Nieces and Nephews

To my nieces and nephews,

I love you all dearly.  Many of you are in your teen years or older.  I'm sure you're not looking for any advice, but I want to be sure that I share two things with you.  These are the most important things for your future happiness.

The first thing I want to share with you is Jesus Christ.  Most of you know me (I'm sorry that I've not had the privilege to be in all of your lives) and know that I do my best to always tell the truth no matter how difficult it is.  Well, the truth is that God is real.  He exists and the world doesn't want you to believe in Him.  Or if they are okay with believing in Him, they want to water it down and tell you that He is just one of many viable options.  Or they try to make you think that being outspoken about God is being prejudice.  These are all lies.  There is only one true God.  He loves you.

He loves you more than your parents or I could ever love you.  And hopefully you know that your parents and I would happily give our lives for you.  God doesn't just say this, He proved it.  Because we are all sinners.  Be honest - you know you've done something wrong or thought something bad at least once in your life.  (I know none of you are angels.)  These bad things are sin.  You don't bring prisoners to dine with the Queen or the President.  You don't bring sinners into the presence of the one true God.  So how can a loving God unite Himself with His sinful children.  Well, sins have to be paid for - kind of like fines.  The penalty for sin is death.  We all will die physically one day.  However, that is just our body.  Our spirit, who we truly are, is already dead because of sin.  So once we die, we will not be able to enter the presence of God.

Wow, Aunt Bonnie, how sad.  Now what?  Well, God came up with a plan, a way to pay the penalty for everyone at once.  He sent His son Jesus to be born of a virgin and live a perfect sinless life.  And then after healing and teaching the people of Israel, Christ was beaten, tortured, and then nailed to a cross.  He died on the Cross and then went on to defeat sin and the grave.  Yay!  So now we don't have to die.  His death paid the price for all of our sins.  But you have to know Jesus Christ.  You have to seek him out.  You have to believe.  If you do this, then He will move in your life through the Holy Spirit to cause you to make different (better) life choices.  He will guide you and see you through every trial as you seek to live life the way He has commanded.  Those who don't believe will not be reunited with God, not because of their sins, but because they chose not to have faith in God.  This has been  the key to my life.  I have not always followed well, but I have always and will always follow God.  I hope you do too.


The second thing I hope you know is to respect yourself.  God wants you to have the best, but often times we settle for what we want right now.  I encourage each of you to graduate high school, go to college, and then start families.  In that order.  I also encourage you to wait until you are married to have sex.  God created sex to be a wonderful and special thing between a husband and wife.  You will never experience the joy that God has planned for you if you take what was consecrated to be a special union and make it common place by having multiple partners and by having sex outside the bonds of marriage.  Respect and love yourself enough to give yourself the best.

If you learn those two things (love God and love yourself), then I know your life will be successful.

All my love,
Aunt Bonnie

2011 Doomsdayers

Wow!  Everywhere there seems to be a lot of people predicting the end of the world.  Animals are dying - end of the world!  A video has a flare (or has been doctored) - end of the world!  Comets are flying by the earth - end of the world! The Mayan calendar ends in 2012  - END OF THE WORLD!!!  Aaaaahhhhhhhh!

It figures the world would end on a great year.  I have the perfect job, husband, family, and friends.  Everything is working my way - so it would figure that world is going to end.  LOL!

Honestly, as a Christian, I know that one day this heaven and earth will pass away.  They will be destroyed, but I have no reason to fear this.  I believe in Jesus Christ, the son of God, who lived a perfect life and gave His life as a sacrifice to ransom the souls of those who believe in Him.   I believe in His life, death, and resurrection.  I believe the Bible is entirely true and that Jesus, who has kept all of His promises, will one day return to the earth.  He also promised that those who believe will not be left alone in this world because they have the Holy Spirit to comfort them.  And I am comforted.

I am, therefore, not worried or defeated by the things this world and the people in it throw my way.  I am  not going to become paranoid or stressed over words or manufactured drama.   Instead, I move on with my life enjoying every wonderful positive thing and person it, from my family (by birth and by choice) and friends to awesome Bible studies that encourage personal and spiritual growth. 

If you are worried about the end of the world, ask yourself what it is that worries you?  Is it not knowing what will happen to you should the world end?  Would you like to have the assurance that you can live eternally with the one who shaped the universe?  God makes it simple to have that assurance.  Believe in Jesus Christ and you will be saved.  For more information, I encourage you to read the book of John and to visit a local Christian church.

Anything to Get Attention

Some people will do anything to get attention whether good or bad.  I had the fortune to work with a young woman tonight who was dealing with a false friend.  Now that she's cut her friend out of her life because of the drama the friend brings, the friend is making up things and trying to starts fights and drama just to get attention.  I walked her through the process of non-response.  It's very difficult to not respond to people who are ugly, but inevitably by ignoring or not rising to the bait, this girl saves herself lots of drama and the friend is left in her own ugly world to deal with her mess herself. (If you can look at things objectively, the actions of this kind of person are almost always hilarious.)  If you find yourself in this situation, I tell you the same thing I told this young woman.  Block the phone numbers, email, Facebook, etc.  If you can't receive the messages, they can't bother you.

It's difficult to get away from some people, but when people are detrimental to your life, it is the right thing to do.  The right thing is often hard to do, but the rewards are great.  And remember, for those who have put their faith in Christ, you are never alone.