Offering hope for change to the hearts of women
Bring the hope of God’s Word to the Vidunda People in their own heart’s language…
Photo Credit: The Seed Company
Linked up to the official Seed Company Blog
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There’s something new coming your way very soon. A whole new look, a whole new space, a whole new name! I’ll be sharing small details here and there until my launch in May, so watch for them soon!
{Update: In honor of Deriek W. Crouse, the Virginia Tech Police Officer who was murdered yesterday, let’s proclaim this “Thank a Police Officer Day.” Buy an officer lunch, pay for their coffee, shake their hand, look them in the eyes and say, “thank you for protecting me.”
If you’re on Facebook or Twitter help me spread the word so that officers all over the world feel our thanks in a tangible way today. Just copy and paste this:
Facebook: “In the wake of yesterday’s tragic loss of a Virginia Tech officer, I’m proclaiming this “Thank a Police Officer Day.” I will look an officer in the eyes and thank him for protecting me. If you agree, copy & paste this as your status.”
Twitter: “In honor of #DeriekCrouse’s life I will look an officer in the eyes & thank him for protecting me. It’s #ThankAnOfficerDay. RT #VaTech”
Thank you}
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Today, an officer was murdered on the campus of Virginia Tech…MY campus…where I went to college.
This is the second time an officer has been murdered on my campus, and the second time open fire has stolen our sense of safety in the mountains of Virginia. It’s time for me to talk about the way police officers are treated.
He’s a man. Just like you. He breathes in and out, sleeps, eats, laughs and He comes home to his wife and children each day. They want to keep it that way. Point a gun at him and you take away a husband, father, son, brother, man.
When he pulls you over, HE’S DOING HIS JOB.
When he writes you a ticket, HE’S DOING HIS JOB.
When he pulls you out of a burning car on the side of the road where no one else can hear your cries, HE’S DOING HIS JOB.
When he risks his life to keep you safe, HE’S DOING HIS JOB.
When his wife lets him walk out the door every day, leaving his family to protect yours, HE’S DOING HIS JOB.
When he works overnight so you can sleep in safety, HE’S DOING HIS JOB.
When he crouches behind cars with an assault rifle looking for a madman, HE’S DOING HIS JOB.
When he pulls over your son for driving drunk, HE’S DOING HIS JOB (& keeping other people alive).
When he arrests you for drug use, HE’S DOING HIS JOB.
When he’s hunting you because you broke the law, HE’S DOING HIS JOB.
HE’S DOING HIS JOB
Thank a police officer for DOING HIS JOB today, because he might die for you tomorrow…
It’s time for our society to own up to our mistakes. Quit blaming everyone else when we do something wrong. This summer I got a speeding ticket. Know what? It was MY fault and I deserved it. Last May I rear-ended someone because I took my eyes off the road. Know what? It was MY fault and I deserved the consequences.
Stop treating police officers like they’re out to get you, as if they have nothing better to do than listen to you complain or make threats against their families (that’s right–I know an officer who pulled over a man FOR SPEEDING, and was told by the man that he hoped his family members were all killed by a drunk driver. Really? You REALLY want a man’s entire family to die because YOU CHOSE TO DRIVE TOO FAST? Get over yourself).
Last time I checked the Bible said we were ALL sinners. That means we mess up. Make mistakes. Choose the wrong way. We’re not perfect and we’re not above the law. YOU ARE NOT ABOVE THE LAW.
So next time you consider pointing your gun in the face of an officer of the law, look at him. In fact, look beyond him, and remember that’s he’s just a man, just like you…and let him go home.
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PS. I know this is not normally the type of post I write, but this has been brewing in me for about four years. Today’s events put me over the edge. I welcome comments here, but I do moderate them all. I will not publish rude comments. Thank you.
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If you would like to join me in the everyday ponderings, click to have your posts delivered by email, subscribe in a reader, or have A Life in Need of Change delivered right to your Amazon Kindle! To be one of the first to know when my next books arrive, join my Writer Friends email list!
Prayer is my natural expression of faith, or plea for more faith, to the God who loves me. The Father is my resting place, my comfort, my peace. And prayer is one of the ways He allows me to access Him.
Where do you turn for comfort?
Over the past four years, I’ve lost four members of my family. Two uncles, lost just ten months apart of the same genetic lung disease. A beloved grandfather and a favorite aunt lost within two months of each other. A little black dress meant for celebrations worn twice to mourn instead.
Do you fully recover from that loss? I don’t know. But I have known where to go for comfort. Not just in this, but throughout all my life…I’ve known where to turn.
As I child I sang, “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so…”
As a teenager I sang, “Jesus will still be there. His love will never change, sure as the steady rain…”
As a young adult I sang, “I will go wherever You lead…”
And now, as a wife and mother, I often sing, “Before the throne of God above, I have a strong and perfect plea. A great High Priest Who’s name is Love, Who ever lives and pleads for me.”
How do I know my name is graven on His hands? How do I know my name is written on His heart? How do I know that while in heaven He stands, no tongue can bid me thence depart?
I have His Word
But all over the world, people live day-by-day without the Word of God in their heart language. Some 340 million people don’t even have one verse of God’s Word. Of the 7,000 languages in the world, fewer than 500 have the whole Bible.
340 million people do not have access to even one verse of God’s Word.
Not even one verse.
When tragedy strikes…not even one verse.
When loss overwhelms them…not even one verse.
When they don’t know what to do…not even one verse.
When they ache for a Savior…not even one verse.
No comfort, no relief, no direction…not even one verse.
Please watch this brief video…
And that’s just what God does! Like many spinning gears falling into place at just the right time, God brings together all the partners needed to both translate His Word and share it creatively with a people group as soon as portions of Scripture become available in their language.
How does it work?
Well, it depends on the situation, but often it begins with an initial goal – like translating both the Gospel of Luke and the Jesus Film script simultaneously. Seeing and hearing Jesus for the first time is powerful. And having the book of Luke available in their own language provides local leaders with immediate discipleship material.
People are evangelized and discipled – a church is born.
Then, with their appetite for God awakened, a team of dedicated mother-tongue translators begins working with trained Bible scholars and translation consultants on a goal of translating more of God’s Word – making portions of Scripture available (in print, audio or story form – depending on the community’s needs) as soon as they are approved. All the while, the local community grows in ownership of the project because they are involved intimately in the work all along.
People are saved. Destinies of entire groups of people are changed. The Great Commission is served. All because someone prayed, and God was eager to answer.
This is how it works.
But it can’t work without you.
This is not a post asking for your money. It’s a post asking for your prayers. You who have the Word dwelling in you richly, would you commit to praying for those who don’t even have one verse? For protection, provision, and power for the translation efforts happening right now, all over the world?
To learn more about the vital and dynamic prayer ministry of The Seed Company, visit their website. Read a little about this group that labors daily so that the Great Commission might be fulfilled. Look around your house and count the number of Bibles you have in your home, and as you do, allow the Lord to pierce your heart with this great need. Then decide to “go ye therefore into all the world…” in prayer.
To sign up to be a prayer partner for one of the many Bible translation projects happening through the prayers and efforts of The Seed Company now, click here.
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I’m so happy to finally announce a formal partnership with The Seed Company as my Relevant sponsors! Watch for a post on the Relevant blog coming soon that will share all of the resources we’re bringing you in the Relevant Conference prayer ministry!
* All statistics taken from The Seed Company.
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If you would like to join me in the everyday ponderings, click to have your posts delivered by email, subscribe in a reader, or have A Life in Need of Change delivered right to your Amazon Kindle! To be one of the first to know when my next books arrive, join my Writer Friends email list!
