A One Issue Voter?

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This year the election atmosphere is wicked mean. People in my life who vote on the opposite side of the aisle as I normally do, say, “You conservatives are one issue voters – it’s all about abortion for you.”

For the record: I care about education and support the local schools by paying my property taxes although I’ve never had a child in those schools. I want your kids educated to the best of the schools abilities and more. In all other areas, my husband and I pay way too much in taxes. So do you.

Others say, “It’s like abortion is your religion.”

For the record: No. I’m a believer in Jesus Christ not in an issue. There are two facts of my faith that I build my pro-life convictions on:

(1) Jesus came to this world as a baby – birthed the way we all were – through the body and labor of a woman. He was born vulnerable, naked, and covered in her blood. It was messy and beautiful.

(2) Jesus had time for the children who came to Him. Although the Bible doesn’t say this, His attitude toward them is gentle and loving. I think He was delighted to see them and hold them in His arms. Matthew 19:13 & 14 says,

¹³Then little children (in Luke the good doctor wrote babies) were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them.

¹⁴Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Jesus takes children and their well-being seriously.

I’m also told, “You can’t separate your beliefs from your politics.”

For the record: No one can. Everyone who steps up to vote, is motivated by their beliefs. For any of us to say our religion and our politics are 100% separate is to lie. Not all Americans believe the way I do. Some believe there is no God – that is their belief statement and it goes with them into every decision they make whether it’s personal or political. The only separation wanted by many is for me to leave my beliefs home while everyone else takes theirs along. That is not going to happen.

I am deeply concerned on many levels about the war. You can say my guy started it. Well, he was in office when the enemy attacked. I’m not saying he did everything right, but neither has the new guy. Yes, the new guy inherited a war in two countries, but he did so with knowledge and he promised things would be different. So why are they worse? My heart is far more concerned about the men and women over there fighting the enemies of freedom and working hard to set up a government of and for the people than who said what when. We could not be over there without the votes from both sides of the political aisle.

When I vote next Tuesday, I will do so as an American who believes in God. Others will do the same believing in no god or another god. If one is truly brave they will realize this is what makes us a great nation – our freedom OF (not from) religion.

I care about other things as well: the protection of children, the homeless, the sex slave industry, protection of marriage, health care, continued freedom of religion, conservation of America’s land as well as her sovereignty, finding alternative energy and fuel sources, using our own resources rather than being tied to the oil strings of vicious dictators who hate us, but get rich because of our need for their oil, literacy, human dignity, a cure for AIDs, a cure of cancer, corporate corruption, small business, welfare, Medicare, immigration, and humane animal treatment. Within this, I support the care of embryos and unborn fetuses.

I’m a news junkie and check in with CBS, Fox, Drudge, CNN, and other news sources daily. Funny thing happens every day – the headlines are different, but the reports are very similar – worded in favor of one side or the other, but the facts come out the same if the reader or listener really takes the time to know them. I read somewhere on one of the more liberal media outlets that most news readers ONLY read the headlines and very rarely the news itself. So, if they word the headline toward their bias, the reader glances at it and leaves thinking they know the whole story. We have a world of knowledge at our disposal and instead we let the headline writers decide for us.

The Republican platform is pro-life. The platform of the Democrats is largely (although there are several pro-life Dems out there and I think you’ll be hearing a lot more from them soon) pro-choice. In a free two-party nation, it’s my right to vote for the candidates whose political convictions are closet to mine. So are you. Good for us!

Like every other voter who cares, I take a boat load of concerns to the ballot with me. So will you. It’s the American way. Those of us who bother to vote care. It may be the only thing we have in common, but if we start there, who knows what could happen. Dialogue and debate -things that made this nation great.

So – like you who vote Democrat, I’m not a one issue voter by a long shot. Call me what you want – just remember this – like you, I vote for the man or woman I believe will do the most good for all of us on all the issues that matter to me. Abortion is one of them.

Graphic: © JJAVA – Fotolia.com

Choosing the Mother

Today a topic on my FB page sparked a respectful, yet passionate debate. I’m so glad my new FaceBook friend Bonnie brought it up. I’m also grateful to my friend Vicki for the stats and biblical input. Thank you both.

What if a pregnant woman’s life is in danger and the only way to save her is to abort her unborn child?

When Jon and I were first married, this question came up and I asked him whose life he would save. I’ll never forget the discussion because it was the first time I’d seen my strong young husband/lover with tears in his eyes.

He explained that based on his belief that his relationship with me comes first he said he’d choose to save me and abort our child. I valiantly tried to disagree saying I’d do anything to save my unborn baby even if it meant giving up my life.

He looked at me and said, “Then I’d lose you both.”

Secretly, I hoped God would never ask that of us. I remember thinking, “I’d rather be barren than have to make that decision.”

I was nineteen then. While I don’t believe this is God’s answer to that thought, at 52, I am and always will be a barren woman.

Jon and I talked about the way we might feel if we had to choose to abort our child to save me. We both thought we’d grieve the rest of our lives. We also knew we’d feel terribly guilty. Why guilty? I don’t know. Perhaps we’d always wonder if we’d played God and by-passed a miracle. We believe abortion is wrong – a sin. So if forced by circumstances to commit this sin, we’d need forgiveness. We know without a doubt God would grant it.

As I’ve pondered this devastating possibility over the years, I am still torn. A good mother gives her life for her child right? Wouldn’t it be selfish to save me and not try to save our baby? Or is Jon right and the marriage is to be placed ahead of the child?

Here’s a truth I know: like all other women, who for whatever reason, have chosen abortion, if this had been our experience, I would always be post-abortive. I’d suffer the same sorrows and regret and always wonder who the little one would have been. I’d miss this specific life and this loneliness would not end this side of heaven.

I also know God knows what my motives would be. In the end, like all other humans faced with life and death decisions, we’d have to trust Him to sort it out and grant us the reprieve our guilt would demand.

Here’s the thing I believe about guilt – it’s only effective when it’s a temporary condition that leads to forgiveness. If it lasts past confession and repentance, it’s no longer a tool used to bring us closer to freedom in Christ Jesus – it’s a tool of the devil who is determined to devour that freedom with despair.

Now let’s take this deeper yet. Let’s pretend. . .

-she’s one of my nieces

-she’s going to die and so is the baby if something isn’t done

-she wants to live and she wants her baby, but she can’t have both

-I want them both to live, but we’re all convinced – including her top notch medical team who although they aren’t God are SURE my beloved niece’s life is on the line – if we chose the child everyone loses

-if I choose my niece everyone loses

-I have to decide and we both have to live with it

-she looks at me and says, “Whatever you decide Aunt Joy.”

Lord have mercy on me – I’m going to choose her. Like my husband, if I can save one I will. I’ll grieve the decision my whole life and wonder if I made the right choice, but motivated by a combination of knowledge (the medical team) and my love, I’d pick my niece’s life over losing them both. Together we’d face the feelings and search for peace in the fact that God would know. If I was wrong, God would forgive – even this. Yes, even this.

Some who believe differently than I do try to claim this as a chink in the armor of my faith – that we Christians can do anything we want and we’ll be forgiven.

There is only one unforgiveable sin that will last forever and ever: unbelief in the Jesus who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

I believe God gave His Son so I could become His daughter. The intentional death of one to save my soul – it’s very personal to me this thing called salvation. Jesus’ self-less act for me. For you. For anyone who believes. The truth of this fact causes my heart to ache with both sorrow and exquisite joy. God made a way. His Name is Jesus. And yes, the abortion issue from any and all angles boils down to this. It is about God. It is always about God. All of it.

Because Romans 8:28 is still in the Bible, I also believe God can use all these decisions for His glory.

So, in my compassion am I becoming too tolerant? No. The compassion is not my own – it is from God. Is this a compromise in my passionately pro-life convictions? No. This side of the abortion isn’t the kind I stand against.

Like the character, Jonica, in my novel Rain Dance (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=joy+dekok) I find myself on a journey. If you dare to walk it with me, you will see what I see when I look inside me – a flawed woman who loves God deeply and wishes she was more like Him. I wouldn’t mind having all the answers, but they are God’s. Some of you will read this and call me a pro-life hypocrite. That’s okay. For me, the calling is about the babies and their mothers both. Even when it comes to mothers who kill their born alive children, I can’t separate them from each other no matter how I try.

Another Mother

Another mother who killed – more than once.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/10/26/police-pa-mom-killed-newborns-kept-bones/?test=latestnews

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20020686-504083.html

She’s been charged with murder and abuse of a corpse or in this case 4 to 5 infant corpses. Authorites are reporting that they are certain from the remains that four of the babies were born alive.

I looked at her pictures and felt a terrible sadness – her eyes are sad and hollow both. I prayed. Then the tears started. For the babies whose lifeless bodies are now being examined for answers. Who will be their voice?

So many questions and so few answers at this time. How did they die? Did they cry?

I cling to my faith as I wait with the world for answers. I know you cynics are wondering how God could give her babies He knew she’d kill. I can’t answer that to your satisfaction or mine. I can tell you Jesus loved the little children who came to see Him. He took them into his arms and blessed them even after His disciples tried to shoo them away. (See Mark 10:13-15 NIV at www.biblegateway.com) In His eternal presence no one can hurt them ever again.

As a childless woman I grieve for the babies. As a woman I hurt for a woman I cannot understand.

Heading Home

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I love to read. My husband knows if I am out of books, I’m going to be crabby. That may be the main reason he bought me a Kindle last Christmas. My next new book is a few satellite seconds away!

One of the best books I’ve read this year is by an author named John Robinson. I was already a fan of his first series of novels – The Joe Box Series (now available at Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Until-Last-Dies-Mystery-Book/dp/1589190211/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1287927306&sr=8-1-catcorr). Go ahead and buy all three at once – you’ll enjoy reading them one right after the other!

One of my favorite things about John’s writing is that he writes like a guy. He knows the majority of his readers are going to be women, but he doesn’t write to please us or try to make his characters understandable or hyper-sensitive to our female needs. Like my other favorite male writers – he’s a guy writing the stories he’s been given. He stays true to that. This makes his writing authentic.

The moment I started reading Headed Home, I was immediately connected somehow to the character named Dooley. I put my head down on my desk and wept over this kid. I found myself rooting for all the remnants of a fictional Vietnam combat unit. Every character mattered. I wanted to pray for them! Then, there is the final scene in the church – Robinson wrote evil so bad, my heart pounded and my fists clenched.

I found myself making a list of the people who I want to know Jesus before He comes again and praying about ways to reach out to them.

The author has generously given you the first two chapters of this book on his website:

www.johnrobinsonbooks.com

You can purchase Heading Home from all local and online bookstores or at Sheaf House Publishers (www.sheafhouse.com)

A Walk in the Rain

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I love walking in the rain under an umbrella. I especially like my umbrella of many colors. It is large enough that if a child I love wants to join me, there’s room. Or, if I feel a twirl coming on and need to stretch out one arm – there’s room. Under its generous space, I have a place to think. The day doesn’t have to be warm to entice me into its rain drop drenched air. Any rainy day will do.

This is where I sometimes go to clear my head or talk things over with God. Because we live in the country, I can walk along the gravel and say what I need to out loud. A few years ago, I took a walk along a different gravel road. The rain was gentle although my thoughts were stormy. I’d spent the morning with a woman who was facing a crisis pregnancy – not her first. She’d confided a dreadful secret: the child in her womb was her 8^th child. She’d given one up for adoption and the others to abortion. With tears streaming down her face she told me how abortion had become her birth control backup.

The timing was hard – Jon and I had just completed infertility testing and had come away with no real answers. I was pretty sure I had enough sorrow on my plate thank you very much.

When the rain started to fall that day, I yearned for the solitude of my umbrella. Under my colorful canopy I stopped in the middle of the road and began an earnest discussion with God.

“Father, it doesn’t make any sense. I love her – more now than I did before I knew about the abortions. That has to be You. I am not capable of this on my own. Ever. The me side of this wants to know why You gave her those babies instead of us. The You side of me wants to love her and help her find healing in You. I love the other women in my life who have had abortions too. I know You want to use me somehow in their lives but, what are You thinking? It doesn’t make any sense at all to have a barren woman minister to post-abortive women. We have so little in common.”

I waited as the rain danced on my umbrella.

Truth washed across my soul with this thought: “It didn’t make sense that I sent my sinless Son died for your sins long before you were conceived either, but I did.”

I didn’t hear an actual voice, but something in my heart recognized the inner voice of my Shepherd.

Still in the middle of the road, I surrendered to God’s perfect logic.

In that moment, grief engulfed me. I burst into tears of loss and ache – not for the babies I’d never carry in my womb, but for the women whose wombs had been emptied intentionally. Sobbing, I walked home promising God I’d do whatever He asked me.

A couple of years later an idea was born in my heart. Three years after that my novel, Rain Dance, was birthed in publication. I’ve had the privilege of standing with post-abortive women and we share our stories together. What didn’t make sense at first makes perfect sense as people begin to hear these beautiful, talented, intelligent, and believing women tell their stories. Face to face with these women what was once a political conviction becomes a personal connection.

While the title doesn’t have anything to do with this rainy memory, it sure is neat how God reminded me of that important walk in the rain with Him today.

What’s Under Your Hood?

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A couple of weeks ago, our dog indicated she wanted Jon to take a look under the hood of his car. Sophie pranced and jumped until he clicked on the button of his key bob. Jon’s Impala had been sitting in the driveway for a few days instead of its normal space in the garage. Still Jon thought he was being silly giving in to the whim of a very cute dog.

On the air cleaner sat a fox squirrel looking for a fast get away route. Since Jon had Sophie and her brother Tucker on their leashes, the small wild one was in luck. He scampered down with a combination of ease and confidence.

He’s been around for awhile.

This squirrel (or his identical cousin) hangs out in our yard often. He sits on the patio, messes around in the gazebo, and lays on his belly in the big bird feeder waiting for a fresh snack. He seems to know we won’t let the dogs chase him although they strain in his direction and bark briefly.

He watches me from a comfortable branch when I sit nearby in the sunshine or am watering the flowers. He loves apples (we have twenty trees and don’t mind sharing) and bird food – we share that willingly too. He’s good entertainment.

Since the car incident, he has a name. I call him Hot Rod. There’s another squirrel with a name on the place – he resides down by the pond – his name is Hurricane – he’s a little red squirrel who likes to spin in a circle – fast. Not sure what that behavior means, but again – he’s good entertainment.

Both squirrels scold me from time to time if they think I’ve invaded their turf. Hot Rod is quieter and more tolerant. He also knows who fills up the feeders. He watches the kitchen window knowing I’ll see him and bring out the goodies.

I know it sounds strange, but I like knowing the wild ones on our land have me figured out. I’m good with that.

Photo purchased from fotolia

Bits & Pieces of Me

Monthly Archives: October 2010

A One Issue Voter?

Choosing the Mother

Another Mother

Heading Home

A Walk in the Rain

What’s Under Your Hood?