God, Love, Politics

I have a lot going on in my head, but I'm not sure I can process it all right here. It's like I've just had a lot going on and not enough time to think it through and now it's just a hopeless jumble of thoughts...in my head it looks a lot like a tangle of Christmas lights, ya know?

I guess the main thing on my mind is Lifeline. I've found what I was made to do. I don't mean that I was necessarily meant to do senior high ministry...maybe I was, but it's actually so much simpler than that. I was made simply to do whatever God asks me to do. Life isn't as predictable, comfortable, or "secure" in the sense that I will likely always be a workplace nomad, I'll probably never have a great retirement fund (of course, who has that hope these days anyway, right?), and it's very possible that I'll never get married. I always wanted those things because they made me feel secure. But at this point in my life, I'm glad to trade all that for the adventure of serving God. I've learned that there's adventure in just waiting on God to tell you to "go" because that could be any time. That could be tomorrow, or even in the middle of the night tonight. It kind of reminds me of a trip I took during my sophomore year of college. My German class went to Germany for a month. The last week of our trip was a "free week" where we could go anywhere we wanted. A couple days before our free week began a friend and I bought plane tickets to Venice. We had no idea what we would do when we got there or where we stay or even if we'd be able to afford it. When we got off the plane in Venice, we had no idea what to do next. Each and every step we took was unplanned. Nevertheless, we found a place to stay (a room in between the second and third floor of a hotel), we enjoyed authentic Italian food, and we managed to stay safe. That's what God is doing--telling me to go, and providing for me along the way. The way things are going, I'm confident that I will not get to the end of my life and wish I had done things differently.

But that pretty much just sums up one portion of my life. The other portion of my life--work--is another story. B-O-R-I-N-G! Work has become unbearable since I started Lifeline. I'm still able to get my work done, but it takes a lot more effort and discipline now to get it done. I would much rather spend my time at work talking to people about God than balancing spreadsheets. The nice thing about work is that I work with some very interesting people. There's one woman at work who is particularly interesting. She's a flaming liberal, agnostic, know-it-all. She's the complete opposite of me, but I find her completely fascinating for some reason. Maybe it's BECAUSE she is so unlike me. Maybe it's because she "beats up" the bullies at work for me. Or maybe it's God's funny way of teaching me that through Him I can love ANYONE. I used to hate people like her (in fact, I couldn't stand her when she first started), but I can truly say that I love her now. Unfortunately, she's a contract worker and probably won't be working with our company much longer, but God has taught me a lot about loving people through this woman. He didn't call me to argue politics or religion with people. He called me to love them. No doubt I still have a lot to learn, but no doubt I've learn a lot already.

So, just like everyone else, I'm sick of politics. But here are my thoughts on the subject:

Since I can't totally agree with either candidate about all their policies, I've chosen two issues to base my vote on--abortion and taxes. Since I've taken a biblical worldview for my life, I have to vote for the candidate that is pro-life. There is no biblical reason to support abortion. From the beginning to the end, the Bible is about life. That's just my point of view.

I also will not vote for a candidate that promises to create government programs. I think it's pretty obvious that most government programs help people in the short run, but create dependency in the long run. It's the governmental equivalent of letting your perfectly capable 50-year-old son or daughter live with you for free. What parent could possibly believe that they are doing what is best for their son or daughter by letting them do that?? I work with a lady whose son, grand-daughter, and great-granddaughter live with her. None of them contribute a dime to the household income. Whatever income her son made when he had a job went towards dope and beer. Needless to say, she is a very unhappy woman. Her family has become dependent on her and she has become dependent on them. Dependency does not equal growth.

Besides that, I want more money in my net income so that I get to decide where my charity goes. I don't trust the government to disperse my charity for me.

I have a few opinions about politics, but none of it keeps me up at night. In the end, it really doesn't matter who wins the election, because I'm a citizen of God's kingdom first, then a citizen of the U.S. Down the road, if there's no place for me to survive in the U.S., I know there's already a place for me in Heaven......Heaven! no taxes, no death, no politics, no pollution, no credit cards, no poverty, no war, no hate, no "me, me,me." Man, I can't wait!

*sigh* And with that, I leave you....