My thoughts on Gay Marriage and sin

I want to start with a warning, this is a long post.

With the issue of Gay Marriage in the hands of the California Supreme court I have been seeing a barrage of people using the bible as a weapon of hate. So I just wanted to add my two cents to the conversation. First I want to talk about what sin as defined in the bible.

Deuteronomy 5:6-21

⁶ “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

⁷ “You shall have no other gods before me.

⁸ “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. ⁹ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ¹⁰ but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

¹¹ “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

¹² “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. ¹³ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁴ but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. ¹⁵ Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

¹⁶ “Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

¹⁷ “You shall not murder.

¹⁸ “You shall not commit adultery.

¹⁹ “You shall not steal.

²⁰ “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

²¹ “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor’s house or land, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Here are the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses on the mountain. Now I am going to tell you something I have broken all of them in my thoughts and or in my actions. I am going to go through and explain my sin. I am going to number them 1-10.

1. Before I met my husband I had no religious beliefs only an idea that I was already too sinful to be forgiven. My husband loved me and showed me what it means to love and to forgive. This is an example of putting someone else before God. Now I believe that God sent me my husband because he loves me, but that is a different matter.

2. Well this is a good time to mention that before I came to God I searched for God's love in all the wrong places. So yes, I have prayed to the God and Goddess for protection.

3. I get so upset sometimes I curse and I misuse God's name. I want to believe it is rare but I am guilty of this.

4. I am also guilty of not keeping the Sabbath day and I sometimes chose to stay home over going to mass.

5. My father died when I was an infant, and then my step father died when I was 9. I am angry with my mother for all of the hurt she has caused me. In the past the anger bordered on hate, not very honoring.

6. I am a meat eater; animals die so that I might live. I kill spiders for no good reason except for fear. I have even said I am so mad I could kill . . . If our thoughts are just as sinful as our actions then it counts, because even for a moment I believed I was better than that other person.

7. Rob was not my first love. All those times I chose lust over love was me cheating on my future husband.  Or even looking at an attractive actor and feeling lustful, yeah that counts too.

8. When I was young, still in elementary school I stole from a gas station that I had to walk past on my way to school. I waste time, which is stealing from myself, my family, and from others. Sometimes I hide in the bedroom closet to eat chocolate so that I do not have to share. Is that not stealing?

9. I can be judgmental and when I was younger I was a huge gossip. I took what I heard as fact and spread it around like jelly on toast. I learned a very hard lesson about how much that hurts people and I try not to be so destructive.  But gossip is sin folks, and I am guilty.

10. I see things that I want and I covet it. I feel envy and jealousy. Why can't I look like that, that is so cool I really want that too. How many times have you witnessed me coveting my friend's cow Bessie? More than once.

I am guilty of breaking all Ten Commandments. How about the seven deadly sins, let's see how I measure on that scale. Here is a great article that I am using here

Proverbs 6:16-19

¹⁶ There are six things the Lord hates—
no, seven things he detests:
¹⁷ haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that kill the innocent,
¹⁸ a heart that plots evil,
feet that race to do wrong,
¹⁹ a false witness who pours out lies,
a person who sows discord in a family.

Here is a clearer list I found http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/documents/Seven_Deadly_Sins.pdf

The Seven Deadly Sins

Three Spiritual Sins

1. Pride (spiritual sin)

2. Envy (spiritual sin)

3. Wrath (spiritual sin affected by body)

Four Corporal Sins

4. Accidia or Sloth (corporal sin)

5. Avaricia/Cupiditas or Greed

(corporal sin)

6. Gluttony (corporal sin)

7. Lust (corporal sin)

1. Pride. I looked up a good example of what being prideful is when we lie, we are wanting to make ourselves look good, make excuses for our not doing the right thing. I do try to justify myself so I fail here to.

2. Envy. I covered this in the Ten Commandments.

3. Wrath. I mentioned that I get angry and that I am still angry at my mother above.

4. Sloth. I am lazy, say 75% of the time. I hope I am being generous.

5. Greed.  I guess hiding in the closet eating chocolate falls here to.

6. Gluttony. I over indulge on alcohol, chocolate, and crafty things.

7. Lust. Well I fail here too. Although I only want my husband I have been known to see attractive people and think "that's nice."

After looking at my own sinfulness based on the bible's definition of sin, it appears that I am not going to make it into heaven. I fail a lot. I am sinful. So what is the point? JESUS. I will get to that. First I want to examine the seven holy virtues

  1 Corinthians 13:1-13

13 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. ³ If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;^[a] but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

⁴ Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud ⁵ or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. ⁶ It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. ⁷ Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

⁸ Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages^[b] and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! ⁹ Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! ¹⁰ But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.

¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. ¹² Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.^[c] All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

¹³ Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

Seven Holy Virtues

Three Spiritual (or Theological) Virtues

1. Fides (Faith)

2. Spes (Hope)

3. Caritas (Charity)

The Four Cardinal (or Pagan) Virtues

4. Prudence

5. Temperance

6. Fortitude

7. Justice

 

1. Faith. I believe that we are made in God's image and that we are all made perfectly. I believe that God loves all of us so much that he sent Jesus to die for our sins. I have a lot of faith in God's greatness.

2. Hope. I am filled with Hope. Hope that I can be better. Hope that I will meet God in the afterlife.

3. Charity, which one does good deeds out of love for God alone. I try to do this.

4. Prudence, careful in providing for the future. We grow food and teach the children in the value of living in a way that protects the earth.

5. Temperance, moderation or self-restraint in action, statement. Well I am a work in progress.

6. Fortitude, mental and emotional strength in facing difficulty, adversity, danger, or temptation courageously. I think I do a good job of this, at the very least I try hard.

7. Justice, the moral principle determining just conduct. I think I do okay on this one too, but again I try to do my best.

I know this is a crazy long post and if you made it this far. Thank you for sticking with it. Now I have gone over the Ten Commandments and the seven deadly sins. I have bared all my sins for you to witness. Homosexuality is not on either one of the lists that are in the bible. Even if it were how can I judge another person for their sins look at mine. I am dirty, flawed, and broken. I believe love is love. I also believe in equality.

I am a Christian; all that means is I follow the teachings of Christ. Jesus said, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). Love one another, it is just that easy. So let's stop using our bibles as weapons and start loving each other equally. Let's leave the judgments to God.

I am sorry for the long winded post today but I hope you understand why I wanted to share my views with you.

 

I hope your day is filled with inspiration, love, and laughter. Be well my friends.

 

15. Love

Photo of the day for the Month of May.

Day 15 Love

Rob learned to play a song so he could teach James. I love this.

I love the piano.

This is my baby's first Piano recital.

I have always loved the piano. Now I get to enjoy it as my children continue to learn to play.

I hope your day is filled with love and laughter. Be well my friends.

Song of the day

I have been thinking of this song, well I fell in love with a hopeful farmer. It is a sweet song.

I love to remember all of the reasons that I fell in love with my husband. I am a lucky lady. Take a moment and remember all of those sweet things that made you fall in love and go ahead fall in love all over again. We have been married for just a little over ten years and sometimes it is a little hard to remember what it was about him that I loved so much I could not live with out him.

We were just two dumb kids and only half of us could legally drink.

I can honestly say that I love him more than I ever thought that I could when we got married. I am still just as happy and grateful that he chose me. These two people made these two people.

Friends I hope that today you are happy from the inside out and that it is filled with Love and Laughter. Be well my friends.

My faith in the begining

Faith is a personal journey. Each of us has to our own path that fits well with our families and lives. I believe that there is more than one path, religion to God. Today I would like to share with you how I came to God. It is only a puzzle piece to the whole story. Before I found God I lost him. It is true, I have always had a feeling that some supreme being was out there watching over all of us, and I personally was not alone in this world. A few years ago, about four since you asked my husband had cancer. As a result he started researching religions. He is a very meticulous man (One of the many reason I love him) he watched documentaries, he read books, he looked for the beginning until he was satisfied. He also discovered Asherah, God’s wife. There is a story that in the early Jewish religion that all of the priest that worship Asherah were taken to the top of a mountain and slaughtered ending the teachings of God’s wife for political reasons. When I learned about this I realized that all religion is manmade, I felt torn apart. Broken. I struggled for a very long while whether God exists at all. I told you I lost him. I no longer want to celebrate arbitrary holidays, that had lost all many and seemed to become over night about greed. At the same time our family was attending church irregularly. Churches that our friends liked. Churches that did not fit us. Not that anyone of those churches were wrong, they were spreading the word of God and praising him, helping each one of those people to grow. I felt lost, completely and utterly lost. Then Rob and I were asked to go to a small group about marriage. We agreed. This is where I begin to see the beauty of the Holy Spirit. It was through those women that spoke about God that I found the light. God is in each one of us, and if we let him he will work through us. I also joined a MOPS group around this time and again I found God not in the words of the bible (I have 6 versions) but in the hearts of the women at my table and around me. These women who were grateful for life, and were kind to me showed me who God wants us to be. I also watched The Case for Faith and found that faith is a choice. We can choose to believe or we could choose not to. It is a choice. I know believe that all Holy works were inspired by God by written by man. Man is flawed and cannot fully understand the Glory of God. We cannot know the truth. Why else would there be so many beautiful religions that Glorify his Name. None of them are wrong they are each only a small piece of the puzzle, none of them are perfect. We can only strive to do what is virtuous and honor God with our actions towards one another. Because you never know when you inspire an Atheist to believe, you never know when your hope raises another person’s heart .  You never know when or where but as long as you are striving to be better in the name of God he will work through you.

As you know we are working on becoming Catholic. One of the reasons that we chose this path is because the Church allows people to take a journey. Before you can be baptized, confirmed, or take part in the Communion you have to take a class to be sure that you want to commit to the Catholic Church. Many of the other churches we went to in search of the “one” would baptize anyone who wanted to be saved, and you could be saved by raising your hand. There is nothing wrong with this God is supervising and loves all of his children. God knew that I needed to take a slower path, I needed to come to him slowly. Now we have been attending Mass for 2 ½ years and at Easter we will be Catholic. That is not to say that our journey is over, no quite contrary it is only beginning.

Why am I writing to you about my faith today? I wanted to share part of my story, and I wanted to remind you to be gentle and kind and loving to others. Of course I know that you are wonderful as you are. Sometimes we can say things that seem very small but can cause great joy or distress. Be mindful of others. 

I hope that your week is bright with the sounds of Love and Laughter. Be well my friends.

Lessons Learned Nov. 13

Lessons learned a weekly debrief

Yesterday I got to spend the whole day with James just him and I for the very first time. We had a lot of fun we went to Chuck-E-Cheese and played the games for an hour. We went for a long walk we started out running and on the way back Jame got to have a piggy back ride. We ate frozen grapes and watched T.V. and we also made a pumpkin cake. Yum! We ended the night with two stories, Five Little Monkeys, and We're Going on a Bear Hunt. After James told me he was going to have dreams of monkeys and bears. It was a stress free day. I think I might need to make more time to go out on one on one dates with my boys. I do love being a mama.

Damian and Rob went on a camping trip with the cub scouts. I am sure they had lots of fun too. They are not home yet so it is hard to know but with how excited they were yesterday morning I know it was a fun time.

It is state law to have your pets fixed in the state of Texas.

This week in News Stories have been horrible and sad. The Penn State (House of Horrors), The mother who left her two year old in the car (maybe), and finally all of the horrible child abuse cases and the death of at least three children that are being blamed on How to Train up a Child. I don't want to dwell to much on these things but I do want to mention them.

In the case of Penn State and all of the writers and supporters of the Coach, All of the people who witnessed any act of child abuse and did not report it or try to stop it are just as guilty. If a report was brought to the attention of another person they had a Moral obligation to turn it in. These people choose to cover it up and the abuse continued on for 15 years at least! So please I am tired of reading how we are human and make mistakes. It could have been your son. I bet you would not be singing their praises then. My husband and I sat down and talked to our young boys about Predators who are out to hurt them. About what was going on at this school and what they would have to do if anyone anywhere ever approached them. It is a sad world that we need to warn our children of these sexual predators. I want to encourage you to have a conversation with your children, so that they are armed with an idea of what to do. Have that communication open so that they know that they can tell you and you will stop it after then first time not after they can not take the abuse any longer. Arm your children. We told the kids to scream as loud as they can, to fight kick, bite, punch and run to us. We told them that by drawing attention to themselves that the predator will most likely stop because he knows what he is doing is wrong. It was a hard conversation but I am glad that we talked to the boys about it.

The Mother that left her two year old in the car so she could walk a mile with her four year old to the gas station. Never leave your child unattended. Even if she is just stupid, she may never see that little boy. Today I read that her story was very similar to a recent Law and Order episode. If that woman is lying I hope that our justice system is able to convict her of a crime.

Finally the book on How to Train up a Child. Before it was in the news I had never heard of it. The people who wrote it should know that they fed the fire with gas. Their book tells people how to beat a child. A child abuser might do it anyway but with fuel saying it is God's way, these poor children died hating God. They did not teach them to love God. Here is a good article on Spare The Rod and spoil the child http://www.religioustolerance.org/spankin8.htm. It says that it is not in the bible at all. In fact according to this article theses are the most commonly misqouted bible verses
 Prov 13:24: "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes
Prov 19:18: "Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying."
Prov 22:15: "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him."
Prov 23:13: "Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die."
Prov 23:14: "Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell
Prov 29:15: "The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame

Hebrews 12:6-7: "...the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?"

I checked in my bible in order to verify these verses. All of these verses are about disciplining a child so that the child will learn from his actions, that the parent should not make the discipline less because it hurts their heart. I can tell you that when James is in time out crying my heart hurts. I do not feel as if God wants me to beat him in Gods name. I would also like to point out that Proverbs is in the old testament as Christians (this is what I am and not everyone but I have very limited knowledge on other religions) we believe that Jesus was the Messiah that he was born of the Virgin Mary and suffered and died for our sins and he rose again on the third day. Jesus came to teach us to love one another. Beyond that God gave us common sense. I was an a abused child and I never learned anything but fear, humiliation, and hate. Maybe I grew up fine but a lot of people don't. Abuse is not discipline, it is an over use of power over another human being. We do not hit our children but I my boys are well behaved (at least when we are out in public most of the time).

I am getting lost on a tangent, so it is time for me to step off my little soap box. The bottom line is that if we treat our children with love, and act in ways that try to protect them the world would be a better place. I am sorry to spend so much time on this but this issue has been on my mind. I know you my friends are good people so I hope you did not feel attacked in anyway.

What else did I learn this week. . . I read some African Folk Tales which are crazy! Many of them have violence against children but they are all rescued by a God or given special powers in order to teach a lesson on discrimination. Many of them were fun to read. They boys and I watched the one the of stories Anansi the Spider Man which turned out to be lots of fun. If you have the chance I recommend watching it.

I am sure I learned more then this but it is getting a little long and I need to get myself and James ready for Mass.

I hope that your week is filled with sweet lessons, love, and laughter. Be well my friends.

Roses are red...

When we were picking out my roses and there was one red one called Love. I wanted it but the other red one ended up in my basket. I am in the middle of dinner and I looked out my window to see my husband planting my roses and I realized I do not need a rose called love. My heart and my life is filled with love.

I have a couple of rose bushes in the front. One that is blooming and one that is just happy to be alive. When we were headed out to go look at some olive trees my sweet husband picked a pretty flower for me. This one is called Easy living (or something very similar). I am feeling very happy and totally content.

I just wanted to share my flower with you. Smile my friend you are loved. If I could I would send you a pretty flower in a little vase just to see you smile, because it lights up the room.

I hope that you have a relaxing weekend filled with love and luaghter. Be well my friends.



Once upon a time. . .

I have kept sporadic journals my whole life. I still have most of them but all are unfinished and none of them are are dated. When I was younger I thought that dates were relative, that today was only one day in the vastness of life, a moment that would quickly disappear. In fact when I wrote about the night I met my husband; believe it or not, it was not about him at all. I wrote about his roommate who my ex broke up with me for. You see I didn't know my future was sitting in the living room when I dropped my new friend off. This is what I remember time frame wise (you know those people who remember every single detail about this and that down to the second? That is not me, in fact most things seem murky to me.  A deep dark well that I lower a small bucket down into and bring up pieces of a memory. So forgive me my approximate timeline.) it was a dark chilly October night in 2000.  I know it was before Halloween some time.  Maybe a week or two before that, I am sure.

I wonder if this is where the story begins. Does it begin with the ex? Do you need to know that we were together for two years? Or that we were really just friends with benefits because this girl was a little emotionally disconnected? That I was only eighteen? I think maybe it does begin here. So my ex and I decided to try a relationship. It wasn't really working. We were friends and would never be any more then that, at least on my end. Turns out on his side too. He came to me at the end of the summer and told me he had met a girl. That he really liked her and wanted to try and make it work with her. I was stunned and felt rejected. Turns out the girl worked with my estranged mother, and my siblings were being rather rude to her about the whole thing. It wasn't her fault that he didn't love me, or even that he decided it was over between us. So I invited her to meet me for coffee at Shari's. I am from Oregon and Shari's is like Denny's, but better. I loved that place, but it has changed since I lived there. I guess that is what happens when you move away, things change.

So my journal entry starts here:

When I went to talk to S I was going with an open mind and heart. I got there early (I am naturally a nervous creature) and I started to panic. I mean, what was I doing? What in the world was I going to say to her? Then I started reasoning with myself, "I am going to make things right." I was terrified of what S might say. Then I was comforted by the fact that she was on time. We had a great conversation and we talked about everything. I found myself thinking I am glad it was her. I realized that I wasn't losing him, but that I was gaining a friend in both of them. (Here is some personal reflection about my state of mind at the time. I am going to share it with you because it shows how much I have grown. But it is difficult for me to see how broken I truly was. This part requires no comment. It is merely reflection.) I realized that I was no longer waiting for him to realize that I was nothing and leave. Also I realized what I am. Maybe I can begin to face myself and my mother. I am kind. I am wanted. I am glad I got to meet her. I am happy he found her.(Eleven years later I am still friends with S and I haven't seen him in ten years.)

After our meeting over coffee and conversation I gave S a ride home. When I went up to hang out with her a bit more I met the most important person in my life. He was sitting on their old beat up couch watching a marathon of the Godfather. He stood up when I walked in to say hello. He was wearing an old pair of blue jeans. I remember his blue eyes, blond hair, he was skinny and tall. I remember him, that sweet kid who got nervous when I was around. I think maybe he was the only person who was more nervous then me. The truth is he was only nervous because of me. I was never a nervous wreck around him. Not once. I was at peace when I was around him. This is an important fact that I didn't realize until almost a year after that first meeting.

Now that I look back on our chance meeting I can tell you that I believe in fate and destiny. I tried to fight it, and tried to make it take me down a very different road. Now that I am standing on this side I know I never had a chance. I am glad I lost some of those early battles because I love the life that boy and I have made together. I am looking forward to all the great adventures that are still to come.

Moral of the story is, love finds you when you are not expecting it. Also, I met my husband eleven years ago today, or maybe this week... Okay sometime this month, eleven years ago.

I hope your week is filled with sweet reflection, love, and laughter.

Cooking is love

I know that I had motioned how I wanted to use my blog to share my journey to finding God and adding him to our daily lives. I know that I post mostly on menus, and recipes, and even lessons learned for the week. Today I wanted to focus on my love for cooking and why I put so much energy into sharing it with you. When I cook for the people I love I am giving them love. When I am in the kitchen mixing, chopping, kneading, stirring, baking, and tasting I am at peace. Although I am never absent from what is going on around me I allow my mind to wander in relief. I often spend the time chopping, dicing, mincing, or slicing onions with whatever worry that is there. By the time I am finished with the onion my soul is quieted by the simple task of cooking. In the peacefulness that surrounds my activity I can explore my theology, my relationship with God, what I believe God is. When I am quieted I can hear whispers of the truth as I brown the meat, or saute the vegetables. I am also very grateful for the love our small family is blessed with. I know with out a doubt that God loves us, and that God is everywhere we allow him to be.

I may not be rooted in a faith, but I do not find that a hindrance to my belief. It allows me to be open to thought and option without being trapped by what others believe is righteous. I believe that all thing that happen, happen for a reason, that it is all part of God's plan to teach us a lesson we need to learn in order to grow. That doesn't mean I want something bad to happen so that I can learn forgiveness, or grief, or any of the other lessons that come from a bad situation. I know that we are not alone as long as we are open to the idea, belief, possibility of the Love God has for each of us. I also Know with out a shadow of a doubt that some of the lessons we learn stem from love, joy, and gratefulness. I know because the biggest lesson I learned was how to love completely when I first held each of my sons. It was a sudden unexpected gift that calmed my anxious soul. I can love and deserve to be loved.

If you know me at all you know that some of my beliefs, or ideas can be a bit of a stretch. I hope that I do not but limits on my children. I believe that God does not want us to be boxed in to one idea because God is all ideas. No one religion is different from another God is there. He/She is the idea behind every religion and there may seem to be many but we can not all fit into the same idea and God made it easier to find him by giving us choice. Some people need to feel confined by the written word in the various books of the lord, others hope only for guidance. He enlisted the help of human men to write his word, and since he gave man the gift of free will we each interpret his words differently. The bible for instance has been rewritten to make it easier for people to read and understand. It is different from the original text but most of the meaning stays the same. It is a guidebook for lost travelers. We are all lost travelers trying to return home.

What moves me the most is the fact that Jesus came for the lost gentiles, me and people like me. I am a sinner unworthy of his love. Yet he came to earth for my sin, to forgive me, to set me free. This applies to you as well. We are not alone. One of the reasons that my family is choosing to become Catholic is because it is not about solidarity, meaning all about me, we pray together for each other. I do not know the faith completely so I can not comment on the whole picture, when I only have a small piece. I have a feeling some of the beliefs I have are not the same as the church such as birth control, and gay marriage and I am sure a few other things. I am unwilling to change my opinion that it is a human right to be married regardless of sexual orientation, I believe God made them and that makes them the same as me even where they are different. Love is love. I believe in birth control. I believe that God loves me for who I am regardless of my own ideas.

I am thankful for the life I lead and the life my husband and I are making for our children. I will continue to ask for guidance, and forgiveness. I hope that we are building a solid foundation for our children to become men on, that they will grow into strong, healthy, kind, good heart men. I trust the Lord will lead us.

I have to admit when I am cooking I don't always actively think about God, but it is a good time to bring him to our family. When I set the table with the meal it is filled with my love always. I was once told when I was a young girl that it will always turn out just right when you make it with love. So to me cooking is love. When or if you ever get the chance let me cook for you. I am happy to feed you and your family. So here it is if you are worried about your cooking abilities just remember that you are cooking for someone you love and loves you back. Regardless of how the meal turns out it will be perfect.

I hope that your day is filled with laughter, love, and a comforting meal with your loved ones.