to a real stance, a real relationship with God?

The death of my daughter.  I was pissed.  I was hurt.  I felt like I was being punished.  I felt like my whole life was crumbling.  And boy did I let it rip at God.  I said things to him that should send me straight to hell, and should have in the instant I said them. 

But do you know what he did?  He held me while I raged, He held me while I cried, He held me when I didn't have the strength to hold myself up.  Because He loves me.  Because His way is peaceful beyond any worldly understanding.  He did not say to me that I don't know what I am talking about, He didn't tell me that there is a procedure to follow, He didn't tell me that I was bad or hateful or wrong.   And He could have.  But He chooses to bring us to him by love.  Yes, love has discipline and consequences.  I've had both.  But it isn't shaming.  It isn't hurtful.  Painful, maybe.  But it is painful to realize we have done wrong, that we have hurt others.  It is painful (for me anyway) to admit when I am wrong.  It's painful to be vulnerable and ask others for forgiveness when we confess our sins against them. 

I didn't really see the blog going this way today, but apparently He had other plans.  I am not saying that we should accept things that are not the truth, not all paths lead to God, everyone isn't right, but what I am saying is we are set apart by the LOVE of God, so let that be what I show the world.  His Love. 

Today, no matter what your beliefs, I pray that you try and live the following words,  And I also pray that something I have said, say or will say, will one day bring you to our own relationship with God. 
^"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. "  Ephesians 4: 2-3