Vote!

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“Voting isn’t marriage. It’s public transport.

You’re not waiting for ‘the one.’

You’re getting the bus. 

And if there isn’t one going exactly to your destination,

You don’t stay home and sulk.

You take the one that’s going closest to where you want to be.”

– Mohamad Safa

Some people are convinced their candidate for president is The One. Others will say, “I don’t like either candidate, so I’m not going to vote for either one.” 

No candidate is perfect. When voting, we have to consider what kind of person we want leading our country and what kind of America we want to live in. 

For example:

I’m against abortion.

I’m also against denying medical care to a woman who’s suffering a miscarriage until it looks like she might die. That’s what’s happening now in states where there’s a total ban on abortions. Almost no one except my husband and children know that I was in a terrifying situation many, many years ago, before Roe v. Wade was overturned. I had complications during a miscarriage (which is medically called a spontaneous abortion). There was no heartbeat, and I underwent surgery. If my experience had happened when there was a total ban without exceptions, I might not have gotten the care I needed until I was near death. That’s not the kind of care women should be getting in America.

Consider:

Do you want for president the person who incited an insurrection on January 6, 2021, because he couldn’t accept defeat? He attacked our Capitol, our Constitution, our freedom, our government leaders, our police officers, and the peaceful transition of power. This was an attack where six people died and hundreds were injured, including 140 police officers. https://www.jan-6.com/january-6-timeline

Do you want the kind of president who, in his first term of office, took more than 4,000 children away from their parents at the border? That’s inhumane. If the families arrived here illegally and you want to deport them, then why not deport them together?

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-a-trump-era-policy-that-separated-thousands-of-migrant-families-came-to-pass

Christ’s law is LOVE. Do you want the kind of president who mocks and attacks people for who they are, where they’re from, and what they look like? 

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2024/10/28/trumps-rally-in-nyc-creates-furious-reaction-because-of-bigotry-hate/75894933007/

Christ taught us to care for the poor. Do you want Harris for president, who plans to work for the poor and middle class, or Trump, who plans to cut taxes for the wealthy? 

https://www.afscme.org/blog/trumps-tax-plans-would-benefit-the-rich-harris-plan-would-benefit-everyone-else

Several of Trump’s former cabinet officials have called him ‘unfit’ to serve as president.  If they, who worked directly with him, won’t support him, then why would we?

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4949654-former-trump-officials-warn-2024/

In what direction do you want our country to go? Forward, toward unity, growth, and peace? Or backwards, back to bigotry, racism, and division? 

Remember, you’re not choosing a life partner; you’re voting for a president who will bring our country closer to the kind of UNITED States of America you want to live in.

Vote!

“Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil, for You are at my side.” – Psalm 23:4

“Lord, help me see the ramifications of my vote.”

*** And as a p.s.... The beauty of our democracy is that we're given the right to vote how we choose, without fear. I'm against judging or condemning anyone for how they vote. We have to stand together to remain the UNITED States of America.

Thank you.

Thank you for reading my reflection. © 2024 Gina Bedell     Comments are always welcome! 

Please share this with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below. Blogspot doesn’t have a ‘subscribe’ feature and so I appreciate your help in sharing my reflections. Thanks!

If you or someone you know would like to receive these writings directly, please email me at ginabedell1@gmail.com and I will add you to my ‘BCC’ email list.

You can also find my posts on Facebook!

P.S.

Pray for peace at home, in Ukraine, Russia, the Middle East, and around the world. Donate to a cause that tugs at your heart. Take care of those around you; take care of our planet. Pray for the families around the globe whose lives have been torn apart by war and natural disasters.

Store Up Treasures for Heaven

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“It’s amazing, Molly. The love inside, you take it with you.” Sam (played by the late Patrick Swayze) said this to his beloved Molly (Demi Moore) near the end of the 1990 movie “Ghost.” In this powerful scene, Sam speaks these words to Molly while being summoned to heaven after he was murdered.

We all know the parable of the rich man who decided to build bigger barns to accommodate all his stuff. He thought that, since he had accumulated so much wealth, he could just relax for the rest of his life. God called him a ‘fool’ and reminded him that he could die that night and then all of his belongings would be given away (Luke 12:13-21). The unasked question became, “Without all your belongings, what will you have to show for yourself? What will you have left to give to Me?”

We know that love – how well we love God by loving our neighbor – is more important than everything else. The challenge with this, in our consumer society, is as much about how much time and energy we put into accumulating our stuff and then congratulating ourselves for becoming ‘successful,’ as the man in the parable did, as about how much we have. It’s about how we may look down on those who are less ‘successful’ than we are. It’s also about how we may put people into categories and treat them according to our judgment of them.

The only thing we take with us is the love within our hearts and the love we’ve shown to others – all others. We’ve heard that many times. So maybe we can look at it from a different angle.

I can ask myself: 

-How much time do I give to God in prayer compared to the time I spend shopping? Maybe I can take a moment to thank God for the means to make that purchase. 

-How much do I spend on others compared to the amount I spend on myself? Maybe every time I buy an article of clothing for myself I can give one away. 

-It’s easy to converse with people who agree with my point of view. How willing am I to listen and try to understand someone who will vote differently from how I will – without condemning them for taking a different stand? 

-How do I treat my coworker whose lifestyle is different from mine? Maybe I need to remind myself that God loves that person as much as He loves me.

If we say that love is what’s most important and proclaim that our material goods don’t really matter, then let’s take a moment to examine if what we proclaim is consistent with how we live – and make changes where we’re falling short.

“Thus it will be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.” – Luke 12:21

“Lord, let nothing take up space in my heart that cannot be given to You.”

Thank you for reading my reflection. © 2024 Gina Bedell     Comments are always welcome! 

Please share this with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below. Blogspot doesn’t have a ‘subscribe’ feature and so I appreciate your help in sharing my reflections. Thanks!

If you or someone you know would like to receive these writings directly, please email me at ginabedell1@gmail.com and I will add you to my ‘BCC’ email list.

You can also find my posts on Facebook!

P.S.

Pray for peace at home, in Ukraine, Russia, the Middle East, and around the world. Donate to a cause that tugs at your heart. Take care of those around you; take care of our planet. Pray for the families around the globe whose lives have been torn apart by war and natural disasters.

There's No One in the World Like You

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You’ve heard it said that God put you here for a purpose. You’re here not for only one purpose, though, but for many. It isn’t like God will give you a test, and if you miss that one opportunity to do something big then you’ve missed your purpose in life! No, God gives you a lifetime of opportunities and experiences; He’s given you many talents and people to share them with. Through all of them, God gives you ways you may show Him to the people you meet and His immense love for them. This is how you bear fruit for His Kingdom.

Look back over your lifetime and see all the people you’ve come into contact with, from the family you grew up in to the acquaintances and friends you’ve made along the way. Look at the opportunities you’ve had, the ones taken and the ones missed. Look back at the people you used to see every day and whose paths no longer cross yours. Look back at the jobs you’ve had, the hobbies you’ve discovered, the travels you’ve taken. Think of all the people you’ve encountered along the way; some you met only briefly, others you may have worked with for many years. What kind of influence have you had during that time? Are there things you wish you would have done differently?

As we age, our priorities and what we do every day may change. So, just as you looked back on the past, now consider the present. Look at your present circumstances and see the opportunities in front of you. See the people you come into contact with, the work you do, the hobbies you enjoy, and the places you visit. Learning from the past, is there something you’d like to change so that the fruit you bear in the future might be more in line with what God wants from you?

No matter where we live, what kind of work we do or how we spend our free time, we’re given opportunities to make a positive difference in the lives of the people around us. Every day, in what are usually little ways, we’re presented with choices to show the people around us God’s love for them. This is the kind of fruit God designed us to bear. 

Christ has chosen you to show His love at home, at work, in your social circles, in your brief encounters every day. There’s no one else in the world like you to do the work He chose you to do.

“I chose you from the world to go and bear fruit that will last, says the Lord.” – John 15:16

“Lord, show me how and where I can bear fruit for You.”

Thank you for reading my reflection. © 2024 Gina Bedell     Comments are always welcome! 

Please share this with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below. Blogspot doesn’t have a ‘subscribe’ feature and so I appreciate your help in sharing my reflections. Thanks!

If you or someone you know would like to receive these writings directly, please email me at ginabedell1@gmail.com and I will add you to my ‘BCC’ email list.

You can also find my posts on Facebook!

P.S.

Pray for peace at home, in Ukraine, Russia, the Middle East, and around the world. Donate toward a cause that tugs at your heart. Take care of those around you; take care of our planet. Pray for the families around the globe whose lives have been torn apart by war and natural disasters.

God Is Good -- All the Time

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“God is good!” 

“I am blessed!”

Have you ever said that when your prayers were answered how you wanted them to be answered? Those are normal, appropriate responses when we’re feeling grateful, and acknowledging God’s goodness draws us closer to Him.

But isn’t God good all the time? And aren’t we already abundantly blessed? Do we humbly say, “God is good!” even when our prayers seem to go unheard? Do we praise Him for His goodness even when life knocks us down?

That’s a difficult thing to do. And that’s exactly the example Job gave us when Satan destroyed everything and everyone precious to him.

When he had lost everything, Job ‘tore his robe, shaved his head’ – how the ancient people expressed grief – ‘and fell to the ground and worshiped’ (Job 1:20). He felt deep sadness over his massive losses, and still he praised God. Job didn’t blame God, as sometimes we do. Instead, Job acknowledged God’s greatness, and grew closer to Him through his experience. 

God wants us to grow closer to Him, too. How can we make this happen?

Trust Him and His infinite, never-ending goodness when you’re suffering. He will never abandon you. If you ask Him, He’ll give you strength you never thought you had to endure a trial you never thought you’d be able to endure. Ask Him to give you what you need, one step at a time, and watch Him work through your circumstances. Let your experiences strengthen your trust and faith in Him.

I invite you to follow a suggestion a dear friend once gave me: Find a quiet space, spend 10 minutes praising God, and then sit quietly and write down whatever ideas come to mind. No second-guessing or editing; just write whatever comes to mind. Those ideas may be Christ speaking to you. 

Also, listen to what Christ may be saying to you today:

You tend to forget about Me when life is going as you want it to. You tend to take credit for all the goodness in your life. Remember that without Me, you would have none of this. Yet if you had none of this, you would still have Me.

I don’t expect you to rejoice in your sorrows, but remember that I am with you through all of them. Come close to Me and let Me show you, over time, all the good things that will come from these sorrows. Let me use them for your benefit. Let me prove My love to you, not through the richness of your life but through your hardships. 

Even in times of pain and loss I am with you, to love you and strengthen you and bring you to a place of peace.

It’s easy to praise God when life is easy. Let’s praise Him when life gets difficult, too.

“The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!”

– Job 1:21

“Lord, I praise You for Your never-ending goodness .”

Thank you for reading my reflection. © 2024 Gina Bedell     Comments are always welcome! 

Please share this with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below. Blogspot doesn’t have a ‘subscribe’ feature and so I appreciate your help in sharing my reflections. Thanks!

If you or someone you know would like to receive these writings directly, please email me at ginabedell1@gmail.com and I will add you to my ‘BCC’ email list.

You can also find my posts on Facebook!

P.S.

Pray for peace at home, in Ukraine, Russia, the Middle East, and around the world. Donate toward a cause that tugs at your heart. Take care of those around you; take care of our planet. Pray for the families around the globe whose lives have been torn apart by war and natural disasters.