Saturday, August 31, 2013

Not Just A Blonde is Pressing on at WordPress

Blogger has been my blogging home for the beginning of my blogging journey... it is where I started because of the ease of use, the free price tag and honestly because of a best friend who blogs here as well who gave me her guidance and support.

I have moved on to WordPress for now... perhaps I will be back... I don't know. I am SO new to this blogosphere that I am still finding my place... and for now I think it may be at Wordpress.

Why WordPress? Well, WordPress seems to be more of a community of thinkers. With the ability to search topics and follow blogs that are specifically of interest to you via it's 'Reader' and 'Freshly Pressed' pages folks can really connect with others... relationships can build! With WordPress information can be shared with those who are truly seeking it.

So, if you find yourself here at Not Just A Blonde seeking my thoughts, insights or encouragement... please find me on WordPress and say "hello!" I am eagerly awaiting you there... for your insights, thoughts and encouragement as well!

Not Just A Blonde
 http://notjustablonde.wordpress.com



Thursday, August 22, 2013

I'm Not Gay, So Why Do I Care?

Recently, I was asked by my husband, after a fairly impassioned pro-gay rights rant: "You're not gay, so why do you care?" He asked, not in a jerky-judgmental way, but in a I-don't-know-why-you're-so-worked-up kinda way. After all, I'm a heterosexual, middle-age, middle-class, working mom. I live the American tradition. I teach Sunday School. I love Jesus. My life would not change directly one bit if gay marriage ever passes or not. What then is my problem?

Homosexual and Transgender romantic love was not a cultural phenomenon in Biblical times. Same gender sex happened, sure! I'm not talking here about same gender lust... I am taking about romantic committed consensual love... a partnership, a family. Such an institution was not explored not discussed... homosexual activity was just about the sex.

Much research has been done on the sexual immorality during Biblical times. Soldiers would have their sexual drives fulfilled by abusing young boys, or by the use of prostitutes both male and female. This is not homosexual love.

When strangers would come from other lands men would dominate the visitor by taking him against his will. This is not homosexual love. Heterosexual men would choose to have sex with other men simply out of lust and hedonistic desire. Sex to dominate and control. This is not homosexual love.

I have no problem with identifying lust as a sin, however this applied to all... no matter the sexual orientation.  Committed marriage is God's loving solution to the strong desires of the flesh. Sex between same gender individuals is often (due to our current laws) out of wedlock, thus sinful in the eyes of God. 

God created us with the need to love as well as He created us to find comfort and blessing in our beloved's arms. THIS IS HOW HE CREATED US. To deny a same-sex couple to marry  is to deny them the blessings of God. How can this be love?

All it takes to learn what homosexual love is us to listen to your gay brother or lesbian sister. You can be a part of their lives and hear their heartaches. Listen to their hearts... listen to their stories.  You don't even have to get of your couch! 

Read UNFAIR from cover to cover. A book written by a heterosexual married male that shares my calling to spread God's Love. In this book there are stories of real people, with real heartaches, and a God that wants to comfort them through US... not because of us! 

Homosexuals aren't deviant sex addicts. Homosexuality isn't just about hedonistic sex with someone who's the same gender... anymore than heterosexuality is about strippers or one-night stands with someone of the opposite gender. C'mon guys! Get your head out of the gutter! It's about L-O-V-E.

What if homosexuals feel the EXACT same way about their beloved as you do with yours? What if loving the opposite gender was wrong? How would you handle the shame? The loneliness? The societal rejection? How would you cope with the church's judgement? How would YOUR heart ache?

No matter how advanced your imagination it would be difficult to truly understand the pain and separation that the homosexuals feel unless you truly have walked in his or her shoes. At the end of the day we can go home to our beloved and know that our love will be treated  with honor and respect. 

Within a hetero-marriage we can legally be married with all the special rights, benefits and privileges this social contract provides. We can feel smug that when we have our physical and sexual needs met that we are blessed by God and not judged by others. We can feel accepted and whole.

As a heterosexual have never been judged by others for my love or choice to have a family! My 16+
years of marriage is celebrated and revered by society and my church as an accomplishment and spiritual victory over flesh... not as a defeat! 

I'm not gay... so why DO I care? I care because I am called to love my neighbor as myself! I care because the LGBT community is filled with people who are feeling and experiencing anything but love. Not only are we, as Christians, not loving them; we are judging them out of our own fears and misconceptions. We are using God's Word as we understand it to hurt those very outcasts we are called to love! I care because I love.

❤Not Just A Blonde


Colossians 3:12-14 ~ Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Who Do You Think You Are?

The essence of who we really are is not what the world sees nor the characteristics or roles that we often define ourselves by; we are not our age, our gender; we are not our height, our weight nor our BMI; we are not our race, our hair color nor our nationality; we are not our marital-status, our socioeconomic-class nor our sexual-orientation!

We each appear very different from the world's view! Yet, from Heaven's perspective we are all the same! We are eternal spirits... and children of a loving eternal God.

We should not judge each other; nor should we claim special favor above any other. We should always remember we are loved no less than any other on this Earthly Plane... as we are all His Children! He created us each uniquely with the important mission of helping bring His children Home through LOVE.

❤Not Just A Blonde

Sunday, August 18, 2013

When We Believe the World's Lies... Jesus Cries

When we believe the world's lies... Jesus cries. He mourns the Separation of us from His Love and His Peace.

When we realize the futility of life on the world's terms we have begun our journey Home. His ways are superior to anything this world can devise! His ways lead to Life (Light)... the world's ways to death (darkness).

The victory of life over death is ours for the taking! Embrace life by embracing Him!

❤Not Just A Blonde

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."
~John 10:10-11

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Not Just A Blonde's Thoughts on Sin...

Sin isn't about breaking the rules, it's about playing the wrong game. With sin, you will never truly win.

When you choose sin over Spirit you choose darkness over Light.

Sin separates us from God and from feeling His Love. God never stops loving His Creation, however in sin we are unable to feel His Love upon us. In sin we may doubt God, but He is always there waiting for us to turn towards Him again.

By settling for a life of sin we accept trash in place of treasure! Within sin's grasp we are missing out on the richness that a life in alignment with Him can offer!

Sin wants us to believe it can replace God, but sin is a cruel lie. Sin eventually leaves us feeling anxious and alone.

Sin is death, Spirit is Life.

Sin is a choice to live outside His Perfect Plan... choosing our will over His own. We have the ability to choose pain over Peace. God calls us to Peace, however gives us the freedom to choose.

❤Not Just A Blonde




Tuesday, August 13, 2013

We Must First Forgive Ourselves...

You cannot give what you do not have. Be patient with yourself, forgive yourself, and love yourself... and then you can offer patience, forgiveness and love to others.

❤ Not Just A Blonde

Friday, August 9, 2013

Worry Is Not A Friend... But A Frienemy!

Worrying. We all do it from time to time, but does it help us or hurt us? I used to think it was helpful and that without it I might make a wrong decision or my life might veer off track. I used worry as a compass and hoped it would give me special insights and lead me the right way.

Seriously, I felt like if I didn't mentally fret over my current situation or future that I might somehow lose my foothold and my life would land in a ditch! The infinite mental "what if's" would keep me up at night and anxious. I'd even worry that without my worrying I might "miss something" and live a life of regret!

Ironically, looking back, one of my biggest regrets is... worrying. I felt like I had to do this life-thing on my own. I was solely responsible for how my life turned out. If I failed it was all on me. All my fault. With failure I'd be alone and... unloveable.

Feeling overwhelmed with this heavy burden called "my life", I was utterly stressed out! I didn't lean on my Higher Power (God) until after many years when I finally realized I was powerless with my worry. Worry and I were not working out!

I was no longer in control... worry, stress, anxiety and fear were my masters. I lost my way. No time for love, for peace or for joy as I attempted to sooth my fears and loneliness on my own. I realized worry was NOT my friend... but a true "frienemy". Worry looks like a friend on the surface, but is a saboteur beneath it's "helpful" facade.

My addictive attempts at self-soothing only led me to more worry. My way of worrying only bringing me to more of itself. Nothing I could plan or ponder ever once changed the future, except for making me feel more drained and emotionally bankrupt upon it's arrival.

Worry is a mental addiction. Like a broken record it delivers nothing new but the same old tune again and again. Instead of making a positive change or walking down a positive path worry holds us hostage keeping us from following our Purpose, from listening to His Voice of direction and hope.

Worry is a false god. Yes, worshipped and listened to above all other voices, most specifically God's. Worry offers us false hope, far away from the promise of peace and the Purpose God has for us!

Instead of "Letting Go and Letting God" we hold onto worry. We worry in an attempt to control the uncontrollable. We look to worry for direction and companionship instead of looking to God. When we worry we forget about the One True God that has us all in His Loving care.

Let's let go of worry! Let's reclaim our mind and join our minds with God's instead! Let's never again confuse care and concern for worry. Let's stop believing in worry's lie of self-sufficiency and let go of our false sense of control. Let's stop this destructive behavior and instead hand our worries, our thoughts and fears to God!

Without worry monopolizing our mind we will now be open to God's direction and guidance! Heeding His voice we can truly be led towards peace, love and happiness! Letting go of worry lets us now lean on Him and rest in His arms of Love!

❤ Not Just A Blonde

Matthew 6:25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?"

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

A Hateful Situation... (Part One)

Man, am I struggling! Even though I know what's right, I'm having a very time actually following God's instructions. My spirit is willing but my flesh is super-duper weak!

What's wrong? I'm in the thick of intense dislike of another person. I can't stand them. I loathe them! They annoy me... frustrate me... infuriate and disgust me! Basically, I am giving away all of my peace as I hold onto this hate.

I'm not sure why I cannot shake it! It's not like she killed someone, robbed a bank or victimized an innocent child! Alas, her transgressions are much less dramatic than these, but hard for me to let go nonetheless!

Why do I hate her? Let me count the ways...

#1) She's a bully! She enjoys making less secure younger folks feel, well... insecure.

#2) She's passive-aggressive. She repeatedly doesn't do what is needed to make other's lives more difficult!

#3) She's a constant complainer. Under the premise of "wanting things to be better" she complains about all that is wrong, but her "solutions" are often self-serving or worse than the problem she is going on and on about!

#4) She's a two-faced back stabber! She will frequently bad mouth others behind their backs. She is quick to point out other people's mistakes... drawing unnecessary attention to other people's flaws. She's vindictive and would not hesitate to sabotage another if she thought she could get away with it!

#5) When she messes up she never takes full responsibility. She is quick to point to other people who are to blame. Even if it's untrue.

#6) She's insincere. She says one thing when we ALL know she feels quite the opposite.

#7) She's a know-it-all. She can live other people's lives better than her own.

#8) She's abrasive! She hurts other people's feelings ALL the time because she doesn't stop to THINK before she SPEAKS.

#9) She delegates jobs to other people when it would take less time if she just DID it herself! She does this because she is...

#10) ARROGANT. She thinks she is better, smarter, more knowledgable, of more value, more competent and capable than everyone else... including those with more experience, knowledge, and credentials.

I'm doomed. I see no hope in loving this soul. And yet... I'm called to FORGIVE her... and LOVE her. C'mon Jesus! Really? REALLY?
But how?!

I think the first thing I'm supposed to do is to take the log out of my own eye, right? Fine.. I'm NOT perfect! But I'm not a mean girl either... I'm not guilty of the intolerable traits she possesses! Obviously I need to learn to accept her for who she is and where she's at. What I'm lacking is compassion!

In fact, part if the reason I began this writing rant is in an attempt to find resolution and peace amidst this frustrating and losing situation! I HATE feeling this way!

Those that know me well know I rarely dislike anyone... those that know me very well know how much I love 99.9% of people! I appreciate their differences, their uniqueness and quirkiness... faults n' all!

And so I went to prayer...

Me: Okay God, what should I DO?
God: Do you want to be RIGHT or do you want PEACE?
Me: I think I've heard a version of this before... I know where you're headed with this.
God: And?
Me: (Deep inhale, followed by a long exhale) .... Peace.
God: Offer her joy. Offer her Peace.
Me: Huh?
God: Be positive and affirming towards her. Abstain from negative thoughts of her. Cease any negative dialog regarding her, both internally and externally. If you have an unloving thought, however "true"... Let it go.
Me: Let it go?
God: Yes.
Me: ...But for how long?
God: Until you are once again with Me in Peace.

So, here goes! What's interesting is my hesitation to let it go. I can't blame my transgressor for that... right away I know it is what I need to do.

This experience was another reminder of when you ask God for direction, you gotta always be prepared for an Answer that you may find difficult. With Faith I will follow... and I'll be in touch to let you know how it goes. If you are a praying soul... I would appreciate your prayers for me, I think I can use all the help I can get!

❤Not Just A Blonde

Monday, August 5, 2013

When the Storms in Life Get Rough...

Sometimes when the storms in life get rough it's because God wants our life to go in a different direction. Adjusting our sails and submitting to Him will safely bring us Home.

❤Not Just A Blonde

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Heaven Is Near...

Heaven doesn't have to wait!
All it's joy is here.
We can reach out and touch it,
Just by letting go of fear.

Heaven isn't far away!
It's presence crystal clear.
Letting love flow as He directs,
We'd never shed a tear.

Heaven is with us now!
In the love we share so dear.
True Love is all around us,
His Presence draws us near.

❤Not Just A Blonde