Salute to our all volunteer military

Y“When you go to war, your people will serve you willingly. You are arrayed in holy garments, and your strength will be renewed each day like the morning dew.”

Psalms 110:3 NLT -- http://bible.com/116/psa.110.3.nlt

Being an avid motorcyclist I get to participate in a multitude of charity rides throughout the ride season. My favorite rides are for our veterans and active military. Bikers understand loyalty, duty, and honor like no one else. Bike clubs, ride groups, and associations are fiercely loyal to each other, just like our military and law enforcement officers. I have seen great sacrifices made on behalf of these brave men and women who serve our country. 

It amazes me how we can have such a powerful military, ready to defend our freedom, and it is an all volunteer service. Like the verse says, they willingly serve. In my words and thoughts they serve US with virtually no thought to their own safety. That is the same sacrifice of our loving savior. 

I am humbled and honored to support our military, law enforcement, and  first responders. May the Lord protect you, may the Lord make his face shine upon you and give you peace. May your families be blessed in extraordinary ways and may the Lord's presence be made known in every moment of your life. This country knows freedom only because of your great sacrifice. We need you to fight for that same freedom for those around the world that are oppressed and viciously attacked. We support all your actions to bring evil to justice and we support your efforts to kill the enemy of our rights to worship and serve our powerful Lord. Evil lurks in every corner of this planet. Satan slithers even in this great country trying to devour all that is good. You are on the front lines to defeat evil.  Thank you for everything you do! Amen!

Warning: Political Message inside.............I love my Governor!

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.............If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.” Romans 12:2, 8 NLT (http://bible.com/116/rom.12.2,8.nlt)

It's been several months since I posted, what I believe, is a political message. I've been laying low. I want to use social media to "build up", not "tear down". Our society has turned ugly. We are posting horrendous things about people. If you kill a lion it's fair game to threaten your life. It's so ironic and ridiculous! We love to hate politicians and are down right vile if we disagree with them. So I know this post will really get the ire up on many of my Facebook friends. I don't care! 

In keeping with my commitment to purely positive posts, I want to praise my governor, the Governor of the state of Indiana. I ride by a sign every day, in my neighborhood, that says "Pence must go!" Yesterday I got to shake his hand and tell him how much I appreciate him. I was able to personally encourage him to keep fighting the good fight. We talked and I was able to observe his interaction with a group of regular Hoosiers. I am proud to have a Governor that stands for religious freedom. I'm proud to have a governor who is fiscally responsible even when it requires tough decisions. I am proud of my state. Many of my educator friends hate Governor Pence. I might not always agree with him. I'm not sure I would ever agree with every decision of any politician. I do not agree with the handKing of the State Superintendent controversy. But, I support most of his policies. He wants competition in education. Im not afraid to compete with charters or private schools. I will stack my School against anyone, we provide the best education with the best staff, anywhere. He wants teachers evaluated and paid on merit. So do I. I don't want bad teachers to get the same pay as I do and I don't want them to stay in education. I'm not afraid to be evaluated. If I need to get better, I will. If I am doing a good job, I want to be rewarded. I WANT to be paid by the quality of my teaching. He doesn't want to spend money we don't have and he wants to save money for a rainy day. He doesn't want my religion to be the focus of ridicule and persecution. To sum things up, he cares about people and that gets my vote every time.

I love that my governor is a normal, cowboy boot wearing, ride through the rain on a motorcycle, talk to a biker, then goof around with a bunch of kids, kind of guy. I love it when he can poke fun at himself and accept a compliment with genuine humility. I love it that he would shake every hand of every state police officer and praise them publicly for the job they do. This is not an evil man as teachers union leaders, liberals, gay rights activists, and special interest groups want to make him out to be. He's my governor and I like him. 

Yep, you can go ahead and start hatin right now. You can unfriend me or post your furious outrage. I choose to lift up my leaders, support them, and most importantly, pray for them every day! Praise God Indiana has been blessed with a wonderful leader. Thank you Governor Pence for your support yesterday and I pray the Holy Spirit will guide you through the rest of your life. Amen!

Grace to you!

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16 KJV)

Let the word of Christ dwell in you in an elaborate, generous, and plentiful way. That's what "richly"  means. We need to let Christ dwell within us in a very powerful way. The best way to do that is relinquish all control to our Savior. If we remove our sinful thoughts, words, and actions, to leave room for Christ, a great work will begin to grow from within. 

I am so thankful I have people to encourage me when I'm down. I hope I reciprocate when they need the same thing. I often talk about the wonderful grace of God. We need to share that same grace to each other. We need to love each other and bring joy to our family, friends, and coworkers. We need to offer a pass to those not having a good day, the grumpy, the depressed, and those that just don't feel loved. Our presence I their lives should offer extreme grace and love that only comes from Christ living within us.

Praise God for my grace filled family, friends, and fellow teachers. I am forever thankful for your support and kindness when I am less than the person I want to be. May I be there for you in the same situation! Amen!