A Day Without Gays

So is was browsing around Facebook, and noticed a group that one of my friends was in. It was called "A Day Without Gays". This caught my attention, so I wandered in to check it out. After doing a little research, I found out that this group is about the gay community boycotting everything for a day in order to defend their rights. The introduction goes as follows.

"We are calling for a nationwide strike and economic boycott by all members of our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered community AND OUR STRAIGHT ALLIES on December 10th, 2008, International Human Rights Day. WHY SHOULD WE DO IT? Because LGBT workers, business owners, consumers and taxpayers contribute over $700 billion to the American economy and we deserve the same rights as all other Americans. (See www.witeckcombs.com/news/releases/20080602_buyingpower.pdf)Because marriage is a basic human right that should be available for ALL Americans, regardless of gender, race OR religion. (See the US Supreme Court Case LOVING v VIRGINIA).WHAT SHOULD WE DO?

Strike: call in gay, shut down your business, or just take the day off.

Boycott: don't buy anything, spend money or support the economy."

I haven't really thought out much what I want to write, so this may end up getting a little scattered and choppy. I guess when I ran across this group, I was very confused. I just feel like it's sending a double message, kinda like "I want rights in my country, therefore, in order to obtain them, I'm not going to do anything to support it". Now, I'm not some angry christian that hates the Gay community. No, I don't support it nor agree with it, but I truly love them. You've heard the age old saying, "Hate the sin, Love the sinner", I really do try to incorporate that into my life. With that said, homosexuality is, in fact, a sin, just as is lying, stealing, cheating, etc., you get the idea. I guess it just saddens me to see so many people in such support of it. It is also bothersome to me that there may come a day where gay marriage is viewed as being just as pure as the marriage I have with my husband. Here is another excerpt from the group:

"WHAT ABOUT TEACHING KIDS ABOUT GAYS? And? That's like saying we should not educate our children about African Americans or the Holocaust or banning any mention of religion, like they did in the former Soviet Union."

What? Really? I'm not really sure what to say about this statement, so maybe someone else has some insight they'd like to share. I mean, I understand teaching children about it in order to protect them, but that was not what they were implying here. I know that a lot of what I have said here would fall on a lot of deaf ears considering I used the word "sin". Therefore I would ask one simply question:

Is it natural?

Putting religion and the Bible aside, for just one moment, what about homosexuality is natural? Nothing. That's all I really have to say right now.

Clarification... and some other stuff

So after yesterday's post, I want to make it clear that I fully trust that our nation is in God's hands. I don't want anyone thinking that I somehow think that President Obama would be able to do anything that the Almighty God had not control over. Now, whether that means he will be used for good, time will tell. I am just so glad that I know my God is in control, regardless of what happens in our country.

On a different note, have I mentioned how much I love my husband? If I haven't, I will now. I have the best husband in the entire world. When I think back over the course of our relationship, we've made it through some rocky times and he has been there by my side, even during the times that I didn't think I wanted him there. I love that he's dealt graciously with me and my attitude...which for those of you who know, I have one sometimes. I love that he always has new ideas and plans on how to achieve them. He definitely keeps me on my toes! I love that he's so quiet and so extremely loud all at the same time. I love that he loves my neices and nephews. I love to watch him play with them... probably the cutest thing I've ever seen. I love to hear him laugh. I love how strong he is...physically and emotionally. I love that he battled cancer like a champ! I love the fact that I know, no matter what, he will be there, if he has anything to say about it. I love so much more about him. I could go on and on, and I probably will... but later.

A second post... a little late ;)

So I was informed by a fellow co-worker (April :) ), that I'm not blogging properly. Apparently I need to blog three times a week to call myself a true blogger. So here I am sitting at my desk, with about 20 minutes left of my workday and not much to do. I have all these thoughts in my head and feel like I just don't have enough time, or where to start. I'll start with this. I've been thinking a lot lately about the future of our country. Everyone has their own opinion. It's easy for my to get nervous about what may be in our future. Being a republican, it goes without saying that the recent election was a hard pill to swallow. I want to make it a priority to pray for our future president, regardless of how I feel about his stance on certain issues. I will say, one thing that makes me a little nervous, is that it seems as though there are so many people who are blindly following, thinking that he is going to be able to magically fix every problem adn get our nation out of it's billions of dollars of debt. I even saw a woman on the news talking about how he was going give us all free mortgage and gas... I doubt it. I just really wish that people like that would wake up and take a good look at reality. I guess that's all I really have to say about that right now. I may come back to it at a later time. On a lighter note, Cory and I were able to go to Minneapolis with some friends this weekend. It was so nice to get away for a little while and focus on each other again. The last time we were away was in February, but he was pretty sick with chemo and all, so it was especially nice to go away having a healthy husband. We left Friday night after I got off work and dropped Walker off at Cory's parents. We then picked up Rodney and Laura in Mason City and headed up to the city. We got there kinda late so we pretty much just laid low and went to bed pretty quickly. We were able to sleep in a little, but I woke Cory up earlier than he would have liked so we could go down to the hot tub, which was cold. Really. So we got ready, ate brunch, and all headed to IKEA. It's pretty much the most amazing place I've ever been, however, it does make me wish I had a bigger house, which probably isn't the best thing for me :). Then we headed to the Mall of America and spent the rest of the afternoon there. The guys did their thing, Laura and I did ours. We left the Mall around 5 and after some traffic and primping, got to the restaurant at about 6:30. We went to Maggiano's Little Italy, and was told it would be about an hour and fifteen minutes, which turned into 2 hours. They did, however, give us a free appetizer, which was the best Spinach & Artichoke dip I've ever had! And, the food was really good, too. Worth the wait. We went back and hit the sack after the hot tub (which was now warm). We did brunch at Perkins it the morning and hit the Outlets at Medford on the way home. Found some great deals at Gap Outlet, thanks to sales and a coupon from my Sister-in-Law, Thanks Londa! Well, it's time for me to go now, but I will continue this later!

My First Blogging Experience

Here I am, writing my first post. Just to give you a little taste of my life, I live in Des Moines with my husband Cory and Miniature Schnauzer named Walker. We lead a pretty quiet life, at least for now. He works in a warehouse as a line driver and I am administrative assistant and love my job. We got married when I was 20 and he was 21 about 2 years ago. Some people thought that we were too young to get married, but not for us. We dated for over three years, and even managed survived an 8 month break-up. We don't have a lot of money...and actually quite a bit of debt, but we love eachother and work very hard for what we have. Our marriage, however, has not come without its fair share of bumps. After about 9 months of marriage, at the age of 22, Cory was diagnosed with Nodular Sclerosing Hodgkin's Lymphoma, which in short, is cancer in the lymph nodes. The news of this was about enough to tear our world apart, and I still remember that horrible day like it was yesterday. I really couldn't believe it was actually happening. We knew that the only way to make it through that time was to rely on God for our every need. Sometimes I look back at the events from the past year and I'm amazed at the ways God used other people to help us and make his presence known. However, even though I knew that God was with us and helping us along, I can't say I didn't have times that I wondered what the purpose was of it all. Sometimes it just didn't make sense that we would have to deal with something so heavy at a time that we thought should be happy and exciting. I still have times that I can't figure out what the purpose is of us having all this debt now because of it. But, I have to stop myself and remember what God has done and is continuing to do in our lives! I often feel guilty for questioning the purpose because I can rejoice that, after 6 months of chemo, I have a healthy, cancer free husband who is full of life and always conjuring up new plans for our future. I have come to realize that his illness is something that will affect us for the rest of our lives and God is going to use it to mold and change us. It is something that will most likely play a role in all our decisions. It changes that way you view life and priorities. I think the thing it changed most for me is my view of God. Having gone to Bible college, I had all the head knowledge, but I had lost my thirst for Him. After Cory finished chemo, and I graduated college about a month later, I felt so incredibly lost. I guess I expected to know what I needed to do and how to do it (whatever that means). I realized that since I had been so busy with trying to finish school and going to Cory's appointments and treatments, I had completely left God out of the picture and never really processed what I'd been going through. I mean, I knew that God was there, but he wasn't a real part of my life, if that makes any sense at all. Let me tell you, it was a recipe for disaster. I almost felt as if I was this little kid, wandering through a crowded street, lost, and frantically searching for my parents. After a few months of this, I couldn't take it anymore. I knew I needed to do something and fast. I needed to get back to studying the Word of God and making it an everyday part of my life. I finally found someone who I felt would be a neutral party and would be able to give me some insight. I have been able to meet with her for the last several weeks, and she has me going through a book of the life of Queen Esther. I haven't been perfect about getting into the Word everyday, but it's improving. It's pretty exciting to feel that thirst for God again. I haven't felt that in such a long time. Well, now that I've practically exposed myself to whoever may read this, if anyone, I think it's time to conclude my first post. It was a long one, but it gives you an idea of everything I have going on in this brain I have.