mn♥

Wow.

Two posts in one day?

Typically I aspire to do this sort of thing,

(multiple posts in one day, that is)

but I just don't do it.  

Call me lazy,

or call me productive-outside-of-the-virtual-world.  Whatevs. 

But this song reminds me of my home,

which I dearly miss almost 

                                   all

                                      the

                                        time. 

Twins Baseball,

HVL sports,

small town friendliness 

             (which always involves small town gossip, 

                                                                  to be honest),

green trees and rolling hills,

old friends,

trickling rivers,

Minnesota-Nice,

no sales tax on clothes,

great local music,

great local food and drinks,

great friends.

I'd transplant my hubby and I back up North if I could, 

although I know this (Iowa) is where we should be for the time being.

Nevertheless, 

I still miss the MN

and always will.

So in honor of my home, please

replace the following lyrics in this song (linked below):

West Virginia = Minnesota

Blue Ridge Mountains = Iron Ridge Mountains

                                                    (yes, there is a mountain or two in MN)

Shenandoah River = Mississippi River

Younger than that mountains = younger than the roll'n hills

mountain momma =  ...i don't know, country momma?  we can use that.

yeah, it's a bit of a stretch, 

but I think all small-town/country girls and guys can pick up on this. 

MN♥

friends

Yesterday I got to visit a couple friends in Ames.  

                                                                 SO fun!

First, Andrea D.  She doesn't have a blog (that i know if), but she did design this! :)

Wise beyond her years.

Excellent hair stylist AND graphic designer!

Mommy-to-be, and a CUTE one at that. (!)

Super hospitable.

Inspiring cook!

Christ-centered-stud.

prettymuchawesome.

Then I got to see Allie W.

So fun to talk to!

A great mom to a bright-blonde curly-Sue! :)

Always down-to-earth.

Totally relatable.

Extremely flexible with my spontaneous visits 

                    (although I'll admit calling ahead of time 

                         is a lot more conducive to knowing a 

                                             visit can actually happen!)

Always has a tasty drink on-hand 

            (A&E lemonade is a lot better in Ames than DSM, for some reason!)

Jesus-loving mama and wife!

I'm happy God has given me these two friends,

especially because it feels like no time has passed since we last got together. 

so...

According to this image

God killed 2,038,344 people in the bible.

Satan was recorded only to have killed 10 (and some say less than that).

Why did God have over 2 million people die during Old Testament times, in addition to those who died in Sodom and Gomorrah nor the flood?  More so, why did they deserve to die?

Why does anyone deserve to die?

Well, let's take a quick second to understand who gives us life to begin with.

God.

God gives us our bodies, our hearts, our minds, our souls.  God gives us our lives.  Not only that,

God

gives

us

LIFE.

God has made opportunity after opportunity

for us to have the most 

amazing 

           life

              ever.

He's not only has us on earth for a short or long time,

however the duration may carry through.

God gives us the chance,

no,

the OPPORTUNITY

to break away from the slavery of sin have LIFE forever through Christ!

So, if God has given us so much life,

why was He has allowed, even commanded so much death to happen in so many destructive ways?

Quick answer:

God didn't want death - separation from Himself - to be in the world in the first place.

Satan did.

It's been Satan's goal

since he fell from Heaven to Hell and took a third of God's angel's with him

to usurp God in any way possible,

especially through an eternal death.

God's original intention was for us to live with Him and each other forever.

God's original intention was for every creation on this earth to work in perfect harmony.

and

God's original intention was for Satan (Lucifer) himself to be a part of that harmony as well.

Yet instead of saying "YES!!" to an incredible life with God through simple worship and obedience to Him,

Satan said a flat out "NO" to God,

and so

do

we.

We say "NO" when we sin.

We say "NO" when we disbelieve.

We say "NO" when we run away from Him.

So when God commanded all those people to die,

basically all of whom blatantly said a big "NO" to Him through their words, actions, and beliefs,

it wasn't because they were completely innocent and unaware of their wrongdoing. 

We all know that there is a right and wrong in this world, a good and a evil. Sometimes we do make the lines between those things gray through idolatry.  Sometimes they're a little gray to begin with.  That being said, we know when we do something wrong and evil. 

So did they.  

Now, I'm no bible scholar.  I'm just a believer.  

I know this is no air-tight statement.  I'm just doing this because I feel like God would rather have me put something out there that glorifies Him rather than sit in my comfort zone, which I'm great at.  

And I don't think I'm all great because I have faith in Him;

I only have this faith because of the amazing God he is and the sacrifice of LIFE that his Son gave.  

What I want to say at last is this:

God is righteous, and so is his judgment. 

We choose to live for him or die from him.  

We choose this as individuals, and we choose this as families, communities, tribes, and nations. 

I choose to follow God through his son Jesus,

and thereby choose life over death.  

So, back to that image.  

If God were the one who came up with death as a good idea for the fate of mankind, 

then the motive behind the photo's creation would make complete sense. 

But since it's truly us who choose to disobey God and not cling to his Son,  

wouldn't the true blame of the deaths of our souls lie elsewhere?