My Thoughts as it Pertains to Politics and Abortion

   Today was the first time I have ever voted in a Caucus. I feel rather grown-up but it also making me think about the issues and do some of my own research instead of soley relying on my parent's views.
   I've decided that there are basically two things that I really care about in politics is Pro-life and Foreign Policy. Pro-life issues get me pretty riled up so this post won't be talking about what I think about Foreign Policy.
   Partial birth abortion. Disgusting. I won't go into details but it is so so so so so so so so very wrong. Even though it is banned in the United States it has been reported. (I will also point out that even though it is murder the abortionist can only be sentenced for a jail sentence of up to two years. Which also is ridiculous).
   The Born Alive Infant Protection Act is used to protect those precious little ones that have (miraculously) survived an attempted abortion such as salt poisoning. All to often these babies (despite the law to protect them) still get left to die as it happened in one IL hospital a few years ago.
   What I REALLY don't understand is in the Unborn Victims of Violence Act the law defines the "child in utero" as "a member of the species Homo sapien, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb." EXCEPT in the case of an abortion with the consent of the pregnant woman or someone on her behalf. WHAT??? It blows my mind that what the law is basically saying is, "If you want the baby and it gets killed by an act of violence we'll convict the person who killed it of murder. If you don't want the baby and want it to die you can pay someone to kill it"
    I know this is graphic but I have a really hard time understanding how giving someone a pill that kills a living, growing fetus (with it's own personal DNA and personality from the moment of conception) or tearing the baby's limbs apart and vaccuming out the womb ISN'T murder.
   Not only that but girls at the ages of fourteen can go to a place like planned parenthood and get an abortion without having to tell a parent or get their consent. At age fourteen you can't bring ibuprofen to school or be in charge of regular medications at schools or camps, you can't drive by yourself, or order stuff off of those TV ads, but you can have an abortion alone? Where is the sense in it? When I was fourteen I surely wouldn't have been able to make a decision like that alone. If I would've been faced with the decision I might have acted simply out of fear and immaturity and I'm sure would've regretted it forever. This is serious business. This isn't just about "at the moment a child is inconvenient for me" but "what am I going to think and feel about this decision a year, five years or ten years from now? Will I be able to live with the fact I did this?". A lot of people say abortion is only ok in the case of rape victims because they didn't chose it but it has been pointed out that caring for a child in that time of hurt helps divert your attentions off of yourself and helps heal you by taking care of someone else and getting an abortion in those cases often lead to more serious problems then if you had just been raped.
   All in all once you look at all the political positions, etc... its up to convictions and God has stated in the Bible that life is precious.
     Psalm 127:3

           "Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,  

                            the fruit of the womb is a reward.                      


   Who am I to deny the truth of the Word of God? God is saying with the word "behold" Hey! Look here!! this is super important! pay attention! 
Children are a reward not an inconvenience!  Not something to be thrown away. But to be treasured. I believe that the world was given children to give us just a glimpse of just how much God loves us. The world is throwing that treasure away because we can't take responsibility for our actions. And it's sad. I'm just thankful that God has accepted every single one of those unborn treasures into heaven and it makes me hopeful for the future, because there have been Laws and Acts put in place to try and protect them, which means that as long as they're in place and someone(s), somewhere is trying to help them. There is hope and I am so thankful.            

Earth is a Footstool

Micah 6:8
   He has told you, O man, what is good;
   and what does the LORD require of you
   but to do justice, and to love kindness,
   and to walk humbly with your God.

      This verse simplifies the Christian walk tons in my mind. I lead a Bible study for the girls in my church and I always worry that I'm going to say something or misinterpret something wrong for them and hinder their growth. At school I always freeze when there's a chance for me to say something about Christ, I'm worried that I'm going to say the wrong thing. People already have a bad impression of Christians and I don't want to make that worse. So nothing gets said and I walk away feeling like I just failed a test.
But this verse makes it easy: Do justice, love kindness, walk with God. Easy peasy, right?
Right... well.. I've found there's a lot more to this verse then meets the eye, but you can boil it down to about two points.
     1) Walk with your God. You can do justice and love kindness all you want but if you don't know God (and there's a difference between knowing about God knowing God) and aren't walking with Him, in the end it isn't going to mean squat. If you don't know Christ personally you're going to die and be separated from Him forever. This isn't a small thing you can ignore, well, you can ignore it and/or reject it, but I urge you not to, there's simply too much at stake.
     2) Walk humbly with your God. How important is humility?
           Isaiah 6:1-2 says:
             
               Thus says the LORD:
              Heaven is my throne,
              and the earth is my footstool; 
             what is the house that you would build for me,
             and what is the place of my rest?
             All these things my hand has made,
             and so all these things came to be,
                                                      declares the LORD.
             But this is to whom I will look:
             He who is humble and contrite in spirit
             and trembles at my word.

            Woah! Heaven is His throne and the earth is His footstool!
How tiny must I be? An eensy weensy speck of dust. If that. But if I am contrite and  humble God is going to look at me. If humbleness draws God's attention like that we better be paying close attention as well!
So how do we accomplish this? How can we become humble?
Someone once said that "Whenever someone has been humbled he has been awakened to his sin"
Ohhhh.. that actually makes a lot of sense. If we are just "walking" (ahem, lying to ourselves) with God, blind to our sin and how He wants to work in our hearts we really aren't growing, and we won't unless we become humble.
If we can become humble then it will benefit our entire spiritual life. When we are attending church, a Bible study,  or reading our Bible at home, we will not only be convicted of sin but encouraged and shown how God wants us to behave as His child. Humbleness brings you into a position under God where He will work miracles in your heart and draw you close to His. It's when growth happens, joy abounds, and doing justice and loving kindness comes naturally.