Today, I was busy running errands and just went to check my emails and comments that I appreciate so much from blogging friends, when sister Heather surprised me and other great bloggers by creating this "blessing" and giving it to us. I thought that was just so sweet of her, to take her time to create this and give it away.
Sister Beautiful Self writes with so much passion for the Lord, and she deserves this blessing, too. I guarantee you'll be blessed by her posts, the way it always blesses me. Please visit her and know more about her. She is a beautiful person inside and out! Times that I need a lift, her timely funny posts crack me up! Her post about her "madre" when she introduced her to us touched me the most. I was so touched with the way she had shown her love and honored her mom.
Writing is one way I can give something back to the Lord and He surely blessed me with so many brothers and sisters in Christ who are so "on fire" to write for His glory.
I want to be able to share this blessing, courtesy of sister "Beautiful Self" to all of you who deserve it, too. You are all beautiful that you tirelessly share God's love, encouraging us and leading others to know His grace and mercy, through the words you write. So, please feel free to grab this blessing and share it, too with others you want to share it with.
I just want to thank the Lord for people like you I had met in such a short period of time. I'm so blessed and honored to have known you guys. To God be the glory always. May He bless you all and may we continue that "unity" that comes from His perfect love. God bless.
I kissed my husband “goodbye” as he walked out the front door. “Pray! Always pray!,” I added as I saw him nodding.
“I always do,” he replied. Sleepily, I walked back inside the house and ascended up the stairs. I said a prayer for him and the other officers working with him.
It was another day of rounding up criminal illegal aliens. They knew who to get. They knew where to go. Sacrificing their lives everyday, there was just no way telling of how these illegal residents would respond to their arrests. They could be hiding weapons. They might fight back.
My husband and his co-workers are not new to sacrificing their lives. They were once serving in the military to fight for this country’s freedom. And now, they still do. They want to protect this country because we love this country, its liberty, its equality. A country whose Founding Fathers attributed everything for God’s glory. To most of us, they are “patriotic”. Not until modern political liberalism had dominated the seats in this government.
Have you seen that video taken when Nancy Pelosi was addressing a group of both legal and undocumented residents in a church, calling them patriotic?
I just have a problem understanding that. Because an illegal alien is someone who is unlawfully residing in a country or without that country’s authorization. In simple words, “he or she broke the law, either by over staying after their visa had expired, came in without a visa, someone who came in with fraudulent documentations or maybe someone who committed a crime, was ordered to be deported but failed to leave.
Ms. Pelosi had said that “it’s not right for their doors to be kicked middle of the night and have a parent taken away.” The officers don’t just take them away. They leave one parent if there are no other adults to care for the young children. If it’s only one parent, Social Services is called to take care of these children. Sometimes, the adults are not taken away but are told directions of what to do next to make sure that the children are taken cared of first. That’s hard to watch your own government official bashing the law that should discourage unlawful entry or stay.
If someone who broke a law is called “patriotic”, what makes that of the officers from Homeland Security, the military, and other branches of government who sacrifice their lives to protect this country against criminals and terrorists?
The fact is that "modern liberalism" seems to cater to what will be good with their political agendas, rather than doing what is right in God's eyes. They even challenge the faith that had formed this nation of liberty. They see all religions as equal.
Liberalism can be like “the attitude that says diversity is always good, truth is negotiable, and every opinion is equally valid.”[The Case For Real Jesus by Lee Strobel, page 34].
“What has happened in modern liberalism is that the Christian ideals of liberty and equality have been divorced from their Christian context, emptied of their Christian meaning, and distorted into something they were never intended to be. In Christianity, God’s glory is the supreme good. In modern liberalism, liberty and equality have become the supreme goods – now, men are to be free – not to serve God, but to pursue their own desires. Now, men are to be equal not for the sake of justice, but in the interest of individuals and class envy.” [A Warning Against Modern Liberalism by Samuel E. Waldron; Truth for Eternity Ministries; 1998].
We need to pray for all of our leaders, starting with the President. Not only the Liberals but for everyone serving this beautiful country, "a nation that is under God" whose leaders seem to be turning away from Him.
We know that only if we humble ourselves and pray and seek the Lord’s face and turn from our wicked ways, then the Lord will hear us from heaven, forgive us our sins and heal our land [2 Chronicles 7:14]. Please don’t forget the ones sacrificing their lives every day for our freedom! For all the saints working for His Kingdom. For the true meaning of liberty that is from God! To Him be the glory!
Whether you agree or not, I respect your opinion, so feel free to comment. This was intended to request anyone who wants to pray for our leaders to turn to God. God bless.
Ephesians 4:17,18 –“Live no longer as the ungodly do, for they are hopelessly confused. Their closed minds are full of darkness; they are far away from the life of God because they have shut their minds and hardened their hearts against Him.”
John 8:12 –Jesus said to the people, “I am the light of the world. If you follow Me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”
A unit called and requested the medical staff to evaluate this particular inmate they observed kicking the door at times and had not slept all night long. The charge nurse gave me the chart. He was just incarcerated that day. Asthma was the only medical problem marked on his health screen form. There was no history of mental problems.
A few minutes later, a tall man walked up to the clinic. His exhausted face had puffy eyes, red and slightly teary. He had good eye contact. Except, he seemed to be feeling low. He walked with a steady gait, but with noted slouched shoulders. He slumped on one of the blue chairs we use for sick calls.
To make the story short, the man admitted that he was hearing voices telling him to hurt himself. He has a history of depression, too.
I placed him in Suicide Watch to have custody and medical staff monitor him 24 hours a day for his own safety. I uttered a prayer for this depressed soul. I knew then, that whatever he was going through, ONLY the LORD knew…
“When morning comes, he will get the help he needs when the Psychiatrist comes. For now, it’s very important that we monitor his safety and keep him from taking his own life,"I told the deputy.
That man was long gone but I kept on thinking how hard it must be for him to be in this dark place, the jail, where there seemed to be no hope if he finds out that he has to stay for a long time because of the crime he committed. But much more, for his mental state to be also in the dark. That was like being imprisoned twice, physically and mentally!
We are all like that man, walking in the valley of depression, of darkness, of spiritual death. We are all spiritually dead because of sins, and only GOD KNOWS.
From Chapter 37 in Ezekiel [Life Application Bible], the Spirit of the Lord took Ezekiel to a valley filled with bones. The bones were scattered everywhere. And the Lord asked him, “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?”
“O Sovereign Lord, You alone know the answer to that,” replied Ezekiel.
The Lord said, “Speak to the winds and say: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into dead bodies so that they may live again.”
From Ezekiel’s vision, it illustrated that a new life can be restored both physically and spiritually. The dry bones represented the Jews in captivity – scattered and dead. Ezekiel felt he was speaking to the dead as he preached to the exiles because they rarely responded to his message. But these bones responded! Just as God brought life to the dead bones, He brought life again to His spiritually dead people.
Because God knew our state of eternal death, He sent His One and Only Son to be the sacrifice. He took away our sins by dying on the cross. But we must let Him in, into our hearts by believing in what Jesus had done. He is our only hope to restore our broken relationship with the Father, no one else.
If you are suffering from depression, please visit Brother Peter Stone’s site, a man who once walked in the valley of depression. But because of God’s grace, he managed to get out of the valley and eventually, he emerged on top! To God be the glory!
For those of you feeling there’s no more hope, let this post recommend you to be seen by Jesus! He knows what’s best for you to stop you from your heartaches and pains. Let His Light shine in the dark areas of your life. Please click on “Roman Road to Salvation” on my side bar to know how to accept Jesus into your life and live a life that will be full of meaning and hope. Just have faith and believe! We can have clarity and knowledge that comes from the Lord!
He turned his head again, with a smirky smile on his face. As if trying to tell me that “he got me!” But I continued to walk down that corridor, unfazed. I was about to start my shift. I was about to go to my work with a joyful heart, no matter what would come my way throughout the night…
I have been working nights for 19 years now. By God’s grace, when I sustained a painful neck injury from the hospital I used to work with, He brought me to a correctional facility, right when I was at the lowest point of my life.
To make a long story short, God did open this door of even a better and bigger opportunity. As soon as I started working in a detention facility, my neck pain had subsided. I didn’t need to lift patients. I didn’t have to deal with heavy Orthopedic kind of appliances like tractions, CPM’s [Continuous Passive Movement machine that exercises those newly-replaced knee joints], and others.
I’m not trying to say that the task is easier. It is not. Here, it’s a different kind of challenge to our Nursing abilities to assess, intervene and immediately treat illnesses or emergencies with the best option that is available.
I swiped my entry card and the electric-controlled gate swung open as I moved forward and found a great parking spot closer to the smaller gates where staff go in and out. Turning off my engine, I talked to the Lord, as I always do every night before going inside the detention facility. “Lord, I don’t know what will happen tonight. But You do. If it’s not too much to ask of You, may we have a quiet night? Lord, I ask for Your protection, for You to be my Shield. Please control my mouth and my tongue and my heart, that whatever I think or say will be pleasing to You. Lord, guide me with Your divine wisdom and give me the discernment, to do everything for Your glory! Use me as Your instrument in helping those who are still lost to find Your love and grace, through me. I thank You Lord for the peace and joy that You give me, despite me going into that dark place, I have nothing to be afraid of, knowing You are there with me.”
I opened the side door, grabbed my transparent bag that housed my little notes, stethoscopes and other things I use for work. With the other hand, I grabbed the see-through plastic bag that contained my sandwich, bottled water and a piece of fruit. I prefer to bring my food from home though we can order any food we want from our ODR [Officer Dining Room].
Swiping my card at every entry points, I reached “North Control” at the bottom part of this facility. It would be just a few steps away from my destination, the facility’s Clinic. I glanced at my watch. It was 11:25 p.m. I got 5 minutes to go before I was about to start my shift. My feet started rushing toward the door that led to the Infirmary.
About 2 feet away, that was when an inmate worker [dressed up in blues], came out of the door. Most of the time, if any inmate would come out, they patiently would wait for me or other staff and would hold the door open for us to go through. Not this particular inmate. He saw me, swung the metal door wide open so that he could let it close with a loud bang [if not on my face, at least, near my face!]. Bam! And it did! He saw me approaching with a couple of bags, one on each of my hand. It was obvious, I didn’t have an extra hand to open that heavy door.
That was when he looked, perhaps to see the kind of reaction his behavior would illicit from me, with that wide smirk, even without my eyeglasses, I would have seen from a distance. He was just so full of it! Full of whatever intentions he had to make me become angry, unhappy, intimidated or be afraid.
“Good night, “ I gently uttered as I smiled and acknowledged his presence. The smile on his face went away. He was dumbfounded. He didn’t expect that. I felt he wanted an angry kind of response. He stopped looking behind him [where I was]. He turned his head to its normal position, bowed his head, and his steps that were heavy as if intentionally done to cause an uproar became softer, softer as he headed down to the unit where he was housed. He never dared look behind him again. I didn’t hear the steps anymore and that body disappeared when the unit let him in.
He didn’t get me, but it is God’s love through me that got him! I might not know what he would still be thinking when he laid down on his bunk in his cell. I was not sure if a simple act of kindness thrown at his rudeness would make him think of what he just did. But one thing was for sure, he was not able to take my “joy” away. He was not able to intimidate me. He was not able to ruin my night!
The door from Infirmary swung open, too and my co-worker had popped it open upon seeing me by the door. I walked in, still with this unexplainable joy despite of what I had just experienced coming from a rude human being. No! My heart is too happy to notice those little annoyances. My heart will always rejoice, despite knowing that I’m working in a dark place where there are too many souls in need of the Light.
“Our unseen enemies are always lurking too, to seek, kill and destroy God’s children’s purpose for the Lord, their happiness, their joy. But no! They won’t succeed. For our God came here to give us lives and have it to the full!” "To the full" and don’t you Christian brothers and sisters forget that! God’s love and other blessings poured into our hearts until it overflows!!! “WE HAVE IT TO THE FULL!”
