The Faithfulness of God

It has been ages since I have written. Between multiple moves with the military and homeschooling four kids, I just haven't had the time I would like. However, I find myself in a new phase of life. The kids are getting older, and more independent in their studies. I truly hope this means I will have more time for blogging.

Today, I want to write about God's faithfulness. Over the past eight years, my family has been through some crazy times! Today, I have time for only a brief summary, but as I write, I think perhaps our story lends itself well to a series on God's faithfulness. Stay tuned for future blog posts on this topic, as I share more of our testimony regarding God's hand of grace in our lives. 

My husband separated from active duty with the military in 2014, and joined the reserves. During that transition, a clerical error caused his pay to stop six months early, and we conducted the entire move on our own dime, to include buying a new car when one of our cars broke down on the side of a remote highway in Northern California. We spent the next several months trying to recover from that pay mess-up while my husband took on a contracting job to provide for the family. 

A year into contracting, my husband's pay began getting cut. Each year, it got cut a little more until we were struggling to make ends meet. We had to move back into a tiny 1000 sq ft, 3 bedroom, 1 bath house we'd purchased right after the housing market crash in 2008. Six people, two dogs, and one cat in that one tiny shoe box of a house. My husband picked up real estate on the side, hoping he could build a business that way and eventually be able to cut loose from contracting.

God had other ideas. Just as my husband got his real estate license, he got recalled to active duty. He sold two houses, including our own, and we moved to Japan. What an incredible experience that was! At the same time, COVID hit halfway into our three-year tour there, and all hope of traveling to see the rest of Japan or other parts of Asia, or even to come home for a visit, flew out the window. We were stuck on that rock doing God's work for three whole years.

Once the three year orders were up, it was time to head back to the States and try to make a life for ourselves again back in the civilian realm. My husband is back on reserve status, and we are STILL waiting for this transition to end. Five months with no home and four months with no income. We are FINALLY getting ready to close on our new home, and my husband has started his new job at a non-profit Christian counseling center. However, the Navy has come knocking again, and we have no idea what is coming next. Should we pursue this opportunity? Should we tell them "NO WAY!" and hope they leave us alone? The Navy doesn't exactly work that way. So, here we sit, trusting God with our future, as we have trusted him with our past.

All of this brings me to the point of this blog post. Not once in all of our wanderings, in spite of pay disruptions, homelessness, and whatever else has been thrown our way, have we been left destitute. God has been SO faithful. We have never not been able to pay the bills. We have never gone hungry. We have never been left without a roof over our heads, even if that roof was not our own. Through family, both blood relatives and our Christian brothers and sisters, God has provided in HUGE ways. It is amazing when you can sit back and see what God was doing and how He was working over the years, even in the midst of your chaos. I will have to write again in the near future, detailing God's faithfulness to our family in each and every circumstance. For now, let me just leave you with these words. Whatever you are going through right now, God is in control. You may not be able to see what He is doing now, but if you are trusting in Him, He will not let you down. Your life might not look the way you planned it out in your head, but none of this is a surprise to God. He sees you, He knows you, He knows your needs even better than you know your own needs, and He will NOT let you down.

In Matthew 6: 25-34, Jesus tells us:

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Do not worry about tomorrow. Today has enough trouble of its own. I hope you find these words encouraging today.

 

Rahab, Manoah's Wife, and Samson - Faith Bible Study

I am currently leading a Bible study on faith, in which we are looking at men and women in the Bible who have exhibited faith.  This past week, most of our group was unable to attend.  I wrote up my notes into a devotional form, intending to post it as a note on Facebook for everyone to read.  But Facebook's note input form is having issues.  I can't type anything into the text box, and Facebook doesn't seem to be in any hurry to fix it.  So, I'm posting it here with a link in the hopes that my Bible study ladies can read it over if they would like to do so.  And, as always, it is my prayer that this post will speak to anyone who reads it, and that it is God's words that are heard and not mine.  If I get some time, I will try to write up my notes from other sessions into devotional form and post them as well. 

We are going to begin our study this week by looking at the example of Rahab. Before you dive on in, read her story in Joshua 2, Joshua 6:15-23, and then read what the author of Hebrews had to say about her faith in Hebrews 11:23.

Rahab was not only a prostitute, but a pagan as well. She had not grown up knowing God. More than likely, the religion she had been born into had many gods with one “patron god” for the city she lived in. However, she had heard the rumors about what the God of the Israelites had done. She had heard about the plagues brought upon the Egyptians. She had heard about how God had parted the Red Sea. She had heard about the incredible victories the Israelites had won over powerful armies when the odds seemed against them. And this pagan woman came to the conclusion that the God of the Israelites must be the one and only God in heaven above and on earth below.

Joshua, who was the leader of the Israelites at the time, sent two spies into Jericho ahead of the army's arrival. They went into Rahab's house. Why they turned there instead of elsewhere, we do not know. Perhaps the nature of her business would have made their entrance into her house less conspicuous. What we do know is that Rahab did not turn them away. Instead, she risked the wrath of her own government officials and her own people and turned traitor by hiding the spies and lying about their presence when Jericho's soldiers came looking for them. Then, she told the spies exactly what they had come to find out (that her people were all melting in fear because of what they had heard about Israel's victories), declared that she believed their God was the one and only God, and pleaded with them to spare her life and the lives of her family when they came back to destroy Jericho. Her request was granted. The spies gave her very specific instructions regarding what she was to do on the day of Jericho's destruction, and she in turn gave them very specific instructions about what they were to do in order to ensure they returned to Israel's camp unharmed. Then she helped them escape the city by letting them out of her window, which was part of the city wall. She believed that the spies would keep their word, and she made preparations for their return. Some time later, the Israelite army returned en force, and made their famous conquest of Jericho. They marched seven times around the city each day for seven days, and when the final march ended, they shouted and blew trumpets, and the city walls fell down! Every single person in the city was killed except Rahab and those who were in her house with her at the time. Joshua gave very specific orders regarding Rahab, telling the spies to go into the city as soon as the wall fell in order to bring Rahab and her family out of the city to a safe place outside the Israelite camp. Thus, Rahab saved not only herself, but her family as well. And she was given a new life among the people of Israel, who accepted her as one of their own. She married, had children, and we read in genealogies later on in scripture that she was actually part of the family line of King David and of Jesus!

When you look at Rahab in depth, you will find an amazing picture of faith. I find it absolutely incredible that this pagan woman who had not even heard of God prior to the rumors that began trickling in from Egypt came to the conclusion on her own (surely by God's design, as she was part of His plan) that the God of the Israelites was the one and only God. While her own people were melting in fear, she acted upon this realization, knowing she and her family were doomed to destruction. She decided to place her faith in God and in the compassion of the Israelites, and out of desperation to save herself and her family, she turned traitor and jumped upon the opportunity to help the nation of Israel when it was handed to her. In the end, that act of faith in the character of God and in that of the Israelites saved her and her family.

But it is not only this faith that amazes me. As a recent college graduate, I interned for one summer with a mission organization called Global Women, which is dedicated to helping women all over the world overcome oppression and poverty. One event we attended was a conference in Wisconsin for recovering prostitutes. While there, we presented the Gospel message to them, reassuring them that God could turn the dark tragedies of their pasts into beautiful victories that would glorify Him. I have to say this was quite possibly one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life. I think many of us have this idea that prostitutes choose their profession and that they can get out of it at any time. That simply is not the case. Most of them are sold into prostitution as sex slaves. Those who aren't sold into it typically come from a background rife with sexual abuse. They have been led to believe that this is the only thing they are capable of doing. They enter the profession from a position of desperation. I remember hearing one woman's heartbreaking testimony. She had grown up in an abusive home, and had been told all her life that sex was the only thing she was good for. As an adult, she thought she had finally escaped her torturous situation, but found herself utterly poverty stricken and unable to find a job. Without knowing the God who provides, she saw selling herself as her only means of putting food on the table. Her first customer paid well, and when the money from that job ran out, she did it again. Before long, she found she had a group of regulars and a steady income. She tried to get out time and time again. But each time, found herself incapable of leaving the lifestyle she had made for herself. It was as though she had created a trap for herself. In the end, successfully leaving the trade took the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, leaving her home country, and gaining the skills necessary to market herself for a different type of job. Other women who are sold into prostitution have no say in the matter. Poverty-stricken parents sell their young daughters in order to survive. These girls have no way out unless they die or somehow escape. 
 
Regardless of the way they get into the profession, it is incredibly damaging to a woman emotionally, as well as physically. Think about the guilt you feel when you do something wrong. Sometimes it takes years before you are able to forgive yourself. These women have spent years trapped in a cycle of sexual immorality, often forced upon them against their will. They have been told for years by respectable, moral people that they are dirty and the scum of the earth. They have been led to believe that they are worth something only when they are being used by men. They have come to believe that they only way they are capable of supporting themselves (and their children in some cases) is to practice prostitution. No prostitute enjoys her profession. At some point, they all try to get out. Some succeed. Many more do not. Why? Because when they do attempt to get out, they find those who know their pasts continue to throw it into their faces, their own consciences refuse to allow them to move past the guilt and shame of their dark histories, and if they have heard of God at all, they simply cannot believe that a righteous, holy God who cannot look upon sin would forgive them, let alone truly care for them.

Rahab had this history. Her story is the same as any modern prostitute when it comes to abuse and low self-esteem. We have no reason to believe that she was any different from the many prostitutes that came before her or the many that followed. The fact that she had the faith to believe that God would have compassion on her is even more incredible when viewed in this light. Not only that, but she had the faith to believe that God could and would give her a fresh start in life and rewrite her story. God honored her faith in a HUGE way. Not only was her life spared, but she was given a husband and children . . . and God honored her further still by singling out her family line as the one from which the kings of Israel and Messiah Himself would come.

We learn several lessons from Rahab. First, the lesson we learned last week regarding the fact that faith takes risks is confirmed. Faith takes risks. Rahab had no assurance that the Israelites would have compassion on her. She had no assurance that they would keep their word. Furthermore, she had no assurance that the Israelites would indeed prevail or that she would not be found out before they returned. Had they failed or had her betrayal been discovered before their return, she would have been executed by her government for treason. But she took that risk, believing wholeheartedly that the God of the Israelites was the one true God, that He and His people would have compassion on her, that they would conquer Jericho, and that they would keep their promise to her. Our second lesson is that God honors faith. Trusting God pays HUGE dividends because He will NEVER let us down. If we will place our faith in Him, He will bless us beyond our wildest dreams. Thirdly, our past does not dictate God's likelihood of answering our prayers. We can come from the darkest of circumstances, having committed the grisliest of sins. Yet God, who sees into the dark spaces, longs to gather us into His arms, fill our hearts with His light, heal the wounds we have inflicted upon ourselves or which have been inflicted upon us by others, and reassure us of His love for us. If we will have faith in Him to heal our wounds, forgive our worst sins, and lead us into a better life, He will honor that faith and will not let us down.

Our second example of faith for this week is that of Samson's mother. We are never told her name, as she is referred to as “Manoah's wife,” but her example of faith is such a blessing to see! Read her story in Judges 13 before you read any further.

Her first display of faith comes when she took the angel of God at his word. She did not ask his name or where he had come from, and he did not give it. He just told her what would happen to her, and she believed him in spite of years of hoping for a child yet receiving none. She ran to tell her husband, insisting that the man she had just spoken to was a messenger sent by God, and wholeheartedly believing that his message was true and that all would turn out the way he said it would. But Manoah did not believe her. Instead, he prayed to God to send the man to tell HIM the same thing he'd told his wife. God listened, and sent His messenger yet again. The angel of the Lord told Manoah the exact same thing he'd told his wife, yet still not believing he was really sent by God, he asked the man to stay for a meal. The angel refused to eat it, telling him to offer it to God instead, and as the fire burned the offering, the angel ascended to heaven in the flame. Then and only then did Manoah begin to believe that this man was truly sent by God. He panicked, saying “we have seen God! We're going to die!” But his steady, faith-filled wife spoke such wisdom and encouragement to her husband! She told him that if God had intended to kill them, He would not have gone to the trouble to send someone to tell them all these things that were to happen to them.

While Samson's mother's simple faith in the angel's first message bears an example for us in and of itself, I just love that last bit where she tells her husband exactly how it is! Here her husband is panicking because they saw the angel of the Lord and he is certain they will die because of it, but she speaks so confidently, just as she did when the angel first appeared to her! She knew that God would not have revealed all of this to them had He intended to kill them. She was certain not only that she and her husband would live, but she also had faith that God would keep His word and she would have a son exactly as the angel of the Lord had said she would.

I think Hebrews 11:1 sums up the lesson we learn from Manoah's wife perfectly. “Now sfaith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” She could not see the future. But she had hope that she would indeed have a son. She was assured of God's trustworthiness and compassion, knew the man she had seen was really, truly sent by God, and knew everything would turn out exactly as she had been told it would. 
 
Her conversation with her husband reminds me of conversations I have had with my own husband. At the moment, we are still waiting to hear whether or not my husband has received the promotion he needs in order to remain in the military. If he has not received it, he has to get out. And we have no idea where we will go or what we will do if that happens. If he does receive it, we will have exactly three months in which to secure new orders and move. Either way, the future is very much uncertain and poses very real difficulties when you have a family to support. I have had so many conversations with my husband in recent days in which he has gone back and forth between hoping he doesn't get the promotion so that he doesn't have to deal with the politics or separations that come with a military career, and asserting that he NEEDS this promotion because he doesn't know how else he will support us if he doesn't get it. I have told him time and time again that we need to have faith that God will provide for us no matter what happens. He knows our needs, He knows our desires, and He also has a plan for our family that is a perfect fit and beyond our wildest dreams. My husband knows this too, but sometimes, he needs that reassurance that God will take care of us . . . that God has indeed promised in scripture that He will provide all our needs, and that He can be trusted to keep those promises. Indeed, we all need that reminder at times. It is hard to have faith when things are uncertain or look bleak. But we know that God cares about the sparrow that falls from the sky, and that He clothes the lilies of the field. We must have faith that He will take care of us as well.  Matthew 6:25-34 is among my favorite passages of scripture.  We can lean upon these verses when the going gets tough, and rest in the knowledge that God will provide all our needs.
 
As Christian women, I think it is so important for us to strive to think and speak with an attitude of faith in God. Our husbands, children, family, and friends all look to us for encouragement when the going gets tough. It is up to us to speak God's wisdom and encouragement into their lives as crises develop, not to put more pressure upon them to perform to our own standards. As our husbands strive to provide for us and hit points in their careers where adequate provision for a family seems difficult, if not impossible, we should encourage them with our own unshakable faith in God's promises. How many of us put pressure on our husbands to get or keep a job, get that promotion, get that raise, etc.? Perhaps we should instead be encouraging them to look to God for the answers and for provision. How many of us put pressure on our kids to perform to their best in academics, sports, music, whatever they put their minds and effort to? Perhaps we should instead be encouraging them to look to God for strength, for direction in the activities they are to pursue, and for the wisdom that only He can give. It is easy to encourage a friend who is going through a crisis, but I think we are hardest on those closest to us, expecting them to perform at their best, relying on themselves rather than on God in order to meet our expectations. Manoah's wife knew this fact, and knew that what her husband needed to hear when he was certain they would be struck dead on the spot was that she had faith that God would have mercy on them and would keep His word. 
 
While we are in Judges, let's take a look at Samson. I think most of you know his story, but let me fill you in on some back information before I send you to hunt for his story in the Bible. Samson is now a grown man, and quite possibly the strongest man who has ever walked the earth. This was a man who could kill a lion with his own bare hands, defeat an army with only the jawbone of a donkey, catch foxes and tie their tales together single-handedly, and tear out the enormously heavy, solid gates and posts out of a city wall and carry them a mile before setting them down. This was a man who had not met a challenge he could not overcome. He was prideful, conceited, arrogant, a bit spoiled, and boastful. Then he met Delilah. She proved to be his undoing. She coaxed him to tell her the secret of his great strength. After numerous attempts and failures, you'd think Samson would have caught on to her tricks, but he eventually caved and told her the truth. She cut off his hair, and then set the Philistines upon him. Samson's strength was gone, and he was easily detained. The Philistines tied him up, gouged out his eyes, and threw him in prison. Some time later, the Philistines were celebrating their victory over Samson in the temple of their god, Dagon. They were all drunk and brought out Samson so they could “watch him perform” and laugh at him. This is where we find Samson in the part of his story that highlights his faith. Take a moment now to read Judges 16:23-31.

Samson was completely defeated. He had been utterly humiliated and completely humbled. He had once been the strongest man on the face of the earth, and this strength combined with his numerous victories had puffed him up with pride. Now he found himself defeated by his enemies, his strength gone, and he was standing before his enemies, probably attempting to pick up heavy things and failing, and they were laughing at him. Any mom of boys, sister of brothers, wife, or indeed any woman who has ever worked with boys, knows that the absolute worst thing you can do to any man or boy is to laugh at his weaknesses. When they fail, they are keenly aware of it. To point out the obvious or to make fun of their failings is to crush them and nurture a fear of failure that will render them incapable of taking risks or trying something new later on down the road. Samson was in such a spot as he stood in that temple. He was at rock bottom. He was keenly aware of his shortcomings, his failure, his mistakes, and the fact that he was now as weak as any other man. He was hurting. His spirit had been effectively crushed and he had been completely humbled before his enemies. But while most of us would likely sink deeper and deeper into despair during a situation such as this, fearing for certain that God had abandoned us because we'd been led off the narrow path, Samson knew God was still watching out for him. He prayed, knowing God would hear and would grant his request. And God gave him enough strength to knock down a building, bringing his enemies down with him, and ushering him into God's presence!

Samson's story reminds me of Psalm 139:1-12. Take a moment to read it. Even when things look bleak, we should cling to the knowledge that no place is too dark or too deep for God to see and reach us. We must have faith that God will hear and answer even when we feel He has turned His back on us because we have failed Him in some way. We are God's children. God will never turn His back on us as long as the Holy Spirit resides within us. God hears our prayers and will answer them no matter how low we sink or how bleak our circumstances seem. Yes, we still have to bear the consequences of our sins. But God can and will take our failings and turn them into victories that are glorifying to Him if we will but have faith in His ability to rescue us and allow Him to work in and through us.

As I close, I want to do a quick recap of these three faith-filled individuals. First, from Rahab, we learn that faith takes risks and that God honors faith by blessing our socks off! Secondly, we learn from Manoah's wife, Samson's mother, that faith believes God's promises even when the future is uncertain and our past or the world around us seems to scream that God's truth is a lie. We also find a poignant example in Manoah's wife for those of us who are married, leading us to encourage our husbands with the truth of God's promises and faithfulness. Finally, we learn from Samson that God hears our prayers when we cry out to Him in faith, even from the darkest of places. We also learn that God can take our worst mistakes and turn them into incredible victories that are glorifying to Him if we will trust Him to work in and trough us.

Soaring Through Deployment

Originally posted February 3, 2013

As I was sitting in church this morning, my mood swung from “I’m fine, everything’s fine” to “this is almost more than I can bear!”  I don’t really even know what brought it on.  All I know is that as I stood on stage singing my heart out to God as I helped lead worship, I was suddenly gripped with an intense feeling of loneliness and insecurity.  My voice wasn’t as strong as it could have been, and I was keenly aware of the fact that I probably looked like a fat blob up there on stage under the bright lights wearing the white blouse I chose to wear this morning.  As I looked out at all the couples, I couldn’t help but think that if my husband were home, he’d be sitting there in that pew where we usually sit, offering the quiet support I am so used to finding in his eyes and in his ready smile.  If he were home, all the old insecurities about my weight and appearance wouldn’t matter, because he’s the only one whose opinion matters.  The days till his return seem like almost an eternity, and I often find that when I sink into these depressive moods, I wonder if I will be able to manage until the day we are reunited.  But then, I wonder if we will be OK.  Will he still find me attractive?  Will he be proud of how well I’ve handled things while he was gone?   Has he changed much?  Have I changed much?  Will reintegration be more difficult this time than it was the last time he deployed?

You see, my husband is deployed right now, and has been for some months.  For the time being, I am my children’s sole caretaker.  The responsibility for keeping them fed, clothed, bathed, well-rested, and safe . . . the responsibility for their education, their upbringing, ensuring they spend more time in active play than watching TV or playing on their LeapPads, ensuring they get to all their speech therapy, doctor, and other appointments on time . . . all rests squarely on my shoulders.  In addition to the care of our children, I have to keep our home running smoothly, handle the finances, keep our vehicles maintained, and take care of all of the inevitable crises that keep popping up simply because my husband is gone.  So far this deployment, we’ve gone through two washing machines, our computer’s hard drive failed, ants have invaded our home several times, the air conditioner broke, and we have been sick countless times.  It has literally been one thing after another.  Add to that the guilt I feel over the fact that I can’t seem to carve out enough time to sleep, take a shower, or eat properly, let alone work out like “every GOOD military wife” should do, and is it any wonder that I am feeling defeated?

I am supposed to be homeschooling our children.  We started out strong, but I must admit getting back into it after the holiday craziness has been extremely difficult.  We are lucky if we get in three days a week.  I know my daughter is only in kindergarten, and it isn’t exactly a lack of enthusiasm that is keeping me from plunging back into it, but something is holding me back from diving in with the same determination and excitement I felt at the beginning of the school year. I can’t exactly put my finger on what it is. Perhaps it is just the fact that I am weary. I am bone weary. Something has to change. But what?

When our time of worship was over this morning, I moved back to my usual spot in the third pew from the front. I found myself praying with an earnestness I have not felt in many weeks.  “God, grant me strength.  Grant me peace.  Help me to get through this.  Guard our marriage, guard our hearts, pull us through this.  And help  me to find my identity, my self-worth in you alone.”
As our pastor began his sermon, I looked out the window and saw two hawks flying over the field across the street from our church.  It was a beautiful sight as they dipped, soared, and glided on the breeze.  And now, as I reflect on their dance, the words of Isaiah 40:10-15 and 21-31 come to mind.

¹⁰ See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power,
and his arm rules for him.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.
¹¹ He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.

¹² Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on the scales
and the hills in a balance?
¹³ Who has understood the mind of the Lord,
or instructed him as his counselor?
¹⁴ Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,
and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge
or showed him the path of understanding?

¹⁵ Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales;
he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.

²¹ Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
²² He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
²³ He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
²⁴ No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

²⁵ “To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
²⁶ Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one,
and calls them each by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.

²⁷ Why do you say, O Jacob,
and complain, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
my cause is disregarded by my God”?
²⁸ Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
²⁹ He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
³¹ but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

My God is the Master of the universe.  He knows the end from the beginning, and works out all things according to His plan.  And yet, even with all He has to worry about, HE CARES FOR ME.  He knows I have little ones.  He knows I am weary.  He holds my children close to His heart, and He gently leads me.  All I need to do is call on Him, and He WILL give me the strength to pull through this. He hears me criticize my looks and says “that’s the way I created you . . . you are fearfully and wonderfully made.”  He hears my shaky voice, still recovering from a cold, lifted up in praise to Him and knows I am giving my very breath, my very life, back to Him in worship. To His ears, it is a beautiful sound because I sing for Him only.  He sees me struggling to make ends meet, and provides all we need.  He knows my deepest hurts and longings, as the sting of separation from the man I love grows only deeper rather than easier as one might expect.  And God offers the companionship I so desperately need.  I need only to turn to Him and spend time with Him.  I am weary and tired and all my strength is depleted.  But by God’s grace and strength, I will soar through the rest of this deployment and reintegration on wings like the hawks I saw this morning.  I may have times where I dip and have to work hard, pumping my wings to climb back up into the air, but as long as I am relying on God to supply the wind beneath my wings, I will soar.

If you are also a military wife dealing with similar fears and emotions, know that God’s promises of strength and provision apply to you as well.  Lean on Him, and you too will soar.

Inspiration in Arithmetic

Originally posted January 29, 2013

Almost nothing instills as much fear and doubt in me as does the idea of teaching arithmetic to my children. As a homeschooling mom, my children’s education in all subjects, including math, rests squarely on my shoulders, and if I had to pick one reason to just drop the whole idea and send my kids on off to public school, it would be math.  Why?  Because as an adult, one of my biggest embarrassments is the fact that I cannot even do simple arithmetic in my head.  Oh sure, I can add and subtract small numbers.  Give me long enough, and I might even be able to add and subtract slightly larger numbers.  It takes so long to do larger problems in my head, however, that I often resort to making little dots with which to count on a sheet of paper.  My mom explained to me why this is so . . . I was taught to count and do sums using dots.  Once the dots no longer appeared on my worksheets, I just drew them on there myself.  I was never encouraged to see those dots in my head.  And in my young mind, there was no need to do so.  This is an issue I struggle with to this day.  Fractions?  I can do simple fraction calculations only when it comes to what I  might use during cooking, and even then I have to resort to a calculator or the computer half the time.  Multiplication?  I remember scattered figures here and there, but most of it is lost to me.  Division?  Forget it.  Algebra?  It’s a vague memory.  If I can’t remember most of this stuff, how on earth am I supposed to teach it to my children?!  My husband on the other hand can whip out math calculations within seconds.  While I am still counting on my fingers or trying to figure out how exactly to go about computing such a complicated problem, my husband has figured out the solution and I don’t have to think about it any more.  I just trust his judgment.  When he’s not around, I rely on a calculator and Quicken to do the work for me.  Yes, I am ashamed to admit it.  As I said, this shortcoming of mine is a source of shame for me.

Math was my worst subject growing up.  I HATED math with a passion.  I memorized the facts well enough to get A’s and B’s on my tests, and then most of it was promptly forgotten.  When my husband and I decided to home school, I must admit that my fear and dread of math made me question that decision more than once.  But I figured I could at least handle basic math, right?  And besides, I would have a curriculum to lean on . . . my kids wouldn’t necessarily be learning their math from me . . . they’d be learning from a book, right?  Or if I were really stumped, I could just pass the buck on to a real math teacher via a distance learning program through Bob Jones University or Abeka.  That was the plan, anyway.

Before I go any further, allow me to tell you that I simply cannot visualize numbers in my head.  I can’t look at a group of objects and know how many are there without counting, unless the number is five and under.  I was never taught to re-order numbers in such a way that they’d be easier to add or subtract (i.e. 7+9 = 8+8 = 16).  It never even occurred to me to try this until I married my husband and he happened to calculate a problem verbally one day.  What?!  You can do that?!  Seriously, it was a revelation for me, sad to say.  And so, with this knowledge in mind, I have decided that I want my kids to have what I don’t . . . a math knowledge that allows them to see the numbers in their heads, to manipulate those numbers in their heads, to simplify the problems rather than working with impossibly large numbers or problems whose solutions they never memorized (or forgot).  I want them to understand WHY that equation produces the solution it produces.  I never want to hear them tell me “it just does!”  I vividly remember getting frustrated while writing geography proofs in high school because I was lost.  I worked the problem the way my teacher told me to, came up with the solution, and that was that.  Don’t ask me why the numbers came up the way they did.  They just did.  If my kids hit that point and I see the same frustration in their eyes that I remember feeling when confronted with geography proofs, I will know I have failed them as a math teacher.  It is this realization that now drives my goals for our children in math.

There are many great programs out there that tout a superiority over traditional classroom methods for math in that they allow students plenty of work with manipulatives in order to give them the ability to do math mentally.  RighStart, Math-U-See, Miquon, Singapore, and many others, are all among the curriculum I have considered.  They all also have one HUGE problem in common.  They are EXTREMELY expensive.  I initially settled on just the workbooks for Singapore at the kindergarten level.  However, halfway through the school year, I now realize this isn’t working very well.  Apparently, I am missing out on a lot by not having the teacher’s guides.  So I did more research, and finally firmly decided to use RightStart.  RightStart intrigued me, because the curriculum does not rely on textbooks and worksheets.  Instead, a math lesson  involves playing games using numbers and an abacus.  But this program was even more expensive than Singapore.  However, I just couldn’t let go of the fact that RightStart is the only program I know of that uses an abacus.  I love the idea of being so familiar with an abacus that you can literally see it in your mind and do the computations on it that way.  No fingers, and no dots drawn on paper!    But we couldn’t afford it, and I don’t see how we could possibly afford it before we need it, even used.
My next “bright idea” was to try Ray’s Arithmetic.  The books were cheap, and should get me through 8th grade.  And I really liked that they focus so much on oral math and word problems.  If my kids use this program, surely they’ll be as good as, if not better than their dad with mental math!  We are only a couple of weeks into using Ray’s, and already I was starting to doubt my ability to really teach the material to my kids so they’d understand it.  I needed more guidance.

Back to the computer I went, and discovered Life of Fred.  I haven’t bought it yet, but am intrigued by the idea . . . so I decided it was time to ask questions of moms who have actually used this stuff.  I finally signed up on a homeschooling forum, and started asking questions.  One thing led to another, and I finally remembered a little yellow book I had sitting on my bookshelf gathering dust.
A few months ago, I purchased Ruth Beechick’s series on “The Three R’s.”  Her book on arithmetic is titled “An Easy Start In Arithmetic.”  I had not read even a full page before I stumbled upon just the encouragement I needed to hear:

Some parents, and professional teachers too, are afraid of arithmetic themselves, and thus lack confidence for teaching it.  This can lead to an impersonal teaching approach and overdependence on a textbook.  Just assign page 7 today and page 8 tomorrow and the child will learn arithmetic, the teacher hopes, and never discover that she doesn’t understand it herself.

The cure for this brand of anxiety is to learn arithmetic yourself.  You’re an adult after all, and elementary school children are expected to learn arithmetic.  So it can’t be that hard.  Get a good book and learn right along with your child.  Or stay a few pages ahead.
-”An Easy Start in Arithmetic” by Ruth Beechick, P. 1

Wow!  Does that describe exactly what I have been dealing with or not?!  What a comfort to know I am not the only one who deals with a fear of arithmetic!  And what a notion!  Learn right along with my children?!  Hmm . . . maybe she has a point there.  One thing I have learned in my thirty years of life is that I learn best when I am teaching something I am passionate about.  In other words, I learn something, get excited about it, and teach it.  Is it really possible that I, as an adult, could learn how to do math in my head?  Could I really learn the whys behind all of the solutions to the problems I was forced to memorize by rote using the drill and kill method while I was in grade school?  I certainly hope so, because that would be amazing!  And it would relieve me of this embarrassing problem I have when confronted with a math problem to which I cannot automatically recall the answer.

As I read a little further on, I had another “aha” moment. I have been wanting desperately to figure out how to work nature study into our school days, but can’t ever find the time.  Ruth Beechick discusses ways to incorporate math into every day situations.  She talks about how young children learn to manipulate numbers using real physical objects before they begin to visualize those numbers in their heads.  She presents examples in counting people and plates and chairs and other objects in real-life settings.  Then, on page 12, I read this:

If you are home schooling, you are pioneering in a highly significant movement.  Don’t throw away your opportunity by imitating school too closely.  Use real life for teaching.  Your family is unique and will have other kinds of situations than are listed in this manual.  But all families can follow two important principles, no matter what the specific activities are.

The first principle is to use real-life situations to teach bits of arithmetic and to build a “need” to know arithmetic.  When you read stories to children, they learn that books contain stories and they develop a “need” to learn how to read stories for themselves.  That same principle must apply in arithmetic.  Daily events involve arithmetic.  Share these with your child so he develops an awareness of arithmetic and a need to know it.

As I read these words, I recalled reading something about “living math” a while back.  There are homeschooling families who do not use textbooks or workbooks at all.  They simply teach math to their children within the framework of real life.  They play math games, they read books about math, and the children are very familiar with how math is used in every day situations.  While the idea intrigued me, and made me wish I’d been taught  math in this way, I knew my own shortcomings, and immediately put the idea out of my head.  While reading the above, however, I had a sudden inspiration . . . why not do living math outside?!  Take my kids to the park and count the birds.  If three ducks are in the pond and one climbs out, how many are left?  If five birds are perched on a branch, and three fly away, how many are left?  If one bird lands beside the two left on the branch, how many are there now?  Brilliant!  Science, math, developing an appreciation for God’s creation all in one shot!  I may as well bring our books for reading along with us (history, literature, etc.) and read to my kids while we’re outside as well!  Bring along some pencils and sketch pads, and we could accomplish art at the same time!  I could feasibly do an entire school day’s worth of work outside!  Yes!!!  I am truly LOVING this idea!  Who knew that I could find so much inspiration in one little book about teaching arithmetic?  Thank you Ruth Beechick!

I had a chance to begin my little “experiment” today.  While taking my son to speech therapy, Princess and I noticed some leaf patterns etched into cement circles on the sidewalk.  While we waited for Chip to finish his therapy session, Princess and I counted leaves.  We’d count one group of leaves, then count another, and then count how many we had altogether.  She LOVED it!  She was sad when we had to stop!  Later, as we were loading back up in our van, I decided on the spur of the moment to head to a nature preserve near where we live.  A half hour later, my kids and I were hiking down a short trail to the water’s edge where we watched two black birds with white beaks and red eyes swim and eat.  My children were captivated by them.  As luck would have it, a friendly elderly couple was out bird watching as we were watching these black birds.  I asked them what they were, and I was told they are Coots, which are part of the duck family, and are very common.  So the kids and I had an impromptu science lesson right then and there!  And yes, we counted birds.  We spent a good hour there, and would have stayed longer had the baby not needed her nap.  We had so much fun that I know we will be heading back in the very near future.

In closing, I have decided to stick with Ray’s.  I will work ahead in the books on my own and learn right along with my kids.  And we will make math a part of our every day lives.  We will count everything, we will play math games, we will use the abacus and whatever else tickles our fancy as we work problems, and we will learn together.  After all, a family who learns together stays together, right?

May 21, 2011 NOT the End of the World

Originally posted May 20, 2011

I read an article Thursday morning on Fox News about Harold Camping’s prediction that the rapture will occur on May 21st . . . Saturday.  This isn’t the first time I have heard of Camping’s claims, but I wasn’t even going to address them, because I think he’s so far off the mark.  However, I could not let this article slip by, because it makes some claims that are absolutely false, and I wanted to point out those errors and shed light on the truth, because this is a topic that is so largely ignored by the church as a whole these days.  The article also makes Christians sound like absolute nuts, and I really don’t appreciate that.  Some of us do actually have brains between our ears and have actually done the research ourselves.  We know what we believe and why, based on Scripture rather than on the say-so of some loud-mouthed know-it-all.

I began this post Thursday morning, but it has taken me a couple of days to complete it.  Kids, normal duties . . . life happens, right?    I do apologize for the length.  But I wanted to make sure I did a thorough job so as to thoroughly refute Camping and redeem the dignity of Christians worldwide when his prophecies prove false tomorrow.  Please do me the honor of reading through the entire thing.  If you feel led to comment, expound on my thoughts, or offer up more Scripture references, please feel free to do so.

First off, I do not believe for a second that the rapture will occur tomorrow.  Why?  Because the Bible tells us that the beginning of the end . . . the rapture . . . will come at a time when no one expects it.  Christ himself said “35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. 36 But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” (Matthew 24:35-36).  Furthermore, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 tells us “1 Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3 While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.”  If Christ himself told us that we would not know the day or the hour, and one of the greatest apostles of all time, Paul, also confirmed this fact, who on earth does Camping think he is to claim he knows something even Christ said he himself did not know?!  Isn’t that being a bit presumptuous?  A bit cocky, might I add?  For crying out loud, Camping!  Show some Christlike humility and admit that you have no clue what you are talking about!  Camping is a false prophet, plain and simple, and anyone who is following him is allowing themselves to be led astray.  I have no sympathy for those who are following this man.  They will be devastated come May 22nd when their “hope” proves falsely placed.  If they were reading their Bibles for themselves, they would know this fact and would not have been led astray.  Furthermore, Camping has made such predictions before.  He said Christ was going to return in 1994.  Obviously, it did not happen.  By Biblical definitions, the second someone “prophesies” something that does not come true, he (or she) is a false prophet.  That settles it then.  Camping is a false prophet.  Christ will not return for his church on May 21 of this year.  He may return any other day this year, next year, 100 years from now . . . but NOT this Saturday, simply because Camping says he will.

This brings me to another point before I dive into my rebuttal of the article.  People like Camping make me so angry!  It is people like Camping who give Christians a bad name!  They keep attempting to set dates, and those dates come and go with no sign of Christ, the rapture, the Tribulation . . . nothing.  And so yet another black mark is added to Christianity.  Since what we say doesn’t come true, we as a group are all nuts.  Because of a few people who take it upon themselves to put words into the mouth of Jesus and try to apply nonsense such as numerology or “Bible codes” to Scripture to come up with “hidden messages” that aren’t there, Christians have lost all credibility.  How are we to win souls to Christ if a few of our number (who prove they aren’t true Christians at all simply by undermining the Holy Spirit in this way) insist on setting dates that never come to pass?  Stop setting dates!  Christ will come when he comes!  The date is not for us to know!  This has proven a VERY effective tool of Satan to drive people away from Christianity.  Those of you reading this who are not Christians and who think I am crazy for what I am saying and what other “Christians” are saying, please keep this in mind.  Those who truly follow Christ are content to wait patiently for God to work His plan and to gather us to Himself when He decides it is time.  Anyone claiming to know “the date” is an enemy of Christ, and not truly following His teachings.
Now, moving on to the false assumptions the author of the article on Fox News makes about Christians.  The article in question can be found here: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/05/19/rapture-movement-predicts-end-world-saturday/.  The quote I would like to address states:

The Rapture — the belief that Christ will bring the faithful into paradise prior to a period of tribulation on earth that precedes the end of time — is a relatively new notion compared to Christianity itself, and most Christians don’t believe in it. And even believers rarely attempt to set a date for the event.

First off, the rapture is NOT a new notion.  Quite the contrary, in fact.  The rapture has been taught from the earliest days of the church.  The writings of Ephraem the Syrian prove this fact, as do passages contained within Scripture itself.  I will provide some Scripture references in a moment, but first allow me to present the most obvious proof that the rapture was not conceived when John Nelson Darby wrote about it in the 1800′s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Nelson_Darby).

Ephraem the Syrian was an elder in the church during the fourth century.  He lived from 306-373 AD, and was well known for his teachings and for the hymns that he wrote.  According to Wikipedia, he was even venerated as a saint after his death.  You can read more about his life here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephrem_the_Syrian.  Recently, a teacher in Biblical prophecy and Biblical archeology, Grant R Jeffrey, uncovered some texts apparently written by Ephraem the Syrian, or at the very least derived from his sermons, that had not yet been translated.  In trying to find a reference that talks about where these texts were found, I discovered this:

Dr. Paul Alexander, perhaps the most authoritative scholar on the writings of the early Byzantine Church, concluded that Ephraem’s text on The Antichrist taught that the Lord would supernaturally remove the saints of the Church from the earth is prior to the tribulations that is to come.” Ephraem wrote that the saints will be “taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins.” Dr. Alexander believed this text was written by some unknown writer in the sixth century but he concluded that it was derived from an original Ephraem manuscript (A.D. 373). Other scholars, including the German editor Professor Caspari who wrote a German commentary on this Latin manuscript in 1890, believed that Ephraem’s manuscript was written by the genuine Ephraem in A.D. 373. Professor Cameron Rhoades, professor of Latin at Tyndale Theological Seminary, translated Ephraem’s Latin text into English at the request of my friend Dr. Tommy Ice and myself. (http://www.joshuanet.org/articles/ephraem1.htm)

I’m still not quite clear on where the texts were located, but I will keep looking and post again once I find that.  My guess is that they were found right along with other manuscripts written by Ephraem on a shelf somewhere . . . but no one had bothered translating them until Dr. Grant Jeffrey and Dr. Thomas Ice asked Dr. Cameron Rhoades to translate the texts for them.  That’s what is implied in this excerpt from a different article:

The early Christian writer and poet, Ephraem the Syrian, (who lived from A. D. 306 to 373) was a major theologian of the early Byzantine Eastern Church. He was born near Nisbis, in the Roman province of Syria, near present day Edessa, Turkey. Ephraem displayed a profound love of the Scriptures in his writings as illustrated by several of his written comments quoted in the Works of Nathaniel Lardner, Vol. 4, 1788). “I esteem no man more happy than him, who diligently reads the Scriptures delivered to us by the Spirit of God, and thinks how he may order his conversation by the precepts of them.” To this day, his hymns and homilies are used in the liturgy of the Greek Orthodox and Middle Eastern Nestorian Church. While the sixteen-volume Post-Nicene Library includes a number of homilies and psalms by Ephraem the Syrian, the editors noted that he also wrote a large number of commentaries that have never been translated into English.  (http://www.arewelivinginthelastdays.com/com/ephraem.htm)

So, we have established who Ephraem the Syrian was and that some texts of his were recently translated.  One of the manuscripts that was translated was a sermon entitled “On the Last Times, the Antichrist, and the End of the World.”  In this manuscript, Ephraem the Syrian quite clearly states:

“For all the saints and Elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins” (http://www.arewelivinginthelastdays.com/com/ephraem.htm)

Did you catch that?  The rapture was taught in the early church!  Not only rapture, but pre-tribulation rapture!  This is NOT a new concept, people!  The teaching of the rapture has been around since Ephraem the Syrian at the very least!  I would actually postulate that the rapture has been around since Isaiah’s day, which I will discuss in a moment.

Now to clarify something.  The word “rapture” is not found anywhere in Scripture.  However, the concept is definitely there.  The word “rapture” is taken from the Greek word “harpazo,” which literally means “caught up.”  The idea of the rapture is that Christ will “catch up” all true believers and hide them away in heaven until the Tribulation ends and he returns to earth to establish his kingdom and cast all evil out of his dominion.  Those who have not placed their faith in Christ will be left here to face quite literally the worst time human history has ever seen.

The idea of the rapture is best illustrated, I believe, in the light of ancient Jewish marriage customs.  The Church is referred to numerous times throughout Scripture as “the bride of Christ,” and Christ is referred to numerous times as “the bridegroom.”  In ancient Israel, a man and woman who were planning on getting married would first become betrothed or pledged to one another.  During this betrothal ceremony, the bridegroom would travel to the bride’s home where he would pay a dowry or bridal price for his future bride.  The couple would say their vows, drink wine from the “covenant cup” to seal the deal, and give gifts to one another.  The bridegroom would then leave and go back to his father’s home where he would work to prepare a place for he and his bride to live once they were married.  The bride, meanwhile, would spend her time learning how to be a wife and how to manage a household.  By all legal definitions, the bride and groom were now husband and wife.  If he died before they consummated their marriage, she was considered a widow.  If she was unfaithful to him before they consummated their marriage, she was considered an adulteress.  The bride never knew when her husband-to-be would return for her.  She was to always remain ready.  Once the groom’s father decided all was ready for his son to bring his bride home, he would tell his son to go and get his bride.  The bridegroom would then travel back to his bride’s home bringing some friends with him, quite often arriving during the evening hours.  As he entered his bride’s town, his friends would announce his arrival with a shout.  The bride would then travel back to her husband’s home along with her husband, female attendants, and all of her husband’s friends who had traveled with him.  Once in her new home, the bride and groom would enter their wedding chamber where they would remain for a full week.  Meanwhile, the wedding guests would make merry outside, feasting and partying until the bride and groom emerged together at the end of the week.  You can read more about it here: http://www.biblestudymanuals.net/jewish_marriage_customs.htm.

How does this apply to the church and Christ, you ask?  It’s quite simple, actually.  Think about it for a moment.  Christ left his heavenly home to come to earth (our home).  He entered into a covenant relationship with us when he paid the ultimate bridal price on the cross.  He gave his blood for us as a dowry!  The gifts he gives us are the Holy Spirit and eternal life.  The gift we give to him is our lives, our homes, our talents, our bodies . . . everything we have is our Lord’s to use for his glory.  The covenant cup is the cup of wine we take at communion (think about that next time you take communion, if you are a Christian!  You are drinking the cup that sealed your position as the bride of Christ!).  After Christ’s death, he rose again three days later.  He spent a little bit of time on earth, and then traveled back to his Father in heaven where he is preparing a home for us.  Meanwhile, we go about our daily duties, doing what God has called us to do and sharing the good news of his salvation with everyone we meet.  One day (soon, I hope!), he will return for us and take us to be with him while the party rages on outside.  At the end of the week (the Tribulation), we will return to earth with him and he will reveal us to the world as his bride.  However, there is a warning along with this.  You might say “I want to be part of the party!”  The party described here is one the angels will be celebrating (the party is in heaven, Christ’s home – not the bride’s home), not the one the people left on earth will be celebrating.  There will be no celebration during the Tribulation.

And now for some verses taken right out of Scripture for you to illustrate the idea of the rapture, which, believe it or not, is actually found within Scripture.  The first, and perhaps most well-known of these is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17.

13But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

“Caught up” . . . “harpazo” . . . you see?  The Lord Himself (Christ) will come down from heaven, shout to us, sound a trumpet, and the dead in Christ will be resurrected.  A split second later, those of us who are still alive at that time will be “caught up” into the clouds to be with them and with Christ for eternity.  If anyone denies this even is taught in Scripture, they must not have read 1 Thessalonians recently, because it is right there.

The next passage is actually a continuation of the first passage I offered you in Matthew 24.  We will be covering Matthew 24:35-44 here.

35″Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. 36 But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 37 For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.  42 Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. 43 But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44 For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

These are some of the last words Christ spoke to his disciples before his betrayal and death. He was telling them when to expect the end of the age, when they would see him, Messiah, take his rightful place on David’s throne and cast all evil out of his dominion.  We see here, again, a warning not to attempt to set dates, because no one knows the day or the hour, and the Tribulation will hit the earth at a time when no one expects it.  We also see here an illustration of what I believe to be the rapture.  We see people eating and drinking and marrying . . . life carrying on as normal.  All of a sudden, companions working together find their partners gone.  Think about it for a second.  You are going about your daily routine, when all of a sudden millions of people disappear and the world is plunged into utter chaos.  That’s how it will be when the rapture does finally occur.  Christ himself taught about the rapture.

The next passage is 1 Corinthians 15:51-53.  This one is not as clear, but it’s there nonetheless.

 51Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.

“We will not all sleep,” “the dead will be raised imperishable” (resurrection of the dead), “and we (who are alive and remain) will be changed.”  Again, not quite as clear, but this passage does describe the same event.

The next verse is Revelation 3:10.

10′Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

Christ is the one speaking in this passage.  He is addressing the church, and quite clearly states that those who are true believers (read the rest of chapter 3) will escape the hour of trial that is coming upon the whole earth.  If the Tribulation will be a global event, wouldn’t it then follow that Christ would remove his own from the earth before it starts?  While Christ does not describe the rapture here, it is implied.

The rapture is also taught by implication in 2 Thessalonians 2.

 1Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. 5Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? 6And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 7For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 8Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; 9that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 10and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 11For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. 13But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. 14It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us. 16Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, 17comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.

Now, in this chapter, Paul is addressing a rumor that had the Thessalonians all in a dither.  Apparently, someone was going around telling them that the trials they were currently undergoing was the Tribulation, and that Christ had already raptured true believers and they had missed it. Obviously, that would mean they would remain on earth for the Tribulation, and this had them distressed and thinking they had somehow not “made the cut.”  A pre-tribulation rapture is supported, and indeed taught, in this passage of Scripture.  I know it appears at first to not support a pre-tribulation rapture, but allow me to break it down for you.
In verses 1 and 2, we read

1Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

I think something that is important to note when you read 2 Thessalonians 2 is that Paul is talking about two separate events in verses 1 and 2.  “Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him” does not necessarily mean Christ’s literally setting foot on the Mount of Olives during His glorious appearing (prophesied throughout Scripture as Messiah’s coming or the Second Coming of Christ at the end of the Tribulation). Christ’s second coming happens in two stages. The first stage is the rapture, when we are caught up to meet Christ in the clouds. As we already discussed, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 says

“16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.”

We see here that during the rapture, Christ will come down from heaven and call to us from the clouds. The world will not see Him at this point. But we who are caught up to be with Him will see Him as we meet Him in the air. I believe this is what Paul was talking about in 2 Thessalonians 2:1 when he mentions the “coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him.” Stage 2 of Christ’s second coming is when He returns WITH us (one example of this is found in Jude 1:14-15), literally sets food on the Mount of Olives, slays the wicked, and establishes His kingdom on earth.

Now let’s look at verse 2 . . . “Day of the Lord” is commonly used in Scripture in reference to the Tribulation. The day of God’s wrath, essentially. So, we see two separate events in these two verses . . . the first stage of Christ’s second coming, or the rapture (our being caught up to the clouds to be with Him), and the Day of the Lord, or the Tribulation (day of God’s wrath).

Now let’s look at 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, which says

3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,4who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

“It” in verse 3 is referring to “the Day of the Lord,” not to “our gathering together to” Christ. The Day of the Lord will not come until the apostasy comes and the man of lawlessness is revealed. Someone had told the Thessalonians that the persecutions they were experiencing at that time were the Tribulation. They were worried that the rapture had already come, they had missed it, and would now have to go through the Tribulation. Paul was trying to dispel those fears by saying in essence “this cannot possibly be the Tribulation because we have not been caught up to be with Christ yet, and the anti-Christ has not yet been revealed.”

Moving on to 2 Thessalonians 2:5-12, which says

5Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? 6And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 7For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 8Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; 9that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 10and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.11For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false,12in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

While not named outright, most Christians would agree that the “restrainer” here is the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is, in essence, God’s guiding hand.  The Spirit leads us, speaks to our consciences, helps us to discern right from wrong, empowers us to do God’s bidding, intercedes for us before God, etc.  What happens when the restrainer is taken away? If true believers are left here after the Holy Spirit is removed, would that not mean that God has essentially abandoned us? The Holy Spirit indwells the members of the church. He cannot be removed from this earth without those He indwells being removed from the earth as well. The “man of lawlessness” (the Antichrist) will not be revealed until the Holy Spirit is removed from the earth, therefore we (those who have placed their faith in Christ, have accepted him as their Savior, and have actually produced fruit proving they have truly given their lives to God) will NOT be here when the Antichrist is revealed, ushering in the Tribulation. Christ promised us in John 14:18 that “I will not leave you as orphans,” and in Matthew 28:20 that “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Furthermore, Hebrews 13:5 tells us that Christ Himself promised “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU.” If Christ promised He would never leave us or forsake us, that he would not leave us as orphans, and that He would be with us always . . . to the very end of the age, but the Holy Spirit will be removed from the earth before the anti-Christ is revealed and the “falling away” (those who call themselves Christians but are not truly saved will turn their backs on God) occurs, we must logically conclude that we will not be here when these things happen. Christ will not abandon us to taste the wrath of God as it is poured out on the earth.  To claim otherwise is to call Jesus a liar. Therefore, it is my firm belief that a literal interpretation of 2 Thessalonians 2 tells us that the rapture will occur before the Antichrist is revealed and the “falling away” occurs.  And since this is my firm belief, obviously, I believe this chapter teaches about the rapture. 

Before I move on to another passage, let me dig a little deeper into the last few verses of 2 Thessalonians 2.

13But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.  14It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.  15So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.  16Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace,17comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.

Words of encouragement from Paul! You will not be lost, you will not taste God’s wrath, you are loved by the Lord, you were called, you will attain glory, stand firm, hold to what you were taught, comfort and strengthen each other! Christ has given us ETERNAL COMFORT and hope by grace . . . this hope is the rapture! We (true believers) will not be here to see the horrors of the Tribulation unfold, and I believe that includes the great apostasy and the revealing of the Antichrist. It was Paul’s intent when he wrote this chapter to encourage the Thessalonians. They had not missed the rapture. They were not experiencing the Tribulation. The church will not be here when the anti-Christ is revealed, and he has not been revealed yet, therefore we are not yet in the Tribulation and the rapture has not yet occurred. You didn’t miss it! That was his intent in writing the words contained in 2 Thessalonians 2.

I mentioned that the rapture was taught in Scripture as early as Isaiah (one of the major Old Testament prophets, circa 760 BC).  I believe the rapture is alluded to in Isaiah 26:19-21.

19Your dead will live;
Their corpses will rise
You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy,
For your dew is as the dew of the dawn,
And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.
  20Come, my people, enter into your rooms
         And close your doors behind you;
         Hide for a little while
         Until indignation runs its course.
21For behold, the LORD is about to come out from His place
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
And the earth will reveal her bloodshed
And will no longer cover her slain.

The rapture is also alluded to in Zephaniah 2:2-3.  Zephaniah was one of the minor Old Testament prophets (circa 620 BC).

2Before the decree takes effect–
The day passes like the chaff–
Before the burning anger of the LORD comes upon you,
Before the day of the LORD’S anger comes upon you.
3Seek the LORD,
All you humble of the earth
Who have carried out His ordinances;
Seek righteousness, seek humility
 Perhaps you will be hidden
         In the day of the LORD’S anger.

Zephaniah 1 is all about the Day of the Lord, which is used throughout Scripture to describe the period of time toward the end of history in which God will pour out His wrath on the earth.  In other words, the Tribulation.  The very “Judgment Day” Camping says will begin on Saturday.  If you know your prophecy at all, you will understand that the Tribulation does not begin with the rapture of the church.  It begins when the Antichrist signs a treaty with Israel, thereby allowing the temple to be rebuilt and sacrifices to resume.  I would encourage you to read through all of Zephaniah, Joel, Jude, and Revelation to get a glimpse of what the Tribulation will be like.  Back to Zephaniah 2:2-3.  Here we find a promise.  This horrible time is coming on the earth.  BUT if you seek God Almighty, humble yourself, carry out his commands, and seek righteousness, you will be hidden in the day of God’s anger (the Tribulation).  This, I believe, confirms a pre-tribulation rapture.

Another  passage that I believe alludes to the rapture is found in Jude verses 20-21.

 20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

One last passage I believe teaches about the rapture, as well as confirming what I spoke of earlier about the church being the bride of Christ is found in John 14:1-3.

1 Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

Again, we see here a similarity between ancient Jewish wedding customs and the relationship between Christ and the church.  Christ returned to his Father’s home, heaven, to prepare a place for us.  And, here, we find a promise. Since he went to prepare a place for us, he will eventually come back for us and take us to be with him in heaven.  Logically, we can conclude that the rapture will happen one day.  It has to, or everything Christians have placed their faith in becomes a lie.
There may be more, but these passages I have listed are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head, and I think they more than prove that the concept of the rapture is taught in the Bible.
This all sounds incredible, I know.  But this brings me to the second false claim of the statement from Fox News that I posted above.  The author of that article states that most Christians do not believe in the rapture.  This is inherently false.  I am certain there are many out there who do not, but to say “most” do not believe in it is absolutely false.  We do not all agree on the TIMING of the rapture.  But if you were to just randomly ask a Christian you bumped into on the street whether or not they believe in the rapture, more than likely, they’d say yes.  It’ll eventually happen.  Not within our lifetime, but eventually.  That’s the answer you are most likely to get from a Christian.  Why they believe it couldn’t happen within our lifetime, and why that ambivalence goes against what Christ taught us concerning being watchful because his return is imminent is another topic for another note.  But I do think it is important to understand that while we may not agree on when the rapture is going to take place, MOST Christians would agree it will eventually happen.  Some argue it will happen before the Tribulation begins, others not until Christ physically returns to earth.  But the idea of the rapture has been around since before Christ’s death and resurrection.  The word “rapture” is not found within Scripture.  However, the concept is, and is easily found within the pages of the Bible as long as you are interpreting Scripture literally, which is the way it is meant to be interpreted.  Those who spiritualize or allegorize everything won’t see it, because they aren’t reading the Bible the way it should be read.  And when you begin spiritualizing/allegorizing things within Scripture, you find that you have to start twisting other passages to fit your preconceived notions.  Camping is a case in point.  I would like to know how he twists the obvious meaning of Christ’s words that no one would know the day or the hour to mean that he (Camping) alone would know the day and hour.  If I must expound on this idea further, I will readily do so, but how to read/interpret Scripture is not the point of this post.

With that, I want to leave you with these words, because I know there are scoffers out there, even among the Christian ranks, who are thinking “yeah right . . . this hasn’t happened yet, it isn’t going to happen.”  Did you know you are in Scripture too?  2 Peter 3:3-6 says

3 Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts,4and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was    from the beginning of creation.” 5For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water,  6through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.

One last verse for you . . . 2 Peter 3:8-10 says

 8But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

God does not WANT anyone to perish.  He gives us each free will,  meaning we make our own decisions.  We can choose to believe in Him and to accept Christ, or we can choose to reject Him and the gift of salvation He offers through Christ.  If you choose to reject Him, it’s your own fault.  God cannot allow evil to reign forever.  Christ himself said that if evil is allowed to reign forever, no flesh would remain.  There are many prophecies yet to be fulfilled, and the Biblical prophecy record is flawless.  Every single one has been fulfilled.  You doubt me?  Check out http://www.reasons.org/fulfilled-prophecy-evidence-reliability-bible.  While you are there, explore the other articles Dr. Hugh Ross and his team have compiled.  I think you will find many of your questions and doubts answered.  The prophecies that have not yet been fulfilled MUST be fulfilled at some point, because God said they would happen, and God cannot lie.  If you look at things going on in the world around us right now and compare them to the signs contained within Scripture (Matthew 24 and Luke 21 for beginners) meant to clue us in to the nearness of the end, you will find that we are more than likely rapidly approaching that time.  Even if the Tribulation and the end of the world do not happen in our lifetime, are any of us guaranteed tomorrow?  Are any of us guaranteed our next breath, for that matter?  Any one of us could die in a horrible car accident or in a terrorist attack, etc. at any moment.  The time to make your peace with God is now, because we do not know when he will take his church home to be with him, when the Tribulation will begin, when he will return to earth to slay all the wicked and toss Satan into the abyss . . . and we do not know when we will die.  If you are waiting until the “right moment,” that moment is now.  Don’t wait until it is too late, because too late will come sooner rather than later.

I hope this post serves to successfully refute Camping’s claims as well as Fox News’ claim that the rapture is a new notion and that most Christians do not believe it.  I also hope that this note will redeem Christians to an extent in the eyes of those who read it when Camping’s claims prove false tomorrow.  Not all of us are as crazy as Camping and his ilk!  And if you are not a Christian, or think you are a Christian but are unsure of your own salvation, but are reading this and doing your own research and are afraid of the possibility of missing out on the greatest party ever and having to endure quite literally hell on earth, please feel free to comment.  We’ll either find a way to dig into Scripture together to see what God has to say about salvation, or I will point you to some resources that will help you to figure it out on your own.

*Disclaimer (added 7/3/2013): The precise timing of the rapture is a HUGE point of debate among Christians.  What I have presented here is my own personal views based on my own study of Scripture.  In posting my views, it is not my intent to cause division, argument, or debate among fellow believers.  This is not a point upon which salvation depends, and I do understand that there is still a very large 

A Milestone You SHOULDN'T Look Forward To

Originally posted on January 12, 2011

Today, we're going to discuss the topic of extended rear facing.  I know what you’re thinking . . . what on earth is that?!  If you’re the parent of a toddler or preschooler, it’s likely you have heard the term before.  If not, then you may not have heard of it.  Extended rear facing refers to how you install a car seat.  Up until recently, pediatricians were telling parents to turn their kids forward facing as soon as they turned a year old. The law says your child  must ride rear facing until he or she is one and 20 lbs.  That means you flip them around as soon as they hit both of those requirements, right?  Well, not exactly.  Those numbers are just the minimum.  The truth of the matter is, it is SAFEST to leave your child rear facing as long as possible, meaning to the rear facing limits of their car seat.

Why would you want to leave your child rear facing, you ask?  Wouldn’t they be uncomfortable once they have to bend their legs funny to sit rear facing?  Won’t they break their legs in an accident because of the way they have to prop their legs up or bend them so they fit that way?  Won’t they prefer to look out the front window?  Won’t my kid get car sick sitting backwards?  And besides that, I want to see my kid’s angelic face smiling back at me in the rear view mirror!  All valid questions, and all have good answers.  I’ll address them one by one, and then I have several videos to show you that I’d like you to watch and seriously consider

• Why would you want to leave your child rear facing? Believe it or not, it is actually safest to ride rear facing, even for adults.  This is most important for babies and young children though.  You see, their bones don’t begin fusing until they hit about 2 or 3.  As newborns, their bones had to be pliable in order to fit through the birth canal, and they remain quite flexible throughout infancy and well into childhood, as any parent can tell you.  Their skeletal system is not fully fused until they hit about six years old.  Also, the heads of babies and toddlers are proportionately larger than the rest of their bodies, meaning it takes more effort to hold that head up than it does for an adult or older child.  Now, think about the forces exerted in a car crash.  Whiplash, anyone?  As your vehicle hits or is hit, and the direction changes, inertia exerts its force upon you and everything else in your car, and you find your body thrown from one direction into another and back again.  When a child is facing forward, the harness on his child restraint holds him firmly in place so he’s not physically thrown from the vehicle.  That’s what it’s supposed to do.  But that child’s head, neck, and limbs are not restrained, and are therefore subject to the full wrath of inertia.  His head and limbs are thrown violently forward at impact, as is torso is held firmly in place.  Since his bones are not fully fused yet, this violent whiplash action can actually cause the spine to stretch, and even snap, causing what is called “internal decapitation.”  In other words, your child could break his or her neck in a car accident if forward facing.  If your child survives the accident, he or she is likely to be severely injured and will likely either be paralyzed for life or wind up spending a great deal of time in physical therapy regaining the use of his or her hands and legs.  Arms and legs are also at risk of being broken due to this violent whiplash action.  While rear facing, children are much better protected.  The reason is that as the vehicle’s occupants are thrown forward in a collision, a rear facing child restraint absorbs the full force of that energy, and the child actually moves very little.  The car seat cradles her head, neck, and spine in such a way that the chance of injury is reduced by as much as 500%.  This is why it is so important to leave your child rear facing as long as possible, and why you should not turn your child around as soon as he or she turns a year old.  That may be the law, but it is merely a minimum.  Your child deserves to be protected as long as you possibly can protect him or her.  Do the right thing and leave your child rear facing until he or she outgrows the rear facing limits of a convertible car seat.
• Won’t my child be uncomfortable having to bend his legs while sitting rear facing? Not at all!  Kids are actually more comfortable rear facing, because they can sit slightly reclined.  Have you ever watched a child fall asleep in the car?  The ones who are riding facing forward get that head droop thing going on.  Sometimes you wonder how they are even able to breathe as their heads loll all the way down to their chests.  The ones who ride rear facing sleep quite comfortably as they recline.  Not even a hint of that annoying head droop.  And kids are so flexible . . . they can get themselves into very odd positions, and be perfectly comfortable that way.  Bent legs?  No problem!  My very tall daughter rode rear facing until she hit the height-limit of her Britax Boulevard shortly after she turned two.  She just crossed her legs or hung them over the side of the car seat, and seemed perfectly comfortable sitting that way.  My son, who is now 16 months old, is still rear facing, and is perfectly content to prop his legs up on the back of the seat.  Neither of my children has ever complained about being uncomfortable while sitting rear facing in the car.
• Won’t they break their legs in an accident sitting that way? Not likely.  There are actually no documented cases of a rear facing child breaking limbs in an accident due to having their legs bent or propped up against the back of the seat.  In fact, your child is more likely to break a leg or an arm forward facing due to the way a child’s limbs flail when his or her body is thrown forward in an accident.  Besides that, car seat safety techs have  a saying . . . broken leg, cast it; broken neck, casket.  Better to risk a broken leg by rear facing your child than a broken neck by forward facing them.  A broken leg is more easily repaired than a broken neck, which could cost your child his or her life.
• Won’t my kid prefer to look out the front window? If they are used to facing the rear, they don’t know any different, and therefore don’t know they have the option to look out the front window.  Besides, they have their own view.  They can still look out the side windows and the back window.  The only difference is they see where we’ve been, not where we’re going.
• Won’t my child get car sick facing backwards? If this has not been an issue before, it will not magically become an issue as soon as they turn one.  If your child is not prone to car sickness facing the rear currently, there is no need to worry about leaving them rear facing, because the likelihood of them developing car sickness any time soon is very slim.

If you are not convinced yet, please take a look at these videos.  I believe the visual of what happens in an accident says it better than I ever could.  If you are convinced, but are worried that someone who cares for your child will protest leaving them rear facing, show them these videos.  I guarantee they will change the minds of any skeptic.  Also, if your child’s doctor is telling you to turn your child around, please let them know that the American Academy of Pediatricians is now recommending parents leave their children rear facing until at least two, and preferably to the rear facing limits of their car seat.  Have them take a peek at these videos, or ask a car seat safety tech to send you some info on extended rear facing that you can give to your doctor.  I guarantee any car seat safety tech will be more than happy to do so.  The last video has some glaring grammatical errors, but I feel it has some very important statistics that the other two videos do not, and it has a TON  of great pictures of older toddlers sitting and sleeping in rear facing car seats so you can see just how comfortable a child is sitting that way.

 It is my hope that this post helps parents to think twice about turning their child rear facing as soon as they turn a year old.  Believe me, this is not a milestone you want to look forward to!  It’s a milestone to dread, as the second you turn your child around, he or she is not nearly as well protected in a car accident.  It must be done eventually, as car seats simply cannot hold them that way forever, but I think any parent would agree that we all want to keep our children as safe as possible as long as possible.