What is a Christian?

As some of you know, I have recently lost an old friend due to a disagreement over the election and our views on Christianity. I have always tried to be open to listening to other's opinions, but in return I expect to be able to express my opinion as well. Anyways, my interraction with my "friend" caused me to do a lot of thinking about what exactly being a Christian means and amazingly enough, when I went to church on Sunday, the sermon was right in line with what I was questioning. Anyways, it was a great sermon and I have the link below, I also encourage you to listen to the whole series titled "Elephant in the Church" at www.myc3church.com.

http://www.myc3church.com/podcasts/10-12-08.mp3

If only my 3 year old could vote!

Noah came home with alot of questions about the election today because they apparently discussed it in KINDERGARTEN! Not sure that understand all that, but I tried to explain to him the differences between the candidates. This is what Abby took away from the conversation....

'Twas the Night Before Elections

'Twas the night before elections
And all through the town
Tempers were flairing
Emotions all up and down

I, in my bathrobe
My cat in my lap
Had cut off the TV
Tired of political crap

Whan all of a sudden
There arose such a noise
I peered out the window
Saw Obama and his boys

They had come for my wallet
They wanted my pay
To give to the others
Who had not worked a day!

He snatched up my money
And quick as a wink
Jumped back on his bandwagon
As I gagged from the stink

He then rallied his henchmen
Who were pulling his cart
I could tell they were out
To tear my country apart!

"On Fannie, on Freddie
On Biden and Ayers!
On Acorn, On Pelosi"
He screamed at the pairs

The took off for his cause
And he flew out of sight
I heard him laugh at the nation
Who wouldn't stand up and fight!

So I leave you to think
On this one final note -
IF YOU DON'T LIKE SOCIALISM
GET OUT AND VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fence riders are the worst kind

So most of these post have not been me just completely going off on a rant and have been a little thought out, but here is a rant. I am so fed up with people this election!!

First off let me say that I think everyone has a right to thier opinion and the right to express it, including me. One opinion is that I have more respect for a person who disagrees with me because that is how they genuinely believe then I do for someone who believes one thing and does something completely different.

As a born-again, spirit-filled Christian I believe that a baby is a baby at conception and terminating that is not a woman's right or choice, but murder. I also believe that marriage is between a man and a woman and there is no diviation from that. If you disagree with those and vote for Obama or others that support those that is your right and I at least respect you for voting with your convictions. However, if you are a born-again, spirit filled Christian and vote for Obama I have a huge issue with you. You may say you don't support those things, but by casting your vote you are doing exactly that! Furthermore, those of you who chose not to vote at all because even though you are against those things but don't like the candidate, you are just as guilty!

As Christians we are called to sacrafice certain things, and if I have to sacrafice to vote according to my moral beliefs than I do so with a clear conscience knowing that I have not swayed from my value system. I have many friends who political and moral opinions differ from mine and I respect them for at least sticking to them as I hope they respect me for the same. I also have friends who agree with my moral stance but are voting the oposite because of race or what they think will benefit their finances and I have no respect for that, and I feel sorry for you for not having the backbone to at least stand for what you supposedly believe in.

So I leave you with this question........ Are you voting for what you truly believe in or for what you think will benefit you in spite of those beliefs?

The Captain

Getting adjusted to this school year has been, shall we say.. difficult! Up before dawn, all kids out the door by 8 to take Noah all the way to Gahanna for school, then babysit, then on Tues. and Thurs. pick Abby up from school and find something to do until 3 when I go to pick Noah up. Then rush home by 4 to cook dinner then it is off to soccer practice, or community group, or whatever is planned for that evening. Needless to say, I am exhausted and overwhelmed and have not had time to look forward to or be excited for much. However, I am so excited now I can hardly contain myself! Amin is showing his movie at OSU!

For those of you who don't know who or what I am talking about let me give a brief synopsis. When Yousef was in school in Jordan he attended with this kid, Amin. When we were at OSU, he ran into a mutual friend who said Amin was there too. End up Yousef and Amin both moved to the US at practically the same time and were minutes away from each other in High School and had no idea. To say Yousef and Amin became inseparable is not an understatement....I used to get so mad at them, I referred to them as "Ace and Gary" from SNL! Anyhoo, they both graduated from OSU and worked in Telecom, but Amin had always been a film buff - he used to make all of us shoot movies at his house - there are quite a few of Yousef that I am sure he would LOVE to share if anyone would like! ;D Amin decided to apply to AFI, which is the most prestigious film institute and is very hard to get into, and he was accepted! Shortly after we had Noah, Amin packed up and moved to L.A. Now 5 years later he has made a feature film that won awards all over, including at the Sundance Film Festival. We haven't seen him since I was pregnant with Abby and were beginning to wonder when we would ever see him again. Well we found out he is coming to show his film at OSU next Friday and not only do we get to see him and his family, but the movie as well!

I know it may not be a huge thing to get so excited about, but as much as we fought like brother and sister, Amin was always such a great friend to me and especially to Yousef and I am so proud of him! So if anyone is interested Captian Abu Raed is showing at OSU September 19th @ 8pm!

My Rock

I remember back to high school, I had just transferred schools and my new school didn't have a girls soccer team and I was very disappointed. Because of this however, I was going to be allowed to play on the boys team. There was one problem, the captain of the team said that if I played he would quit. So instead of having a bunch of people hate me off the bat, I played volleyball. This was my first run in with Yousef Zananiri. Over the next year, we sparred like Hilary and Obama in the democratic debate, but at some point my senior year that thin line between love and hate became blurred. How could I have feeling with my nemesis?! Even my parents were blown away that the girl who would come home complaining about this terrible guy would have such a change of heart. Finally, at the end of our graduation ceremony I summoned up the courage, walked up to him and asked him out.
Over the next seven years of dating - yes I said SEVEN - I began to see more and more the things about him that made him such a great man. I hated him for making me wait to get married, but in retrospect it was such a wise choice - finish college, get a job and establish yourself so that you can provide for your family. What a concept!!! And that he has done! I have never seen a man work so hard to make sure his family has everything they need. And being a great dad whose kids adore him is just icing on the cake. But the thing that I selfishly appreciate the most about him is that he is my rock.
As someone of Irish and German descent you could say that I am a roller coaster of emotions. I have a hard time hiding my feelings and I also having a hard time saying no to people. I the heat of the battle I get so upset with Yousef for making me NOT do something or for being the calm voice of reason, but I always end up being so thankful for it later. I know I get on his case alot for certain things, but I am so greatful to be totally in love with such a wonderful husband and father and the sad thing is that I don't tell him that enough.
So, Yousef this is to you - Thank you for being such a wonderful husband, for making sure that the kids and I are always provided for - physically and spiritually. Thank you for being strong for the both of us and for knowing what I need to know - and what I don't. Thank you for being an example to our children of what a husband and father should be, so that they will know what to look for in their mates.
Thank you for being my best friend. I love you, Happy early Anniversary!

Taking Advantage

There are few things that truely get me "fired up", and one of them is cheating. I am not talking about people who hide cards, or move a game piece when you aren't looking, but instead those people who do whatever necessary to circumvent set rules.

There are certain things about the way I was brought up that I take issue with, but there are 2 things that were instilled in me that I am very thankful for. 1. I consider myself to be a generous person and 2. I follow the rules - to an almost anal extremeness. I don't exactly know where the latter came from (I think my grandmother) but I can't stand violating even the smallest insignificant rule - just ask Yousef, he will tell you how annoying I am about it. The first I do have to say is from my father. I remember once when he was a gym teacher for the high school students where I attended elementary, and there was a kid who didn't have tennis shoes. My dad had mabie a few pair of shoes himself b/c we didn't exactly have much money, but I remember he had a new pair of tennis shoes and one day he came home with out them. My mom asked him about it and he told her that he had given them to a kid who didn't have any. It was little things like that which I believe engrained my sense of generousity.

Because of this, I have become so infuriated with the actions of some people I can hardly keep myself from vomiting in their presence. Yousef has long told me that I am too generous and that I should adapt a more "do unto others, only according to how they do to you" attitude. I never in a million years thought that I would begin to subscribe to his theory until lately. I am honestly becoming so jaded, I am having a hard time putting my feelings aside when I see certain individuals who I feel are - shall we say - less than generous.

You see I have some friends who do everything by the book the way they are supposed to and have gotten completely screwed and can't get the help they could so desperately use. On the flip side I have these other friends who cheat the system and get help they don't need and do some very shady things along the way. What is even more astonishing to me is that both these friends are "good christians", and I suppose that is what fires me up more than anything. How can you call yourself a Christian with your words, but yet your actions are not. Especially if you almost pride yourself on having been able to cheat. I don't mean to be all high and mighty on this, but I was just brought up differently. Furthermore, if God had blessed me with something I didn't need, I have always felt that it was my duty to make sure that someone who was in need instead got it, not try to make a little change off of it. Anyways, I have gotten to the point of ranting and am starting to feel my blood pressure rise, so I will close this subject with one last thought.

Ps. 112:5-9 - Good will come to him who is generous and lend freely, who conducts his affairs with justice. Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever. He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes. He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor, his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor.

Children see children do

So I saw this video the other day on my friends blog and I bawled like a little baby.........it was such a powerful video and boy did I feel like crap! How often do I yell and scream and say things that I would never want my child to repeat. I have to say, it has definately opened my eyes to my own behavior. Please check it out - and let me know what you think about it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZscS775ek8

Resentfulness

I have long dealt with the problem of holding a grudge, but am starting to learn to let that go. Now it seems a new little 2 headed monster has crept it's way into my life - I am becoming increasingly resentful.

I love my husband with all my heart, so don't get me wrong when I say I have thoughts of smothering him with a pillow in the wee hours of the morning! He is a wonderful provider and the kids adore him, so why do I find my self resenting him? When Ethan first came home he was very helpful - he even started showering the kids which he had NEVER done before, and I was thrilled. However the novelty has worn off. I am not saying he isn't helpful - he is, I just feel overwhelmed.

We initially made this deal where I would get up for the late night feeding (2ish) and he would do the early morning (5ish). However Ethan is now waking up at around 3 and goes back to sleep until about 5:30 -6, at which time Yousef is leaving to go to the gym. So, I find myself doing the only overnight feeding and staring at him while feeding Ethan, wondering how long it would take him to wake up if I strategically place a pillow over his head.

I also resent him for other things that are clearly not his fault. He has lost over 40 lbs, and I am truly happy for that, but I find myself thinking that it isn't fair that he gets to go to the gym before work 4 days a week and I have to wait until 9 at night after the kids are asleep and I am too exhausted to work out. He gets to play Softball on Mondays and Soccer on Thursdays, and I get to stay home with the kids. I can't even go to the games anymore b/c I am outnumbered! He gets to talk to adults at work and better yet even have lunch with them! I get to sit and force a stubborn 2 year old that she had better eat her spaghetti o's because that is all she is getting!

Are any of these his fault - of course not! Then why do I feel like this?!

It is funny how the advise comes - have a date night, go out with friends, etc. I would love to do those things, but it just never seems to happen. I get out once a month for Chicks, Chat and Chocolate - maybe! - and I don't recall the last night (other than birthday's or anniversaries) that we went to do something on our own.

Anyways, I just needed to get that off my chest - guess that why this is called Heather's Rants.