Just Wow

Really cool story that was recently in the local news:

http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/68441827.html
[to watch the video]

Planned Parenthood has been a part of Abby Johnson's life for the past eight years; that is until last month, when Abby resigned. Johnson said she realized she wanted to leave, after watching an ultrasound of an abortion procedure.

"I just thought I can't do this anymore, and it was just like a flash that hit me and I thought that's it," said Jonhson.

She handed in her resignation October 6. Johnson worked as the Bryan Planned Parenthood Director for two years.

According to Johnson, the non-profit was struggling under the weight of a tough economy, and changing it's business model from one that pushed prevention, to one that focused on abortion.

"It seemed like maybe that's not what a lot of people were believing any more because that's not where the money was. The money wasn't in family planning, the money wasn't in prevention, the money was in abortion and so I had a problem with that," said Johnson.

Johnson said she was told to bring in more women who wanted abortions, something the Episcopalian church goer recently became convicted about.

"I feel so pure in heart (since leaving). I don't have this guilt, I don't have this burden on me anymore that's how I know this conversion was a spiritual conversion."

Johnson now supports the Coalition For Life, the pro-life group with a building down the street from Planned Parenthood. Coalition volunteers can regularly be seen praying on the sidewalk in front of Planned Parenthood. Johnson has been meeting with the coalition's executive director, Shawn Carney, and has prayed with volunteers outside Planned Parenthood.

On Friday both Johnson and the Coalition For Life were issued temporary restraining orders filed by Planned Parenthood.

Rochelle Tafolla, a Planned Parenthood spokesperson issued the following statement: "We regret being forced to turn to the courts to protect the safety and confidentiality of our clients and staff, however, in this instance it is absolutely necessary."

The temporary restraining order contends that Planned Parenthood would be irreparably harmed by the disclosure of certain information, but does not bar Johnson or Coalition For Life volunteers from the premises.

As of Sunday evening, neither Johnson nor Carney had seen the complaint filed against them that prompted the restraining order.

A hearing about the order has been set for November 10.

Holy Mackerel!!!

Holy schnikes! Holy moley! Holy cow! Holy smokes! The list could go on......and on.



I've never really thought much about why we use these expressions. That is, until it was brought to my attention the other day. We use "holy" in expressions because it means that something is unusual or surprising. It's not ordinary or what you would expect. It's kind of shocking even.

Not only do we hear the word "holy" in expressions, but it also pops up a lot in the Bible. All over the place. If you asked me what holy meant before our recent discussion about it in church, I would probably tell you something like, "God. He's holy." Which, of course, is true. The definition of holy derived from the greek word qodesh is: distinct, separate.

I've been a Christian all of my life. So sometimes I can sit in church or at Bible study and feel like I've heard something a million times. And I'm sure I've sat through countless sermons and studies about being holy and living a holy life. I think that, on an average day, the word holy doesn't hold a lot of meaning for me [sadly]. But this particular time, it really hit home.

As a Christian, being distinct, or separate from everyone else is really about living a unique lifestyle - one that's purpose is to bring glory to God and to be used for His will. It's really not as hard to live this set apart lifestyle when you're around so many other people who are doing it too. Then it doesn't seem so set apart, does it?

This describes a lot of my experience in high school and college. I was around many people whose goal was to live a set apart, or holy, lifestyle - and that was such a blessing. But the real test for me has been after I graduated college. After I got out of my Christian "bubble." Now, more often than not, I feel "different." I'm just not the "norm" in a lot of choices I make. Being holy is so much more of a challenge! Some days instead of feeeling holy, I'm tempted to give into feeling like the freak! It doesn't always seem cool to be different. It can be lonely.

I was really encouraged by the reminder that as believers in Christ, we are called to be holy. And by the fact that we are supposed to be different from the norm. Maybe it's ok to be a freak after all!

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, ¹⁵but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, ¹⁶since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."
~1 Peter 1:14-16


Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
~2 Timothy 2:21

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, ⁹ who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, ¹⁰and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel...
~2 Timothy 8:1-10

I Save Squirrels

So, today I was driving along in a north Bryan neighborhood that was not in the best area [on the job]. And I saw a rottweiler harassing a squirrel in this yard. The little squirrel was pathetically twitching as the rottweiler stood over it. I was filled with indignation. I quickly pulled over my car to the side of the road and put on my hazard lights. This was an emergency. I contemplated the foolishness of getting out of the car and approaching an unleashed rottweiler but decided there was no other option. I walked to the edge of the yard slowly and yelled "Shoo, shoo." The rottweiler didn't seem to care. I yelled, "Leave him alone! Stop it!" I thought that no one was watching, but apparently, the neighbors across the street came outside. I started to realize I probably looked a little bit crazy standing there, with my hazards on, waving my arms at some strange rottweiler. The rottweiler wagged his tail at me [so he is friendly?], and picked up the twitching squirrel in his mouth and trotted away. Truthfully, it was the thought of the squirrel suffering that really worried me the most, and I decided that it was probably already dead and I should move on. I could have gotten back into my car without much embarrassment if the man across the street hadn't asked, "So, is that your dog?" To which I replied, "No I just hate seeing squirrels suffer." Yeah. I drove down the street to my clients house and told them that their neighbors will probably be talking about the crazy lady in the white car for a while.

My Work Wish-List

Sad that I'm blogging about work? Probably.

It's probably even sadder that I try to find materials to read for work when I'm not working. [Or maybe it just shows that I'm in the right field :)]

I feel pretty ill equipped to do the job I'm asked to do. My position used to be filled by people who at the minimum had graduate degrees in counseling and were working towards state licensure. The state decided to cut funds [surprise!], and it's cheaper to pay people with bachelor's degrees. And believe me it is cheaper.

This job = great experience for me but also a lot of stress and not knowing what the heck I'm doing. Sometimes I get frustrated and just google stuff. These are some of the results.

Did I mention that I work with almost all boys? The majority are very angry and aggressive. And most end up getting involved with the juvenile justice system at a young age. A book I really want is called Angry Young Men by Aaron Kipnis, a "bad boy" who turned his life around and went on to become a Clinical Psychologist.


This book is chock full of great ideas for therapy & treatment - for every kind of childhood disorder and behavioral problem imaginable - which is what I come across in my work, every kind of childhood disorder and behavioral problem imaginable. Sigh.

I'm not only supposed to help the kids learn to function better, I'm also supposed to help the parents learn to parent better. The lack of parenting being what created the problems in the first place - the majority of the time. I might have some common sense, but I have NOT been a parent. I need some ideas.


Last, but not least, something I am reading. I work with families who are in poverty. They have such limited resources - and not just financially. There is a lack of everything in a lot of their lives. [role models, education, support, safety, etc.] It's complete survival mode.

I grew up in this area, but I'm telling you, I might as well have traveled to a foreign country. I need a passport. The culture is so different than anything I've experienced before. Little to no training is given to staff preparing them to work with a population whose primary day to day problem is actually poverty. I feel that I need to understand more about how poverty affects my clients before I can really help them. I want to offer more than a band-aid.

Looks like I have my work cut out for me. And who says you have to be in school to learn??

Alarming Statistic!

I interrupt the lack of blog posts to announce an alarming statistic....I took a stupid facebook friend statistic quiz [I am forever taking dumb quizzes on there when I should be going to bed!], and it says have something like 74% female friends and 26% male friends on facebook!! I am not too shocked by this, but it's sad to see in numbers!

Where have I gone wrong?? How can I go about getting more male friends? [because we all know the number of friends you have on facebook obviously represents your social status in real life].

Honestly, though, I don't have enough male friends. I've known this for a while. I just don't try to do much about it. I grew up in a household with all females. Our cat is such an odd man out - poor guy, I know we try to make him a girl.

I've always been envious of girls who have tons of guy friends. I don't get it. I understand and relate to females well. They just make sense to me [most of the time!] Males, on the other hand, are foreign. And I am not a tomboy by any stretch of the imagination, so I tend to hang out with girls and do girl things when given the option.

What a dilemma. I think I need to find a seminar or inspirational best seller: Ten Easy Steps to Making More Guy Friends. Or someone could just give me free advice :)

The Design of God

Great lesson from the story of Joseph....

"...The brothers meant the sale of Joseph for evil, but God meant it for good. Notice it does not say that God used their evil for good after they meant it for evil. It says that in the very act of evil, there were two different designs: In the sinful act, they were designing evil, and in the same sinful act, God was designing good. This is what we have seen and will see over and over: What man designs—or the devil designs—for evil, God designs for some great good."

~Spectacular Sins by John Piper [page 81]

I love to see God's design in the beauty of nature, in the wonder of the human body, in the intricacies of human relationships. But most astounding of all to me is how God designs good in the very midst of evil.

I noticed this pattern when I became old enough to understand suffering. All throughout childhood I was taught that God was a good God. A loving God. A redeeming God. I never questioned these things. But when I first saw what a messy, ugly place this world could be, then I had some stuff to reconcile. And this happened for me personally when my family split apart in a pretty devastating way.

I knew [and believed] that God was good and faithful, but I didn't understand how all the pain and dysfunction could ever be God's will. I compared my family to other families, and in those painful moments of comparison, wondered how me or my family could be valuable to God. I realized that one of two things could come out of the mess sin had made of my family: either a lot of destruction or a story of redemption through God's sovereignty. Because I knew God's character, I was sure it would be the latter.

This knowledge of God's character gives me hope, even peace, in the face of pain. My pain, other's pain. Do I forget about it sometimes? Absolutely. I need reminding from time to time that God is not just reacting to the messes we make [if we repent hard enough] but actually working His good within them.

When something gets to that point, you know that point where you just don't know if you can handle it anymore, that's when His character and all I've been taught about it comes to the front of my mind. And I'm filled with a resolve and a strength and a peace that is most definitely not my own. This is not just a special gift given to me from God, but it's available to anyone who is willing to receive it, "for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." [Romans 10:13] What a good God that saved me! He's more than I could ever deserve. And I'm so thankful for that.

Working Hard & Playing Harder?

I wrote this, read it, and then realized that it sounds like an echo of several other posts I've written. More than daily happenings, I would prefer to write about things that have been on my mind lately. But when I'm so busy, the sad reality is that I don't spend as much time contemplating things. I become less introspective. Just the way it is. Can I take a sabbatical?

My life is one big, endless whirl of activity lately. For a lot of people, the fall is like that. But for me, it's been like that and fall activities are only making it more so. Even though I was busy during the summer, I enjoyed the calm, summer lives of everyone around me. Not anymore.

Work, work, work. I do NOT want to return to work tomorrow!! [But who does?] Especially to an 8 AM staff meeting! ahhh, complete yuck. I go though periods when I really just want to lock myself up in the office and chill. I love having a job where I work directly with people 90% of the time, but there are days [weeks?] when I'm too drained to want to. You always have to be energetic, on your toes, entertaining, etc. to work with kids [I guess it's kind of how teachers might feel]. I have always said I am not an "office job" type of person, but certain days I am jealous of people who have those jobs.

The work week is tiring. Problem is, I've been having a hard time being any less busy during my weekend. I tend to squeeze in the fun stuff from Friday to Sunday until I just don't have any time left to do other more tedious things. Like errands, cleaning my room, cleaning my car, oil changes, organization, etc. Then I feel annoyed during the week that it's not done. Sigh. I think I've complained about this before. I keep meaning to declare a weekend off limits for hanging out and solely for doing what I've been putting off, in some cases, for months.

This weekend was full of fun. So much so that I didn't get up until afternoon today, and therefore didn't get a lot of my "to do list" done. Now it's late, and I'm very awake. Darn. If my body had it's way, I think I'd be on a 1am-10am sleep schedule. I just can't make it understand.

I want to find balance in between working & playing. I want to have time to call back friends who I don't get to see very often. I want to shred that mound of bills from a year ago. And finally hang those pictures on the wall. It looks like I'm either going to have to say no to something or clone myself. I would love the latter.