Time Flies

You know what I haven't done in awhile? Blog. I see those people who are "on again off again" bloggers and always say I'm not going to be "one of those", but here I am. But hey, I'm blogging now! ;)

Ryder is almost a month old. It's crazy how time flies! Not only is this little man growing outrageously, but where did June go?! I remember being at the hospital on June 6th, blinking, and being at game night last night. Again, time flies.

I've gone to the beach once this summer. Definitely something that needs to be changed. With Sebastian and Katie having such busy work schedules, the beach isn't necessarily a priority when they are off. Oh, and I'm not much for going by myself.

Well, I'm eighteen, a high school graduate, and a brand new aunt. I'd say life is going pretty well. :) I could honestly not be any happier with what's happening these days..unless someone showed up with a Ford Fiesta that had my name on it. ;) It'll happen one day! We're going out to dinner for my birthday tonight since on my actual birthday we were all a little preoccupied. Maybe I'll tell you about it later...

Maybe not. ;)

Water Parks, Birthdays, and a Beautiful Baby Boy...Part 3

{Click here for Part 2}

At 10:47pm on June 6, 2012, Jesse Ryder Amos came into this world. He was 7 pounds 12 ounces and measuring 20 1/2 inches long. After all of the waiting that had been done, his perfect face lit up the entire family.

How cool is it to have the same birthday as your first born nephew? For me, it's amazing. He's the best birthday present I've ever gotten! Seeing him for the first time was something I'll never forget. Again, so blessed.

I love that I can call that little guy my nephew.

Water Parks, Birthdays, and a Beautiful Baby Boy...Part 2

{Click here for Part 1}

We got home and mom and I left for the hospital. We got a call from Jesse saying they wanted Chick-Fil-A...what's new? ;) So, after stopping to get two number five eight counts with sweet teas and Chick-Fil-A sauce, we were on our way. I was already filling up with pride as I walked through the doors and into the maternity ward. Just knowing that the next time I left the hospital, I would have a nephew, made me a super happy camper. But anyway, they got their Chick-Fil-A. :)

Lydia had a looong labor. By the end of June 5th, we knew Ryder wasn't coming on the "scheduled" timeline. So, mom and I parked ourselves in the empty waiting room and waited for the morning. After all, if there was a change in events, we didn't want to miss anything. :)

When the clock hit midnight, it was officially my birthday. Eighteen years earlier, my mom was in the same position Lydia was; waiting for their little miracle. At 12:00, mom sang to me. While she was singing to me, my amazing boyfriend was calling me to do the same. With all of the hustle and bustle of the day, it would have been natural for everyone to "look over" my birthday. For me, that wasn't the case. When Seth and Stacey {brother and sister-in-law} came to the hospital that night to wait for the baby, they surprised me with a balloon and cupcakes. Oh, and candles that we could have set the smoke alarm off with. I'm so blessed to have the family that I do.

A few hours later, the two mom's ran down the hall and into the delivery room. The time had come. :)

And you can see part 3 here...the best part in my opinion. :)

Water Parks, Birthdays, and a Beautiful Baby Boy...Part 1

Tuesday morning was cold and rainy. While most people would want to grab a good book and their favorite soup, Sebastian, Katie, and I were getting our bathing suits on and our lunches packed. We were going to Water Country USA to celebrate my eighteenth birthday. I think there was a slight moment when we contemplated going a different day, but what's a little rain when you're going to a water park?

We got there at about 12:30. We got up to the ticket place to buy Katie's pass, and they told us they were closing at 1:00 due to the rain and 60 degree temperature. I can't say we were too upset; it I was cold. So, we went ahead and got Katie's season's pass and went to the bathroom to change out of our bathing suits and into our jeans and jackets.

While we were changing, I got a text saying Lydia's water broke. I guess it worked out Water Country was closing early. It would have been terrible to get in there, get all wet, then have to dry off and leave ten minutes later. Not to mention freezing!

Although the water park was a bust, there was something much much better waiting just around the corner. :)

You can read part 2 here. :)

The Aftermath

When I wrote what I did about homosexuality, I knew I would get some bad feedback. Before posting it, I prayed and asked God to really give me a peace about sharing my thoughts. I can honestly say that He gave me that peace that passes all understanding. Still, I didn’t know what the future held for that blog post, but I laid it in the Lord’s hands.

People were “liking” and commenting on it telling me how much of a blessing it was. Some of my friends were sharing it and then some of theirs, too. Within the first minute of posting, it already had nine views and no negative comments. “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Maybe people were listening to what they had learned so many years ago? Either way, I just prayed that God’s will would be done.

It wasn’t much longer when the first blow hit. I saw a nice long status that, although never said my name, had every hint pointing straight to my blog. It explained how just because I believe something doesn’t mean everyone else has to. It mainly focused on how the fact that I don’t believe people are born gay is a joke. I wasn’t sure what to do about it, so I didn’t do anything at all. The next one came a little while after. After commenting on my post, a status was made even worse than the first one. Again, never saying my name, it had “Hannah” written all over it. I need to stop shoving my “religion” down people’s throats and I need to think of others instead of myself. Just because I think something is right doesn’t mean everyone has to abide by my rules. It ended with saying people like me are why this person left GCA three years ago. There were a few more, but I’m not going to explain each one. I think the worse one for me to read was from someone who I felt like should have had more respect for not only me, but my parents. In a roundabout way, I was told that I was putting a box around what God can do and I was being judgmental.

Not many of you know me personally, but I am an incredibly sensitive person. Sebastian {my boyfriend} showed up just in time for me to break down. When I posted the link earlier, I knew those comments would come, but when they did, I was in no way ready for the amount of negativity. I kept telling myself that the good outweighed the bad, but the sense of pure hatred I felt while reading some of the responses made me wonder if I should have shared the post to begin with.  

I was going to reply to some of the people who didn’t “approve”, but then it was like God just said, “No, that’s what they want. Be the bigger person.” In my mind, I felt like those people didn’t have the right to tell me I was pushing anything down their throats. They saw it. They clicked on it. They read it. Before I gave myself too much time to get upset, I decided that I was thankful that they saw it, I was thankful they clicked on it, and I was thankful they read it. Who knows, maybe a seed was planted in their hearts that wasn’t there just a few minutes earlier.

Yesterday was full of mixed emotions. I have never gotten so much “hate mail”, but it just made me imagine what Jesus Christ had to go through. I have comfort in knowing that the Lord is working in people who read what I wrote. Even if only one out of the three hundred views was blessed by it, it would be so worth it.

As a Christian, I have to be ready for persecution. I have to be ready to stand up for my God and go to battle at any given time. Yesterday, I had to endure some of the worst things ever said about me. It may be weird to some of you, but when someone doubts my faith, calls me a hypocrite, or downgrades anything having to do with my Savior, it hurts ten times worse than anything else that could be said.

I’m so thankful for the prayers I got yesterday - they mean more than you know. I have never taken such a stand as I did yesterday, but I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Psalm 86:12

"I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart and I will glorify thy name for evermore."  

Homosexuality

Sometimes, I want to just write & write & write. Write about all of the controversial things going on in the world. Same sex marriage, abortion, the 29 year old woman who plans to take her own life on November 1st - stuff. And I know what I have to say will encourage some, sit the wrong way with most, but that doesn't seem to matter. God has given me a voice, & I'm going to use it.

A few days ago, the law was passed making same-sex marriage legal in several states - including Virginia. My Facebook news feed was filled with gay pride & equality posts, subtle sucker punches toward those "selfish", "stupid"  people who believe in the Biblical definition of marriage, & lots and lots of pro same-sex marriage advocates barking out hatred toward pro one man & one woman marriage advocates about how pro one man & one woman marriage advocates need to stop hating on pro same-sex marriage advocates. What?

I am 100% against same-sex marriage. That doesn't mean I don't have a heart. That doesn't mean I hate gay people. But in the Bible, Jesus Christ defined marriage as being a union between one man & one woman. I made a post in 2012 expressing my views on the subject, & nothing has changed. Instead of re-writing, I'm going to post that same thing again.

I was raised in a Godly, Christian home with parents who strive to live their every day for God and God alone. The most important thing to my parents, was to provide a home that would glorify the Lord. My brother’s and I spent most of our school going years at Greenbrier Christian Academy, so we never had the public school experience where the worldly atmosphere is so apparent. Saying that, I was taught that a boy grows up, meets a girl, falls in love, asks her to marry him {after asking her daddy for permission first}, gets married, has kids, and the cycle starts all over again. I was taught that the man should be the spiritual leader of the home and his helpmeet {wife – woman} should be just that; a helpmeet, and should love her husband with all of her heart. Never was I taught that it was okay for a man to marry a man or a woman to marry a woman. So, when I got older and started seeing and hearing of more homosexuals, I knew it wasn’t what God had intended and I never really gave it too much more thought.

We’ve all heard of the creation. If you haven’t, crack open that Bible to page one and read the first chapter. On the sixth day, God created a man – Adam. He made him in His image and he was without sin. In Genesis 2:7, the Bible says that God formed man out of the dust on the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Then, He said that it was not good for man to be alone and He would make a helpmeet for Adam {Genesis 2:18). God created every “beast of the field and every fowl of the air”, but still, there was no helpmeet for the man. {Genesis 2:19-20}. God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam and He took one of Adam’s ribs and made a woman. Woman. {Genesis 2:22} If God had intended for a man to marry a man, wouldn’t he have made another Adam?  

After God created Eve, He told the two to be fruitful and multiply {Genesis 1:28}. Again, if God had intended for the world to be filled with both heterosexual and homosexual beings, He would have designed our bodies to be able to reproduce through both means. Also, sexual intercourse through homosexuals would have been made healthy and natural. In Romans 1:27, it says that the men stopped “being with” the women and started lusting and wanting each other. They did things together which in turn created punishment within their bodies. Not healthy.

In Matthew, Jesus was asked questions about marriage. Immediately, He went straight to the beginning of time saying, ”Have ye not read that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, for this cause shall a man leave father and mother and cleave to his wife: and they twain shall become one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.”{Matthew 19:4-7} Although He never specifically spoke on gay marriage, He made it known countless times that, from the beginning, marriage was meant for one male and one female.

Over the years, society has become so oblivious to the real meaning of marriage. Marriage was made to be between one man and one woman and was to be life-long. Hollywood has made it okay for pre-marital sex, homosexuality, divorce, adultery, and so much more. Now a day, if you’re celebrating your three year wedding anniversary, you must be a saint. It’s sad how far we’ve gone from God and how little people want to turn around and make changes to make the world what it was intended to be.

Some of the people that I’m closest to believe that people are born gay. Whether it’s their brother, sister, cousin, or friend, it’s hard to see that it’s a sin. Once the man and the woman are ready to reproduce, God forms a baby inside the mother’s womb. He created every part of that child. How many hairs are on their head, what color their eyes are, where the freckles will be placed on their little cheeks, their personality, and on and on. Each human being is made in God’s image. Do you truly, honestly believe that He would shape and mold someone and create them to be a homosexual – something He has taught us not to be? Personally, I don’t.

Like I said, for someone who has a loved one who is gay, accepting Biblical facts behind it can be a hard pill to swallow. I’m not here to judge; I’m here to pray. I was put on this earth to be a light in the darkness. To spread the love of my Father. To show people His grace. You’ve never done anything too bad for forgiveness. The Bible is very clear on the rights and wrongs of life – specifically marriage. Don’t think that just because you’ve had pre-marital sex, been attracted to the same sex, had a divorce, been an adulterer, or anything else, that you’ve gone too far for the Lord to love you. He loves you. He loves you right now. Jesus Christ died for you. Can you imagine being in a perfect place and being sent to a world full of disgust and evil? Can you imagine being spit on, mocked, whipped, bruised, battered, and so much more? Can you imagine dying for a world who hates you? Dying so that that same world may come to know Christ as their Savior and be able to spend eternity in Heaven? Can you imagine that love? Jesus could have stopped those soldiers at any minute. He didn’t have to be nailed to that cross. Why did He do it? For you and me. He loves you more than anyone else could. He’s waiting for the invitation into your heart.  Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him and him with me.”

Love has been made into being a stomach full of feelings. If this man feels attracted to that man, who is anyone to stop them from getting married? Society has thrown the whole meaning of marriage out of the window and has said, “If you feel it, go for it!” They’ve made it seem okay to make a life-long promise at the alter then find something better, cheat on your spouse, get a divorce, and make it a cycle. It’s not okay!

2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Come on guys, I think it’s time to humble ourselves before the Lord and ask Him to forgive. How awesome would it be to have a world-wide revival? It just takes truly repentant hearts.

There is Hope

For the past 20 {?} years, my dad has been writing a book. He tried to get it published a few years ago, but the company said they didn't think it would have a good sales turn out, so they turned him away. After a huge disappointment, my dad put the binder full of typed up stories on the shelf, and called it a wrap.

My mom has always thought that he should try again. It had been a couple of years since the first go-round, so there were certain things that needed to be changed and added to the book. My parents agreed that together, they could make the changes needed and try again. My mom spent hours in front of the computer re-typing everything and getting it ready for my dad to go back through and do what needed to be done. The last word was typed, the thumb drive was inserted, the transfer took place, and the changes were made. Finally, the book was finished.

My dad chose WestBow Press to be the potential publisher. The copy was sent and we nervously awaited their response. They were going to publish my daddy's book. :)

After months and months of getting things exactly right, it's finally for sale!

There is Hope: And Other Lessons Learned by a Christian Cop. Where most books have chapters, this book has lessons. Lessons my dad has learned through his years of being a Norfolk Police Officer. Some will make you laugh, some will make you cry, some will make you think, but you won't regret reading any of them.

I'm so beyond proud of my dad for coming back and finishing this book. I know it's going to be {and has already been} such a blessing to so many people. If you ever feel like things are too far for healing and there's no light at the end of the tunnel, always remember that There is Hope.

If you're interested, my dad's having a book signing at Barnes and Noble in MacArthur Mall this Saturday {May 5th} from 1pm - 4pm. If you're free, come on by! If you want to see a little more about the book, you can go here. :)