Shock and disbelief… Jon Stewart is dropping the laughs and completely working to create more honesty and help us normal citizens by calling people out LIVE.

Wow… I’m truly impressed…

This is seriously embarrassing for Jim Cramer, a supposed financial expert who is supposedly “on our side”… Jon Stewart practically puts him in a headlock with his honest, blunt words.

Again, I’m impressed… honesty, intelligence, efforts to be upstanding… GO JON!! :)

Comment what you think.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/index.jhtml?episodeId=220533

Honestly… I’m just really sick of my life being chaos… Clinging to the truth that You stay true when my world is false… even when everything around’s always breaking down to chaos…

Complication is my claim to fame
I can’t believe there’s another, constantly just another
and I can’t avoid what I can’t control
I’m losing ground, still I can’t stand down
I know, yeah I know…

~Mute Math “Chaos”

Please read all of this because its amazing. :) I have written down part of a sermon by Paul Matthies at The Village Church (the church I attend, you can get the sermons through iTunes podcast: The Village Church sermons. I highly recommend it! :)). This sermon is the third part of his “Only the Lonely” series (amazing!). He is talking about loneliness, how to deal with it, the roots of loneliness, and how to respond to God through it. Please read it a few times even and please pray about it and examine your heart. Let God change you and love you into a better you. Let God tell You who He is and draw you into a closer relationship with Him. :) ~Mandy

“A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.

God intends to give us what we need, not what we think we want. Once more we are embarrassed by the intolerable compliment of too much love, not too little.” ~C.S. Lewis in The Problem of Pain

“Do you understand that God is worthy of worship regardless of how we feel and regardless of the circumstances we’re in? We have to learn to put a period where God puts a period. And He says “I am worthy of worship” period. Worship is not just a response to what God does for us, it’s a response to who He is! Do we realize, church, that if God never did another good thing for us, He would STILL be worthy of worship? God as His very nature of being God is Self-existent and Self-glorious and His very nature mandates worship because He is God and we are not. He is glorious! He is the Creator and we are the created thing and we must ascribe to Him the glory due His Name. Because He is worthy of worship regardless of the gifts He gives us, even if He’s seeking to hide His face.

Later in the sermon:

“And here we must understand that just because God is hiding His face from His children does not mean that God has quite working. If anything He is working in us that which is most pleasing to Him: Faith! And so when God is hiding His face from us it goes something like this, [He says]: “Seek Me. I’m going to hide my face from you, but right now I’m doing the most important work in you that I could ever do. I’m going to teach you what it means to diligently seek Me period. And I’m going to give you a heart of worship that says I am worthy of worship period. Not for the things I do but for who I am. So are you going to turn to the world? Are you going to turn away? Or are you going to keep pressing in? Because right now if you trust me I’m doing the most important thing in you that I could do. I’m working in you the thing that pleases me. And what pleases me is faith that leads to worship.” So God is not turned away from us though He hides His face. He’s doing the most important thing He could do in us. He’s giving us the level of faith and type of worship that makes Him smile! What does this have to do with loneliness you may be wondering? What it has to do with loneliness is that sometimes its not the will of God for you to run from your loneliness. Sometimes its not the will of God for you to fill it up with the world or with other people. Sometimes the will of God for your life is to walk in it. Don’t run from it, walk in it. Why? Because seeing it as something given by God we then can understand that in that moment even though we may not feel it, He is working IN us FAITH!

Its not going to always feel good to assume an attitude of worship. Because the thing about dying to self is that sometimes it feels like death.

Worship is not my way of controlling God and changing Him. Worship is my means by which I submit to God’s control and He changes me!”

~Paul Matthies in the 3rd part of his Only The Lonely series at The Village Church

“A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.

~1 Chronicles 16: 25-34

My eyes are burning
and threatening tears
Are You there?
Do You care?
I sigh as I hear nothing
Knowing I have probably
pushed Him so far out
to the limits
of my self-built
“safety zone”
“He isn’t safe,
but He’s good.”

I fear the silence
Not wanting to be honest with myself
why I do
I fear I won’t hear You
I fear I’m alone
So I fill every orifice
with clutter
and noise
to drone out my fears

Til I’m deaf

The last thing I want to be

Deaf to You

And my heart breaks.

~Me

I hate nights like this where I just feel so… indescribable.

Or maybe its that I know exactly why I’m feeling this way and I hate it… I hate that these things still bother me, still hurt me so deeply…

Why do I have to be wounded? Why won’t they go away? Why don’t people who I love just let me love them rather than attacking me or pushing me away…?

Why does this have to hurt so much…?

Pain, please go away… please… please go away…

I hate that you and you and you and you and you hurt me. I hate that the hurts won’t completely go away. I hate that I feel damaged. I hate that my wounds could one day wound others like yours’ have wounded me. I hate that I care about you because it does it bring me pain. I hate that I can’t let go of those I love. I always love them and it hurts. I hate that I feel so confused the majority of the time. I hate that I feel lost. I hate that my feelings control me at times like this. I hate that I can’t stop them. I hate that I don’t know why you did that to me. I hate that people tell me I shouldn’t ask. I hate that I want to ask why. I hate that you don’t care enough about me to get over your own crap so that it doesn’t hurt me, when I constantly try to get over mine so it doesn’t hurt you. I hate that I yearn for someone to love and live my life with. I hate that I’m scared I won’t know how to receive that love once it finds me. I hate that I don’t always trust God. I want to trust Him so much more. I hate when He doesn’t answer my prayers clearly and I especially hate it when the prayers involve other people’s hearts and I’m lost with what to do. I hate being afraid. And sometimes I hate caring for people as much as I do… and right now, I hate needing to say all of this…

Hello my friends! :) I know a lot of you have asked about my trip to Africa two years ago and I would explain the best I could, but I could never put my experience into words the way this woman did in her blog. Africa is still far better experienced than talked about (because words cannot do it justice) but this blog does VERY WELL at describing my experience as well, even though I went to Uganda rather than Zimbabwe. Please read it because every one of the 50 people in my group felt the same way… This blog was written by Kate McDonald. She is an amazing writer and her blog is: http://katemcdonald.wordpress.com Oh and please read the comments by a woman named Lisa too, because she actually grew up in Africa. I’d love to read your responses too! Oh how I miss Africa…

“<b>I Need Africa More Than Africa Needs Me</b> November 24, 2008 by katemcdonald

*read through post for all exciting news* The flight from Auckland, New Zealand to Johannesburg South Africa was almost 16 hours. Oh, and I was six months pregnant with Cohen. The flight attendant found an empty row and let me stretch out and prop my feet up. For as long as I could remember, I had wanted to go to Africa. While I had heard the sentiments of other church-goers that they were afraid to to say to God ‘Here am I! Send me!’ because He might send them there, I had said so kind of in hopes He might. You see, I had this lofty idea I would go and change the world. By the time I was 25 and actually going I knew I might not change the world, but I was sure just seeing Westerners and knowing we would go back and share their stories would elevate these “down trodden third world victims”. The images I had of Africa as a child- vivid colors of traditional garments and long histories of tribal dance and story telling- had morphed into a single image of a child with a distended belly in a swarm of flies. Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to experience. I tried to think and mentally get in gear in the months before we left and even tried to cram in some last minute preparations of that dreaded 16 hour flight. Africa wasn’t what I expected. Sure, we were witness to funeral, we met children who have AIDS, we met lots of orphans who were being raised by the elderly or the oldest child in the family. I just had never let my mind get beyond the suffering… I prepared myself to be to experience only that. Suffering. Imagine my surprise that the lasting impression I have of Africa is one of JOY. And not joy in spite of suffering, just JOY…the kind that has no strings attached. From the moment we got off of the plane, we were met with beautiful smiles and warm welcomes. Every family we met laughed and embraced us even as they shared what hardships that had endured. We met a man who had a boatload of children and several farm animals and he was literally GLOWING as he explained to us how they were learning to farm in the midst of drought and be the best stewards of what they had. One of my personal favorite experiences was the day we spent at a local school. The children had prepared for us a program, complete with dancing and singing and original poems and several plays the learned in English. At one point, the drug Shawn out onto the “stage” with them and strapped some hollowed out gourds to his legs and made him try to replicate their moves. If it hadn’t been for some missing shoes and the thinness of many of their bodies, we might never have known they were lacking anything. Shawn was behind the camera a lot on the trip and I was never without my pen and notebook. Still, I often felt at a loss for what to write. I had planned on writing such gut wrenching stories of terror that everyone who read them would be compelled to empty their pockets and bank accounts on behalf of this charity. But I found myself wanted to write about funny moments during the day and dancing and a sense of community that gave context for everything else that was happening… even at the funeral we attended…the whole neighborhood came out in the best clothing and held each other and sang for hours and wept together… even in that saddest of moments, the note worthy event wasn’t death. After our last church service in Zimbabwe (where we spent most of our time), I was in awe. The team of workers there, all originally from Zimbabwe, had sung with passion and harmonies that left every hair on my body standing at attention. I was too moved to talk; to moved to sing. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I listened to songs I was familiar with and others whose language eluded me and realized that it didn’t even matter: the Spirit was the same. That evening, our little group stretched out on the ground outside our little house and watched the stars. We watched mostly in silence, knowing that for all of us, this trip hadn’t been what we had expected. My thoughts went most often to the sweet, nearly blind grandmother we had met- “GoGo Moyo”… she heard us coming and had run out to meet us, singing and jumping and embracing us… she is raising her three granddaughters and has buried all of her children and yet when we asked about her hardships, the translator listened and then began to repeat “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…” I thought about her words and her demeanor and those eyes blued by age but alive and dancing none the less. A shooting star flung itself across the perfectly black night sky and I knew the beautiful and royal people of Africa had given me more than I could ever give back; I knew that had made a permanent place in my heart. Isn’t that just how it is? So often when we go to serve, we find ourselves the recipients of something greater. I need Africa- I need her rich history. I need her creative problem solving and hard work and determination to survive. I need the strength of Her spirit. I need her JOY that comes not from having modern conveniences, but that comes from a well within. I need her hope in the face of great challenges. I need her faith that what God says is true even if you can’t see it right now. I came with images of suffering in my mind, and left impressed with the spirit of these brothers and sisters. I no longer see Africa as a place we need to rescue because of their poverty. I see Africa as a place we need to partner with because of the great inner poverty we will sustain by not recognizing all that She has to offer us. We need Africa more than Africa needs us. I need Africa more than Africa needs me. I have been asked to be a part of a few campaigns but nothing that has excited me more than this one. If you haven’t heard of Mocha Club, then I am excited to get to be the one to introduce you. Mocha Club is a community-based website where members can start a team and invite friends to join them in giving $7 a month – the cost of 2 mochas – to support a project in Africa. Mocha Club’s vision is to provide a way for people who don’t have hundreds or thousands of dollars to make a difference in Africa. Share your thoughts in my comments, and even blog about it yourself. Join in the worthwhile cause of recasting the damaging images that force pity over partnership. Come back Dec 1st to see what Mocha Club is doing about reforming that image. We get to be apart of more than just talking about it friends- can’t wait!”

Comments by Lisa:
“Lisa Hey! I think Mocha Club is a GREAT initiative and I will help spread the word! Can I just say, though, that Africa is a HUGE place- a continent with hundreds of religions, cultures, histories and races- and I think we should be wary of describing/defining it simply in relation to us (i.e. The West) and what Africa needs from us or what we need from Africa. We should definitely learn from Africa and recognize or co-dependence, but I think that begins by recognizing it’s multiplicity and vastness. Thinking we understand all of it and what we need from it by visiting or reading about one place is problematic. Colonialism and the devestating effects of Imperialism have permeated our Western discourses concerning Africa and it’s hard to determine what is fact and what just is fabricated images of Africa. But language and terminology are important- we need to think carefully about how label and talk about Africa, so that we do not unknowingly perpetuate a colonialist tradition. I’m not in any way saying this in judgement- I hope that’s clear- this is something I struggle with myself and hope to get better at. I grew up in Northern Africa- Khartoum, Sudan- and have visited a few other countries around there. I’m often perplexed and confused by the discrpancy between that experience and my studies now (I’m doing an MA in English in London and a large part of our course involves Postcolonialism and how we define ‘The Other’ in relation to the ‘Self’ etc). My parents followed a call that had them leaving everything behind and settle in Khartoum in an attempt to change things and I reap the harvest of their courage every day. But I am also painfully aware of how easy it is to do more harm than good. Anyhow, I just wanted to slide these thoughts in here.. I love your blog Kate, it’s so raw and honest! My Dad always says that when you have been a missionary for a while you realise that missionary work is first and foremost for the missionary, second of all it’s for the church back home sending the missionary out, and finally, if you are lucky (or blessed!), you might be able to contribute something to the country you have been sent to! He always talks about how grateful he is to have had the opportunity to live Africa and all that it has given him, he always thanks his Sudanese friends for putting up with him… We need more African missionaries in the West! All right, I’m off but felt compelled to write this. Have a blessed week! x on November 24, 2008 at 5:09 pmLisa I just read over what I wrote and perhaps I did not express myself very well.. sorry! All I meant was that the notion of the African Exotic Other as a moral guide for the depraved West is a very old one… Africa has been denied an identity in and of itself and has only been employed as an abstract concept in order to define the West. It exists as it is whatever we theorize it to be. Mabye that wasn’t a whole lot clearer, but there you go! x”

https://www.mochaclub.org/ <a

“(Art)… rescues us from our self chosen triviality, to which we are so prone. It is like a deep organ note that makes my hair stir and a shiver run through me. I ‘pull back’ from life, like a camera taking a long shot with a wide angle lens. I quite simply become aware of more reality than before.” -Colin Wilson

You’re so strange
the moves You make
the ways You save
Always unconventional

You’re so intriguing
the way You’re just You
no apologies
yet Your true essence is love

You never stop
You never sleep
Thats so unique
My human brain cannot comprehend it

I often feel confused
by Your moves
but checkmate,
their always perfect

Hindsight is 20/20
so they say
and so I see
with You and me

©Mandy

I both love and hate when a song just reminds you so much of something painful thats happened to you…

You speak of love
But you ain’t no lover
You were a friend
More like a brother

I think about how it might have been
We’d spend our days travelin’
It’s not that I don’t understand you
It’s not that I don’t want to be with you
But you only wanted me
The way you wanted me

So, I will head out alone and hope for the best
We can pat ourselves on the back
And say that we tried
And if one of us makes it big
We can spill our regrets
And talk about how the love never dies
But you and I, you and I know the reason why

Sometimes I wish I could go back to all the guys who have hurt me and tell them about how much they contributed to me being so fearful, confused, and paralyzed when it comes to relationships… scared to trust now when I’m naturally so trusting, hesitant to believe someone that they are who they say they are because none of them were, struggling to believe what they say is true and sincere and that they won’t just give up when things get tough, feeling like I should change myself sometimes because so many guys are afraid of a woman who is confident in Christ, and really… just so scared that I’d rather just be alone.

This is so not like me to write something like this… but right here, right now, I realized I needed to because thats exactly it… I’d rather take the blame than confront someone on what they did. I’m as honest and open as can be, but I hate to hurt, even if its the truth.

Hmmm… so many people and so many things flashing through my mind…

Sometimes I wonder… if only they knew.

What happened?
Where did you go?
I don’t recognize you now
Did I ever really know you?
You were so quick to criticize the people in my past
But you did everything they did
Hypocrite
You hurt me
But do you even care?

Wow… I feel like I can finally breathe again… This whole summer I have been struggling to breathe, gasping for breath even, but not in a physical way (even though I do have asthma). I have felt so suffocated, confused, paralyzed, deeply hurt, and responsible.

The last word may sound like a good thing: responsible. But in the way I mean it, its both deeply hurtful, dangerous, and suffocating. I will not be able to post this on my facebook because too many people know my parents and I am not writing this to give them a bad name. I love my parents DEARLY! So much that it almost kills me at times because they are impossible to please. I hate talking about this kind of stuff, but I must.

I have been living with my parents since the end of May because I moved out of my apartment in Grand Prairie and have been trying to find the right new place for me in Denton. Well thankfully I have finally found it, because this has been a really hard time for me. My parents are the type where they drive themselves crazy “performing” and “doing” and they are what many call “Type A” people. They are amazingly hard workers and I admire them greatly because of how hard they work, but I hate seeing how miserable they seem a lot of the time because the motive of their hard work is not largely love and service for God, but instead, largely fear and anxiety.

For example, my dad comes home from work everyday around 6-7pm. He is self-employed and does very well. He has earned every cent of it and never was given anything in that regard. My parents have a incredibly nice house and take care of it incredibly well. They have never spoiled us. But despite how gorgeous my parent’s house and ranch is, my dad comes home every single night and is displeased with something. Lately it has been that we have a few trees that are dying right behind our house. He has gotten so upset about those trees dying several nights that he even said that he’s selling this place and moving if any more die because he cannot stand seeing the big beautiful trees dying. Now granted, the trees are beautiful and if we lose them all it will detract from the place a lot, but if you could see the place you would know what I mean… its not that big of a deal in the context of life.

But every single day he still comes up upset about something whether its the trees, some weird mark on the driveway, the way the grass was cut or not cut, how low or high the pond is, whether its rained in awhile or not, some slight mark on some wall, or one of the other million things I have heard him say over the years. My mom is a lot like this too. I do not say all this to make fun of my parents. Not at all. I love them so much that it kills me that they find their worth in what they do. This is a completely futile thing because we, as human beings, are all so imperfect its ridiculous, and there is just no possible way that we will do even the majority of things perfectly, much less all of them perfectly. But, even though most Christians (and most non-Christians too) know this at least partially… we still live our lives with these incredibly high expectations that we will never meet.

Why is that? Well, that question in itself would take forever to answer, and honestly I definitely don’t have it all figured out either. haha But, I do know that we get that way from taking on other people’s impossible, unhealthy expectations and demands of us, consciously or subconsciously listening to what our society tells us we should be or what satan lies in our ear that we should be, and our own selfishness in wanting to be like God: in control and capable of anything.

So back to why I feel like I can actually breathe right now. I was just texting a girl back that had message me to pray for her. I love this girl dearly and she is going through a lot right now. She asked me to pray for her family, because of several reasons, and to pray for her because she wants to meet their needs so bad, but wanted me to pray that God would meet them. I know her very well and know she struggles with trying to be perfect all the time, so I prayed for her and her family and then just let God speak through me, and I actually felt Him speaking through me.

Then as I was writing one part of the text, it hit me like a loving message from God about the reality of what I was saying and the reality that I totally and completely needed to hear those same words myself! haha I just froze staring at the screen as I was lying on my bed with my fingers still on the keys…. “Wow…” is all I could think. Then I reread the message and couldn’t believe how much I needed to hear the same words! I was both so blessed, so amazing, and so humbled in that moment! God can speak in such incredible ways! Even through us and to us at the same time! haha :) This is what that part of the message said:

“…I will certainly be praying for you and your family often. I cannot imagine how helpless you must feel, but you are totally right, God is the only One that can meet all their and your needs. Please do not feel like you have to be perfect or meet their needs because that is a responsibility that you should not take on, and were not created to take on that responsibility…”

Wow… I cannot express to you or explain to you adequately enough how helpless, confused, and totally inadequate I have felt my entire life around my parents. Now don’t get me wrong, I know they love me. And like I said, I love them very much. But there is a funny thing about being a perfectionist and “never happy with anything” and “type A” and “performance oriented”… it bleeds out all over everyone, especially those you love, and makes a complete mess of things. I have learned in my life and through the lives of my family, that there is no way you can be all those things and not project them onto others. In other words, there is no way you can have impossibly high standards for yourself, be driven by fear that you will mess up at any moment or miss something, be never pleased with anything, or be always having to do “one more thing”… there is no way you can do all those things and NOT do those same things to others. You will automatically expect way too much of others, be way too hard on them, expect them to perform and please you (even if its subconsciously and just a little bit), and be driven by fear in your own life. That is one scary, dangerous way to live.

And I realized when I wrote that to my friend, that my parents started out the same way I have been feeling this summer and struggling against all my life. Thank God that I know Him and He helps me to struggle against it and even wakes me up to the knowledge that its happening so it can be changed! But I had forgotten about all this during this summer because I have been just struggling to survive around my parents amidst all their impossible expectations and demands and the fact that I am constantly disappointing them because their is no way I can ever fulfill those expectations. I was reminded that only God can fulfill things perfectly. We humans were literally not created to be able to, because we were meant to rely on a God who could, and lovingly wants to fulfill every need for us and others.

I have felt suffocated, deeply hurt, confused, and so many other things around them my whole life, and living with them again this summer just brought it all out even more so. But that doesn’t matter, after I realized all this and got over the beautiful shock of it all, I just prayed and prayed that God would not allow me to let all that junk ferment in me and become like my parents. When we take on responsibility that we were not meant to take on, like pleasing others, doing everything right, being perfect, fulfilling every want and need… it becomes a gigantic, messy disaster that is not totally exclusive to our life because it totally affects every single person around us, especially the ones we love.

I cannot express to you HOW MUCH I do not want to do that! I never, ever want to make someone feel like they are here on this earth to please me and if they don’t they are worthless! But unfortunately if we do not deal with this junk I have described above (and all of us have it in us at least somewhat and in someway), it will ferment and decay in us until it has consumed us and we are blind to it.

Basically, I’m just reminded even more how much that we all need Jesus. How much I need Jesus. And how incredibly awesome that is. We are not alone, we do not have to be perfect, nor does He want us to try to be perfect, we do not have to please others because that is impossible because of innate human selfishness and because God fulfills every person’s needs, and so many other awesome truths like that! :)

I can finally breathe again because I just let Jesus take all the impossible responsibilities and expected perfections that I had loaded myself with. Mmmmhmmmm… *deep breath* :)

And I’m reminded again that knowing Jesus is a beautiful thing. :)

I love you guys,
Mandy

I was reading this blog ( http://psalmonethirtynine.blogspot.com/2008/06/marketing-of-christianity.html ) and saw this prayer written below. We as Americans, we as people, all need to pray this prayer. I know I do. I know we are destined to do God wrong, but that doesn’t make me feel better after I have done so. He is so good. We are so bad. Yet in His immense goodness, He loves us and makes us free if we let Him. Astounding. :)

“Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says “Woe to those who call evil good,” but that’s exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values. We confess that: We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it moral pluralism; We have worshiped other gods and called it multiculturalism; We have endorsed perversions and called it alternative lifestyle; We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery; We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation; We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare; We have killed our unborn and called it choice; We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable; We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building esteem; We have abused power and called it political savvy; We have coveted our neighbors’ possessions and called it ambition; We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression; We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. I ask it in the name of your Son, the Living Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.”

My friend Leanna (her blog: http://hxchk.blogspot.com ) also wrote this poem, which reminds me of the prayer above. Oh Lord help Your followers.

christianity

christianity is
church on sunday and
wednesday and
always

is blue-eyed and
brown-haired and
bearded and
caucasian

is saying all the right things and
doing all the right things and
being at all the right places
and thinking all the right thoughts

is condeming and
unforgiving and
judgmental and
american

is like the brady bunch meets
a rock concert meets
motivational speaking meets
public demand

is not what He wanted or
what i wanted or
what the world needs or
what it was meant to be

is a competition of
charades, of
facades, of
who can be the most perfect

it is not about forgiveness or
beauty or
completion or
love

is not about love like
He is about love and
about beauty and

is not about Him, just
about us and

is robbing us
blind

I am currently cleaning my room and I have the radio on. Suddenly this song comes on by Everlast that I have heard a dozen times but this time I really heard it.

One thing that absolutely breaks my heart and enrages me at the same time is how people treat the homeless, the down and out, or any other person they deem ok to judge without trying to understand them at all.

I was recently in Chicago with my family and some extended family and while we were walking around, we passed many, many homeless people, including some vets who had lost their limbs in war. My heart broke walking past them because I knew that I could not help every single one of them AND I saw how people were acting like they did not exist… like they were not humans too, who deserved love, respect, and a chance, maybe even a second or third chance.

And what disgusted me so much that I had to work really hard to hold my tongue was what my dad and two of my extended family members said. They immediately responded the exact way the man responds in the song and said things like “Why don’t they go to the VA! They will help them! Maybe because they’re freakin’ drug addicts and alcoholics and don’t want to work!” or “Ugh… why don’t they go get a job! Not like its hard!” or “I can’t believe those people are faking being a vet to get money! How horrible!” All of these exclamations were said with the utmost in disgust and judgment. My stomach literally turned.

And this was on the way back to our nice suites at a nice hotel and after we had stuffed ourselves with a nice meal… not like any of us have ever been even close to where they’ve been and are.

Its funny how much they (and many others) supposedly “know” about these people by just looking at them. They are all “drug addicts”, “alcoholics”, “liars”, “cheats”, “lazy slobs”, or any other horrible thing you could think of to say. But the funny thing is… they have never tried to even ask these people their stories. They just judge them. Giving these people NO chance at the help they need whether they are what those people say or not.

I know some people who work at the Walmart in Denton and are homeless. They can’t help it at all. The husband had a serious illness that took ALL their money in medical bills and they lost EVERYTHING. They live on the streets of Denton and try their best and work at the only place that will hire them because of their status… Walmart. These people are AMAZING, yet people walk by them constantly and judge them so much that I don’t know how they don’t just give up. No wonder some homeless people choose to self-medicate their pain with alcohol and drugs. They need help no matter what.

Also, I have read several article lately about how the vets are not getting what they need from the government. They have been severely disabled in war for their country and many are not getting what the government promised them. Also, many homeless shelters are overloaded and can’t afford to help every person (or family) in need. There are so many other reasons that people are really and seriously in need of help, but unfortunately most people don’t care enough to find out these things.

And I don’t agree with abortion, but the same goes for that part of the song. How about you take a second to understand that they are scared to death at what will happen and need some love. Prostitutes, drug dealers… any other person that is constantly judged… How about we love them?? God forbid that they may be so scared or so down and out that they have no idea how to just survive. They just need a chance. A real chance. Jesus would not respond even close to how most of us respond to these type of people everyday. He would love them. Love them.

How about we all do that…? Lets all try a lot of love, peace, and understanding… you won’t believe the amazing things that will happen with just those three things. :)

We’ve all seen the man at the liquor store beggin’ for your change
The hair on his face is dirty, dreadlocked and full of mange
He ask the man for what he could spare with shame in his eyes
Get a job you fuckin’ slob’s all he replied
God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in his shoes
‘Cause then you really might know what it’s like to sing the blues

Then you really might know what it’s like
Then you really might know what it’s like
Then you really might know what it’s like
Then you really might know what it’s like

Mary got pregnant from a kid named Tom who said he was in love
He said don’t worry about a thing baby doll
I’m the man you’ve been dreamin’ of
But three months later he said he won’t date her or return her call
And then she heads for the clinic and she gets some static walkin’ through the doors
They call her a killer, and they call her a sinner, and they call her a whore
God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in her shoes

‘Cause then you really might know what it’s like to have to choose
Then you really might know what it’s like
Then you really might know what it’s like
Then you really might know what it’s like
Then you really might know what it’s like

I’ve seen a rich man beg
I’ve seen a good man sin
I’ve seen a tough man cry
I’ve seen a loser win
And a sad man grin
I heard an honest man lie
I’ve seen the good side of bad
And the down side of up
And everything between I licked the silver spoon
Drank from the golden cup
Smoked the finest green
I stroked the baddest dimes at least a couple of times
Before I broke their heart
You know where it ends
Yo, it usually depends on where you start

I knew this kid named Max
He used to get fat stacks out on the corner with drugs
He liked to hang out late at night
Liked to get shit faced
And keep pace with thugs
Until late one night there was a big gun fight
Max lost his head
He pulled out his chrome .45
Talked some shit
And wound up dead

Now his wife and his kids are caught in the midst of all of his pain
You know it crumbles that way
At least that’s what they say when you play the game
God forbid you ever had to wake up to hear the news
‘Cause then you really might know what it’s like to have to lose
Then you really might know what it’s like
Then you really might know what it’s like
Then you really might know what it’s like
Then you really might know what it’s like

To have to lose…

~Everlast “What its like”

“Jesus Christ, that’s a pretty face
The kind you’d find on someone that could save
If they don’t put me away
Well, it’ll be a miracle

Do you believe you’re missing out
That everything good is happening somewhere else?
But with nobody in your bed
The night’s hard to get through

And I will die all alone
And when I arrive I won’t know anyone

Well, Jesus Christ, I’m alone again
So what did you do those three days you were dead?
’cause this problem’s gonna last more than the weekend.

Well, Jesus Christ, I’m not scared to die,
I’m a little bit scared of what comes after
Do I get the gold chariot?
Do I float through the ceiling?

Do I divide and fall apart?
’cause my bright is too slight to hold back all my dark
And the ship went down in sight of land
And at the gates does Thomas ask to see my hands

I know you’re coming in the night like a thief
But I’ve had some time, O Lord, to hone my lying technique
I know you think that I’m someone you can trust
But I’m scared I’ll get scared and I swear I’ll try to nail you back up

So do you think that we could work out a sign
So I’ll know it’s you and that it’s over so I won’t even try

I know you’re coming for the people like me

But we all got wood and nails
And we turn out hate in factories
We all got wood and nails
And we turn out hate in factories
We all got wood and nails
And we sleep inside of this machine”

~Brand New “Jesus”

I love that song. I love the honesty and vulnerability in it. I also both love and hate how I (and honestly all humans everywhere) can relate to this song. I hate how completely awful I am to my loving Jesus. 

I do get scared often and try to nail Him back up. 

…I almost couldn’t breathe when I wrote that last sentence.

I hate that His love scares me sometimes and my reaction is to run.

Oh Jesus, how I need You.