The crazy game of LIFE

     I love the board game LIFE. As you travel around the board trying to get to retirement you get to "experience" the crazy ride of life. For example: getting married, have a baby, mid-life crisis, family vacation, etc.

    Like the game of LIFE, real life can be a crazy and eventful ride sometimes, but unlike the game of LIFE we don't just wander around the board until we make it to the end. As a believer in Jesus Christ our purpose in life is so much more then that.

    

     What is our purpose in life? Well let's grab a LIFE Chip and see:

LIFE Chip #1:

"So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31

   
     We were created to bring glory to God in everything we do. Whether you are eating, drinking, sleeping, working, doing homework, watching TV...we need to be sure that it's glorifying to God.

     Let's grab our second LIFE Chip and see the next one:

 LIFE Chip #2:

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:10     

     We also need to be willing to be used by God. God has given us special talents and gifts that He wants us to use for His purpose and His glory. We need to be using those gifts for Him and not ourselves.
      We can also glorify God by doing what He asks us to do.

     Alright, let's look at our third and final LIFE Chip:

LIFE Chip #3:

"For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the LORD, thoughts of good and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

     God has a special plan for our lives. We aren't just aimlessly roaming a game board trying to get to the end. We are working towards a goal: to glorify God in all that we do and to strive to be more and more like Him everyday.     

   

Children Without a Voice (Ethics Essay)

I'm in an Ethics class this semester. We had to pick a moral belief that we stood of and defend it using two out of four ethical terms. This is the stand I took...
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Murder: the crime of unlawfully killing a person especially with forethought.
Termination: end in time or existence.
Abortion: the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy.

I just gave you three different definitions for three different words. To some, these are just three different words with no connection, but to me they couldn’t be more intertwined.
According to the principle of impartiality all people are equal. I believe this includes life inside and outside the womb. We hear of murder trials and convictions almost every day. We hear that people have their “rights”. According to our own Declaration of Independence here in the United States “all men are created equal…with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life…” If all people are indeed equal, then doesn’t that include the life of the baby inside his or her mother’s body? Doesn’t he or she have the same “right to life” as any other human being?
Men and women who murder are put on trial. Should it not be the same for those who kill these innocent children? The universal perspective gives the idea that if one moral rule applies to one situation then it also applies to all other same and similar situations. The life of an unborn child is just as important and valuable as the life of any other living person. If murdering a born “living” child is wrong, then killing an unborn “living” child is also wrong.”
More than fifty million babies are aborted each year in the United States alone. Many will argue that the baby being aborted is, in fact, not an actually baby. I can’t scientifically prove to you that life starts at conception, but it can’t be disproven either. A baby’s heartbeat can be heard between eighteen to twenty-one days after conception. At five weeks his or her eyes, hands and legs begin to develop. At six weeks the baby’s brain waves can be detected. By eight weeks all the baby’s organs are in their proper places. Between nine and twelve weeks the baby can turn his or her head. The organs begin to function and it grasp things in his hands. It can experience pain, because his or her nervous system and spinal cord has developed.  At week seventeen the baby can dream. At twenty weeks the baby can recognizes his or her mother’s voice. Anytime between the time of conception and twenty weeks any woman can abort her baby. Each one of those children are special and unique. They can’t use their voice to tell you who they are, but doesn’t mean they’re not there pleading for their lives.
     In our social system today, children who cannot protect themselves are appointed a Guardian Ad Litem. This is someone who acts or speaks on the child’s behalf. This includes children with handicaps and special needs. The Guardian Ad Litem becomes the voice of the child. Our society supposedly values children. Do you, society, value the lives of these unborn children? All children deserve a voice, born and unborn.

Nicaragua-Day 9&10: July 7-8, 2012

     This was our fun day in Nicaragua. We got to see most of Managua and some other places in Nicaragua. I ziplined over a volcano! Scariest thing I've ever done, but so amazing at the same time! We also went swimming in a volcano. So fun! We went to the market again. It was fun to just relax and hang out with the Woughter family for the day.
     On Sunday we taught at the church we taught at our first Sunday there. It was the perfect ending to the trip. The kids enjoyed having us back and we enjoyed getting to teach them again.
     I was so sad to leave. I really miss it down there. I hope I get another opportunity to go down there, but maybe for a little longer this time. God worked in so many ways in my life. It was so cool to watch Him touch the lives of the people down there. So thankful that I was able to go on this trip.

Nicaragua-Day 8: July 6, 2012

     This was our last full day of ministry in Nicaragua. It makes me sad to think about. We went to  a preschool and then a church (the names of where we went have escaped me.)
     We told the story of the Birth of Jesus again to them and then made bookmarks. We played some hot potato and had airplane contests. I think the airplane contests were the kids favorite. We had little foam gliders that we brought and put together and then the kids threw them to see whose would go further.
     Next we went to a church. It started out as a small group of 10 or so kids, but grew to a good 30 or more by the time we were done. We told the story of Daniel and the Lions Den and made bookmarks with them as well. Our time with them was shorter then we had thought, so we didn't get to do as much with them as we had planned.

Nicaragua-Day 6&7: July 4-5, 2012

     Today we were back in the little town by the Center. I finally learned the towns name: Rosario Murillo. It was named after President Daniel Ortega's wife. He gave the people the land after the began building there.
     We had even more kids then we did the first day we were there. One the 4th we taught the story of Jesus' resurrection and then made Salvation bracelets with them. We also brought facepaint with us this time and drew on the kid's faces. They loved this! I learned a lot of my Spanish this way. :) It started raining before we finished everything, so we got a little wet.
     It stopped raining long enough to swim and have our own little fireworks show for our Independence Day celebration.
     On the 5th we taught them the salvation story using an EvangaCube. Cari Woughter told the story in Spanish and I turned/flipped the cube around so they could see the pictures as she told the story. I think they really enjoyed it. Then we made bandanna's with the older kids. They thought that was cool. We also facepainted again.
     This was definitely my favorite place we went to. I'd love to go back to there again and work with the kids there some more.

Nicaragua-Day 5: July 3, 2012

     Today we drove between 2-3 hours to the city of Sebacco. We went with another small group of people. We taught two groups of kids at the same church. The first group was smaller then the first group. There probably around 20 kids. We told the story of the Birth of Jesus and made little cross boxes to remind them that Jesus is God's gift to us and the greatest gift of all. We also played hot potato with them. They really enjoyed it. 
     After the first group, we ate some lunch and went to see some Indian ruins. It was a lot of climbing, but it was very cool to see. We also got to see the home of a poet that used to live in the area; Rubin Dario. He was pretty popular to the Nicaraguans. 
     I fell asleep on the drive home. It was a very long day, but very fun day.

Nicaragua-Day 4: July 2, 2012

     We went to the little town by the Center today. It used to be an empty piece of land about a year ago. People started building houses there about a year ago and now it's a town of 800! The houses are pretty much just wooden or metal frames with black tarps around it or random pieces of wood or metal. Some have dug wells and planted gardens of beautiful flowers.
     There are so many
kids in this little town. The church there (their is no building yet, just a metal frame) feeds the children in the area lunch. We went to the store to buy some chicken for them. Then we went to an outdoor market a vegetable. It was a very interesting market. It can be pretty dangerous in there.
      The story and craft went well. We had a little over 100 kids. These kids aren't used to sitting for very long, but they did a pretty good job sitting there and seemed interested in what we were saying. We told the story of Daniel and the lions den. We didn't have enough cups for all the kids to make one, so we split the groups into two. The older ones made the cups and the younger ones made loin masks out of paper plates and yarn. We are going to be back here on Wednesday and Thursday,