Amen
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Saturday, April 23, 2011
No Words
We've exhausted the English language trying to describe Your indescribable mercy, love, and grace. We use words like "awesome", "incredible", "marvelous", "wonderful", "overwhelming" in an attempt to put what You have done for us into words. Our vocabularies just aren't big enough. Our attempts at description are feeble. Our efforts just overuse those few really great words leaving us speechless and inadequate and, I hate to confess, not as in awe of You as we should be. We've heard those descriptions time and again so that they have lost their punch so to speak. Phrases like "Amazing grace how sweet the sound" are no less true, they've just become so easy to say without any emotion at all. What a tragedy! Please, Lord, take these words - they are all we have - and give them meaning again. Refreshen our faith. Give us a glimpse of Your splendor. Waken Your sleeping church from her apathy. Pierce our hearts with the magnitude of Your sacrifice and the power of Your resurrection. May we be truly overwhelmed by Your love for us.
Amen
Amen
Thursday, April 7, 2011
My Advocate
My Advocate
April 6, 2011
Note: I’ve heard it said, “I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” 1 The truth of the matter is, if one person’s freedoms can be taken, then no one’s freedoms are safe. You may or may not agree with home-education, but if you value the freedom to raise your children as you see fit, and if you value the freedom to serve God as you feel convicted, then you should be concerned when a district Judge steps outside the law to violate someone’s privacy and rights. And besides, that’s not really what this article is about. J
On April 2, 2011 all homeschooling families in Mississippi’s 13th district received a letter of notification that could very well have been the first step of the proverbial “Slippery Slope” - a slope that might endanger the rights of parents to home-educate their children in Mississippi. I wasn’t particularly concerned for my own “student” who only has to legally be enrolled one more year. 2 I was more upset about the intrusion into my privacy and the threat against this beautiful freedom we enjoy. I was concerned about my future grandchildren’s education and if my children would even have the right to home-educate if they so chose. I saw an injustice in the making - an overstepping of the judicial powers of big government, and I was not a happy camper. My first course of action? Worry. (Which always seems to be my default response.) Prompted by fear and indignation I began contacting other home-schooling families to see what they knew. Upon pooling our information it became clear that some counter legal action was needed. But what kind? How would you go about that? Who should be contacted? How much would such a thing cost? My anxiety level was on the rise.
Enter Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA).
For twenty-five years HSLDA has been defending the cause of America’s home-educators. For a nominal yearly fee they stand on guard protecting our rights and advocating on behalf of those who find themselves in legal battles over trampled civil liberties in the area of home-schooling. Always in compliance with State laws in a home-school friendly state I’d never given HSLDA much thought – until now.
Yesterday morning I called HSLDA and joined. By evening I received a kindly phone call from their legal team telling me what they knew about the case and assuring me they had been hard at work on the issue. All necessary papers had been drawn and filed. All parties involved had been notified of the intent to fight this rights violation. They had everything under control, and there was nothing for me to do but relax and let them handle it. I can’t describe my relief. They were knowledgeable about what I didn’t understand. They had power where I was powerless. They had contacts where I knew no one. A weight was lifted. Someone in the know was in charge.
As I breathed one more sigh of relief and gratitude this morning I thought about another Advocate3 I have. One I should turn to at the first sign of trouble but don’t always. One Who is powerful where I am weak, knowledgeable about all things, and has connections all over the world and beyond. One Who patiently waits to intervene on my behalf if I will just ask. He says to me, “I have done all that is necessary. I have everything under control. I’ve been working diligently behind the scenes. You don’t have to do anything except relax and let Me handle it.”
What a relief! And He paid the fee Himself!
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”4
“Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”5
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