I was working on the road doing re-merchandising work at Lowe’s. I had been out for about sixteen weeks, away from my family. I was in southern Texas and they were here in North Georgia. The money was decent, but the cost was almost more than I could bear.

I didn’t realize that my marriage was falling apart. I was too busy making money and getting high. I didn’t realize it at the time, but those two things were all that I cared about. I mean, I was waking up to get high and getting high to go to sleep. Not to mention staying high in between. It became more than a lifestyle. It controlled my life.

This is Rita, the reason I left Texas when I did.

I started to notice that my wife didn’t really want to talk to me anymore. All we had was the phone, and we weren’t using it much. Katrina had passed before we got to Texas, and Rita was on the way. It came about that we had to leave town and fast!

The night before we left, I was sitting alone in my hotel room. I was miserable and mostly with my self. The realization had hit me that I had let everyone I know down in a major way! As I was sitting there in a fit of self pity, God got a hold of me. In a stern yet loving way He told me it was time to choose. Him or the life I was trying to live. He promised me He would get me through whatever came my way. He also reminded me that without Him, I had no protection from the world or the principalities in it. I chose quickly and got on my knees! I poured my heart to Jesus and I wept. I was so disappointed in myself and what I had become. I was ready for a change.

The next morning, my travel partner, Robert, and I got up early and joined the mass exodus leaving South Texas. It was a nightmare to try to travel in. We each out paychecks and per-diam checks, but nothing was open and we couldn’t get them cashed. We had about a quarter tank of gas and about twenty dollars between us with a thousand miles to go. As we crept along the interstate, we noticed that all of the gas stations were out of gas. We were getting dangerously close to running out of gas ourselves! Then we saw a gas station with several cars in line at the pumps. We pulled in with hope that we could get some gas. Robert took our money inside, he came out with a drink for each of us and gas paid for. I pumped the gas, it wasn’t much, or at least it didn’t seem like it at the time. The gas gauge showed about twice as much gas as we paid for! We started driving again. Things were looking bleak. It didn’t look like we were going to make it away from the approaching hurricane. I looked at Robert and,knowing what he had been through in jail and his encounter with Jesus there, I said “If you still believe in the power of prayer, now would be a good time…”. He replied, “I’ve been praying since we left…”. That little bit of gas took us several hundred miles and well into Louisiana! When we had to stop for gas again, we able to cash our checks and fill up the tank!

When I got home, there were still issues to deal with. You see, just because I surrendered to God, didn’t mean that everything would be instantly fixed. Of course, I didn’t understand that at the time and I was quite surprised to find my wife still distant and apprehensive. We only fought for about two days before days she left with the kids. Now understand that she had just given birth to our youngest son, Nathan about three months earlier. I don’t want to mislead anyone. She had valid reasons for her actions at that time. I brought the situation on us with my disobedience to God, and I understood that when she left.

It was only a day or two before she let me that she had a restraining order against me and I couldn’t see her or the kids without fear of being arrested. About a day after she got the restraining order, I went an hour north of where we lived to talk to someone at the church that I had grown up in during the summers that I spent there. That seemed to be a waste of time. All they could tell me was that although God didn’t want divorce, I couldn’t stop her from doing it and that I should accept it and move on. As I was walking out of the church, my phone rang. It was my wife. She said that I could come over and talk and get some of my stuff. I was VERY excited! You should also know that I had gotten rid of all the things associated with my drug habit, and I was free from that whole mess!

As made the drive back to the house to talk to my wife, I prayed like I never had before. I prayed openly, honestly, and boldly. I told God, “Whatever it takes, just do it. My family is worth it!”. Well, you know God! He did just that! When I came down our street, I noticed a sheriff’s car parked in our driveway.
Thinking I had nothing to fear, I walked up to him saying “I didn’t expect to see you guys here. What’s going on?”. I was offering a hand shake at the same time. Well, he took my hand, spun me around, cuffed me and read me rights! I know what you’re thinking, but the restraining order had nothing to do with it. He mentioned that there was one as a side note, but that I was going to jail on a warrant for non payment of fines. This was the beginning of this amazing journey that I am on….

I’m back on soapbox about Obama. This time, as you know, he has won the Nobel Peace Prize. And for what? Was it the record high budget deficit we hit this year of $1.4 trillion? Was it because he still hasn’t closed Guantanamo Bay? Was it because he still hasn’t brought our troops home from Iraq? Was it because he spent $787 billion on bailouts and stimulus packages that most of us never saw any results from? Was it his lack of support for Israel and his insistence that they give up Jerusalem? No, I don’t think so. I believe that all of this and more was overlooked! I believe it was simply because he made some speeches that sounded good with a lot of great promises that he still hasn’t kept! I also believe that it was because he is “black”, the first “black” president of the United States of America!

Go ahead, call me a racist! You won’t be the first! But let me assure you that I am no racist! Unlike the majority that elected this guy, I don’t see color as a problem or a validation. None of us chose what color we were going to be, so what does it matter what color someone is? It doesn’t. A person’s color doesn’t make them any better or any worse than another person. What they believe in and stand for is what makes the person. I don’t see that Obama believes in or stands for anything but himself!

I read some comments on a popular social network today. I just want to share them with you. I find some of this to be really troubling:

“Can you people be proud for once that we have a great leader? He is not perfect, nobody is, but  for god’s sake he is rebuilding what Bush ruined, and Bush ruined A LOT.”

A great leader? Really? Where has he lead us? What has he done?

“We are finally doing things we can be proud of, yet the American people have tried everything in the book against him: he’s a commy, a muslim, or a fascist. He wasn’t born here. He is hiding his grades from school. He is a liar. Did I miss anything?”

What have we done that we can be proud of? Have we never done anything else that we can be proud of?

“I think Obama becoming president is a great thing to have happened for americans”

“Congratulations Obama!!! He is a messiah !”

This one really bothers me! There is only one messiah! His name is Jesus!

“Congrats to the American people for having this great leader as their President”

“I must live in an alternative reality.  What exactly has President Obama done to receive a  Nobel Peace Prize?

What conflict did he end?  For what historic issue has his leadership provided a breakthrough?

Congratulations to him, but I thought prizes of this significance were awarded for high achievements.  His presidency has promise & potential, but at this early juncture, I fail to see any milestone to justify this honor.

If talking nice & playing well with others is what now constitutes the criteria for a Nobel Peace Prize, then I  nominate Big Bird or Burt & Ernie.”

They call him messiah, but will he die for your sins?

Yes, these people are serious. Some of them are not even from the U.S.! I hope you all get the point that I am trying to make. Obama cannot be the messiah! But, he can be something else. Remember this, he is also the same one that said that the Bible was just not appropriate to try to live by in this day and time. I cannot support anyone that holds this view. The Bible is the most appropriate thing to try to live by today or any other day! If you don’t believe in it that’s your choice. Realize that just because you don’t believe in something, doesn’t mean it isn’t real. When Colombus sailed around the world for the first, no one believed it was round. Their disbelief didn’t change what was real.

I hope that I have not offended anyone, but if I did, then you probably needed to be offended!

Just my thoughts…

Realize, tolerance makes it easier to accept things that are unacceptable.

I agree with this some extent. I think that we all have the right to believe or not believe as we see fit. Obviously we all need to live here together peacefully. That is where the tolerance comes in. The problem with tolerance is that a line has to be drawn or we will be tolerating everything! I’m sorry, but there are some things that I just can’t tolerate!

I will tolerate the Foundation For Freedom From Religion, their views, their beliefs, and their lack of belief. However, I have a hard time justifying tolerance of anyone trying to steal part of my country’s heritage!

You see, whether any of us likes it or not, “In God We Trust” and the Pledge of Allegiance are a part of our Country’s heritage. It’s not just a Christian thing. It is part of the history and heritage of the United States of America. If you don’t believe in God, surely, as a reasonable human being, you can still appreciate the historical aspects of this. If not, then you are just being intolerant, ignorant, and selfish.

Furthermore, let me say that I believe the desire to remove “In God We Trust” comes out conviction.

I hope this post clears up what I was trying to say, and I thank you for reading.

Just My Thoughts…

There is a new three story underground visitor center in our nation’s capitol. Pretty cool! On the entrance there is an engraving that reads “In God We Trust” and also the Pledge of Allegiance. Any one have a problem with that? Well, the Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation does!

Isn't praising Darwin a religion of it's own? Oh yeah, Darwinism!

The group has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in western Wisconsin, claiming the taxpayer-funded engravings would be an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.

“The House and Senate passed identical resolutions this month directing the Architect of the Capitol to engrave “In God We Trust” and the pledge in prominent places at the entrance for 3 million tourists who visit the Capitol each year.”

“The resolution came in response to critics who complained Congress spent $621 million on the new three-story underground center without paying respect to the nation’s religious heritage. The center opened in December after years of construction.”

The foundation is claiming that the engravings would discriminate against people who do not practice religion and unfairly promote Christianity.

Seriously, do these people need a history lesson? These engravings are a big part of our nation’s history! You can pick up any history text book and read that in simple English that even the lesser educated can understand! I mean, what would they have the evgraving say? “In Nothing We Trust”, “In the Lack of A Higher Power or Any Resemblance There Of We Trust”, or ” There is Nothing to Trust In”.

To this foundation: “GET A GRIP!!!” This is America. We were founded on Christian principles. If you don’t like it, leave it! I challenge you to go to a Muslim nation and try to voice an anti-religious opinion that conflicted with their belief in Allah. You would likely be killed immediately and your family told: “It was Allah’s will”. At least here you are safe when you say or do something STUPID like this.  I find it quite ridiculous that anyone would spend money on a such a crybaby lawsuit! This country was trusting in God long before you, what makes you think you have the right to change that!?!

Just My Thoughts…

I know that I may a little behind here, but I am so completely blown away by the events of the Miss USA pageant that it has taken me a minute to respond! Carrie Prejean; way to go! I am so proud of you! I am thrilled that there are still people willing to stand up for God publicly and lose it all for His sake! That loss can be counted as gain!

I first heard about all this in a blurb on a news channel. Today, I had the time to read up on it and watch the videos. I was really expecting a wishy washy response from the contestant that made the comment, but I was so impressed by the intelligent and “true to self” response offered by Ms. Prejean. I feel that she is a wonderful example for young girls around the world! I will likely be talking to my 11 year old daughter about this event. I want her to see how strong a girl can be. I want her see that winning the “contest” is not always the most important thing. I want her to understand that Ms. Prejean won a bigger battle than the Miss USA contest. I want my daughter to look up to women like her mother and Ms. Prejean.

Perez Hilton. What a joke! I think it is important to keep this fool in perspective. If he does not want to hear a contestants view on a particular topic, he should not ask for it! Now,(Oh I’m gonna get heat for this!)  homosexuality, by definition, is a deception, a lie, a deviation, a perversion of nature. It goes against God, and it goes against all things that are natural. The problem is that homosexuals believe the lie and work hard to propagate it and convince the rest of us to believe it also. This Hilton kid was offended by Ms. Prejean’s answer and seemed to feel that she had no right to answer that way. What gives him the right to decide anyone else’s rights? He asked the question, he should be ready to accept the answer! I assure you he won’t be asking me any questions, and if he does, I am certain that he will spend a lot of energy trying to overcome what I would say. That’s okay by me! P. Hilton is exactly the kind of person that keeps me from allowing my children to watch television or use the internet. Now keep in mind that I don’t hate Mr. Hilton, only what he stands for. There is still hope for him. God can change anyone that will come to Him.

I think it is a sad state of affairs when we can not openly stand up for what we believe and what our nation was founded on because we might offend those who are against God. I know that the “politically correct” response is that we are not to offend anyone but the Christians. Well, you know where I stand on “political correctness”. If the anti-Christians are offended, good, perhaps they needed to be offended.

Just My Thoughts…

Wow! I just went through a Facebook comment battle over gay marriage! I didn’t even offer support to either side but was attacked anyway! Oh, who am I kidding! I enjoyed it! I don’t think my friend Kate was offended by my position. I hope not. I just wanted to give a different perspective. Kate, still friends?

Well, the comments started over a YouTube video that supports “traditional values”, and takes a stance against gay marriage. Some of the comments called the group that made the video “ignorant” and other such derogatory terms. While I have to admit that the video was a little lame, I do tend to agree with the values that they support. I think they may have gone a little overboard, but it did raise some good questions.

One speaker in the video made a statement about allowing gay marriage saying that it would take away her rights. One of the commenters on Facebook made the statement that not allowing it took away rights from homosexuals. So there is the fundamental question. Who has the right to the way of life that they feel is right? Obviously, that is not for any of us to decide. Nor is for our government to decide. I bet they will anyway!

So in the comments on Facebook, after reading all of the conservative bashing comments, and the undying loyal support for homosexuality (mostly from heterosexuals?!?), I felt compelled to post this: “If it’s okay for homosexuals to fight for the right to marry, why is it wrong or ignorant for others to fight to keep traditional family values as the norm?”. Now bear in mind that I wasn’t looking to stir the pot. I just wanted to offer these people a different perspective. However, I must have stirred the pot! A couple of them took it quite personally and wasted no time in responding to tell me how they felt. Here is one of the comments. It is filled with fancy language and well, you’ll get the point.

“Because the Constitution allows one to fight for individual freedoms and equality and not for the oppression of others’ rights based on one’s own narrow definitions.

Despite the current state of the culture of the United States which accepts as subject for debate the right of homosexual Americans to have the same chances as heterosexuals, you cannot claim moral authority in the pursuit of chaining others to your religious traditions. Luckily, as we now do not accept the assertions that non-whites and women are not allowed the same Constitutional protections as the male, white privileged majority, our society will in time refuse to acknowledge the fallacious logic of your implicit claim, Mr. Toney, that an appeal to the status quo holds merit in modern, rational ethics.

Fight for whatever oppressive tradition you like, sir. You will not prevail, for the enemy you challenge is the future, and you fight only with outdated, obsolete weapons from the past.”

All that over a new perspective. Well, I didn’t respond directly to this one. I have enough respect for my friend Kate to keep my comments on her post friendly and not go looking for a fight. However, this is my world…

Nice citation of the constitution. Our government has been ignoring it for years unless it suits them. I guess, at the moment, a part of it suits you and your cause. Go with it. That is the liberal way.

I don’t claim moral authority. Nor do I want to chain anyone to anything. Certainly not religious traditions.  My logic is not fallacious, nor did I make an implicit claim that an appeal to the status quo holds merit anywhere. The weapons I fight with are not outdated. The future is not the enemy, and I don’t have to prevail. God will prevail. His word is the only weapon, and His kingdom is the future.

If you want to let homosexuals have civil unions, go for it! I really don’t care. Just don’t go teaching in schools that it is okay to be gay because it is not! Marriage has been in all cultures, for about 5000 years, defined as being between ONE MAN and ONE WOMAN. Not two men, not two women, not one man and five women. Why do a bunch of sexual deviates think they have the right to redefine an institution that God created?

Yes, let them have civil unions, but not marriages. Let them have the financial benefits. Just don’t expect the Church condone or recognize it.

Just My Thoughts…

Oh, and this Facebook comment thing is still going on…and on…and on…

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I really don’t have any issue with our President showing respect or kindness to other world leaders, but I do with a problem with him submitting to anyone other than the American people! He is the leader of the free world. Our nation was established as an independent nation meaning that we do not submit to anyone, and we are no one’s subjects.

My next problem with Obama bowing is that he claims to be a Christian. God clearly stated that we are to bow to no one but Him.

Now, if you look at the situation from a few steps back, you get a view of the big picture. Obama has no problem with gas being $4.00 a gallon, he bowed to the king of Saudi Arabia and not to any other world leader, and the White House can’t even produce a good lie to calm the people who are concerned about it. Incidentally, we get a lot of our gas from Saudi Arabian oil wells or ones that are owned by the Saudis. I suppose it could be a coincidence, but I don’t think so.

Next, do we support Israel or not? I hope that we do, but it is hard to tell. It seems to me that all Obama wants to do is talk and compromise with other nations that don’t care about the well being of our nation and would do us harm if they got the chance.

Now, what is the deal with Obama administration wanting to RAISE taxes? Didn’t he say during his campaign that he would LOWER taxes? My theory is that they need to raise taxes to pay for the bailout and stimulus that didn’t help very many of us. If we don’t let them raise taxes, what will happen then? I think we will just have a higher deficit, but is that really a big deal? I mean, when was the last time our nation was NOT in debt to someone for something? I think there are other ways to pay without raising taxes, we just need to put people in office that are intelligent enough to figure it out. On that note, why is it that we don’t look for more educated and qualified people to put into our government offices?

Finally, Obama said that “We are not a Christian nation. We are a nation of citizens.” Well, why can’t we be citizens of a Christian nation? I for one am a citizen of a Christian nation whether Obama and the rest of the world like it or not! I am NOT here to work for or please the President, he is to work for me. As far as I can tell, he doesn’t care one little bit about me, my family, or whether we can make it or not in these hard economic times. I will always stand up for Christianity and and declare my faith. If my government doesn’t like it, they will have to start taking away our rights. Let’s see if that goes over with the American people.

Just my thoughts

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That said, I’ll get straight to my thoughts.

We used to be a moral, God fearing country. We went wrong in so many ways! Somewhere along the way we let money become the most important thing. Our god, if you will. Our country continually bows before the almighty dollar and submits to its seduction. Frankly, I am rather appalled by it! I realize that if we would keep our priorities where they should be, everything else would fall into place.

Let’s look at the political aspects. We recently had an election. We made a historic decision based on money and color without regard for morality, issues, or experience. How stupid are we!?! We voted for a man who has been the most radical proponent for abortion (legalized murder) that has ever come through the senate! I have personally spoken with a great number of people who had no idea that Obama supported legalized abortion! They still voted for him! We voted for a man who supports homosexuality and gay marriage. This is so against the moral fiber of what we used to stand for! God said in His book (the Bible) that homosexuality is an abomination to Him! How did we miss that? It seems that the only we paid attention to was the financial promises that were made and how much personal gain we could get out of it. Have any of you noticed that none of that is happening? They have given about a two year time line before the programs that are supposed to help us are even started! How long will it take for us to see the benefits? Does anyone realize where the money for these bailouts is coming from? Start watching your taxes, I think you’ll get it!

I guess what bothers me the most is the realization that the majority of America does not think like I do! The majority of America voted against morality and for money. Plain and simple. As a nation, we don’t care about morals, we care about money. It makes me sick at my stomach! I don’t understand why so many people think that money is more important than right and wrong.

I find myself wondering why we are so tolerant of every lifestyle and religion in the interest of political correctness. We tolerate everything except Christianity! It seems to be okay to be Muslim, wiccan, atheist, progressive secularist, or anything else that is blatantly against God, but don’t dare try to pray in school, carry a Bible in the wrong place, or try to show someone the Truth! It’s just politically correct to be a Christian! Well, I am a Christian! I am willing to stand up and be counted! I am willing to speak the Truth and stand against that which is evil. I am willing to stand up for what is right and true! I make no apologies for any of this! If the truth offends you, then perhaps you need to take another look at what you stand for.

I’m not sure exactly when it happened, but at some point we put our children on the back burner and started using television as a babysitter. We took God out of our schools and our children started killing each other. We took God out of almost every aspect of our lives. I guess we are reaping our just rewards!

I hope that at some point in the near future we, as a nation, turn back to God and stop accepting the things that we know are wrong. If we don’t, I fear we are in for hard times!

I love you all, God Bless and Keep You.

~Aaron