Blog

Brainless Barack?

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:01:00 -0400

Every day I hear and read disparaging comments and mocking remarks about our present president, the latest an e-mail calling President Barack Obama brainless. While I can appreciate disapproval or disappointment in any president, this behavior concerns me as I believe it exhibits a lack of faith in God. I do not understand why we Christians are so up in arms about politics or the economy or anything else related to President Obama. As the song says, "It's only the world we're living in." This world is not our home; we seek a better country. So we can rest knowing all is well.

On the other hand, do we not believe that God still controls the affairs of men? God raises up whom He wants. We do not want to rail against God. We have no idea what His purposes are or how His plans will unveil. We do not know how many people might turn to God because of what happens during this presidency. In fact, it may be that the abortion laws will be turned around because so many people will turn to God.

God raised up Pharaoh in Egypt and it did not turn out well for the Israelites. No, they were greatly oppressed. God then raised up Moses to go down and bring His people out of Egypt. But what happened to those people who were let go? They all died (except for Joshua and Caleb) in the wilderness. And why did they die? Because they failed to trust God and they murmured and complained. (Sound familiar?)

We need to stop our bellyaching and start trusting that God knows what He is doing here. He will work through this present situation in our country and make it turn out for the best. And we need to learn to give thanks in all things and wait—wait, I say—upon the Lord! It may not even be in our lifetime. We may never see the good God is doing today, especially if we keep complaining about it. But good will come!

President Obama must be pretty smart to have made it to the White House. He at least knew how to connect himself to the right people. His view is socialistic. He behaves with that in mind. That is not stupid. That is what we all do—act upon our principles and beliefs. If a man is democratic, he behaves democratically. If he is a socialist, he behaves like a socialist. That is not brainless.

God did not put His stamp of approval on democracy and only democracy for the earth. Sure it gives us freedom, and we like it. But God works just as well in a socialistic government or even an extremely oppressive society. God Himself puts people in oppression for a reason.

Christians, we prayed diligently that God not put this man in as our president. But He did anyway. So what are we to do now? Whimper about it, or trust that God knows best? We say, "Please, God, please, please, please, please, please do this for me. I love you so much. Please!" And God says no and then we say, "Man, I'm so upset that we didn't get this!" Whine, whine, whine, whine, whine.

Is that really to be our response to God when He answers our prayers and says no? Or are we to thank Him for hearing us and thank Him for doing what He knows is best even though we do not know it? What are we expressing when we whine? Are we saying we do not trust God's judgment or are we saying we don't believe God answers our prayers? Either way, it is not pretty.

My son Seth at fourteen behaved better than we do. He begged to go to high school. I told him no. For three days a misery hung over our house because of his sadness. But after the three days he came to me and knelt down at my bed and said, "Thank you, Mom, for doing what you think is best for me." Do you think he didn't still want to go to public school? Of course he did. But he trusted me to be doing what was best for him by homeschooling him. And in the next four years—yes, four years, the length of President Obama’s term—not one bleat or griping word came out of Seth’s mouth. Not one. He showed total respect for me, total faith in me, and total obedience to my decisions. Would that we were so mature and could show the same respect for God’s judgments!

Maybe we need to start thinking about why God has allowed President Obama to become our president. He does have a reason. And I know it is not so we can call the man brainless and murmur constantly about God’s choices. Come on, Christians, we can rise above this kind of thing! We need to put our hearts and minds on things of God and spend our time ministering to others and having graceful conversations seasoned with salt, not bad mouthing the President of the United States of America.

Snowman from Houston!

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 18:45:57 -0500

We got snow today in Conroe (just north of Houston). Seth (my son) and I decided to make a snowman. Actually, Seth didn't like my feeble attempt, so he took over and built the snowman. The eyes are my contribution. I think I will name him Rio.

We Got Power!

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:45:08 -0400

I'm back! Our electricity came on about 10:07 this morning. Rachel called right after they left our house and went home last night and said theirs had come back. I expected to find power this morning, but we had to wait a little while longer. It didn't come a minute too soon as I had decided to go on a strike. I'm wearing the same dress for the third day and I had decided no more cold showers!

But we had the time of our life. We ate like kings because Beverly, the 85-year-old lady in our neighborhood, had stored up enough meat to feed an army, and she sent most of it to us. So we made food and took a plate to her in the mornings and evenings. She was happy and we were happy. We spent our days figuring out what to fix to eat and fixing it. This morning I had about 20 silver dollar pancakes (thanks for the pancake mix, Rachel) and they were delicious. We had steak and chicken and pork and hamburger. We fed the man next door some too. And Aaron hooked up a TV one night in the back of his truck and some of the neighbors gathered in the dark to watch.

Aaron's girlfriend, Rachel, came and has been here with us. With her here and Rachel and Michael coming over every day and playing games, we've really enjoyed ourselves. I kept my clothes washed in the sink and hung them out on the patio and also in the shower. So I don't even have my own clothes to wash now--just Robert's and the sheets. Robert left Monday for Corpus Christi and will be back tomorrow, so he missed most of the excitement. And, honestly, without Aaron and Rachel and Rachel and Michael, I don't think I could have done it. I'd have lived on pecans and ginger candy.:)

But, even though we will remember this time as a time of closeness and good fellowship, we let out a shout when the lights came on this morning. And we're thankful to be able to take a good hot shower a little later today. I have the kitchen all cleaned up and am almost done cleaning up the patio. Once I vacuum I can clean myself up and relax. It may be a while before I get to all my mail as I've collected about 600 e-mail groups.

Last Sunday night Jonathan put his hands up in the air and said, "Power all gone." But no more. We got power!

September 18, 2008

I Palin 3:5-6

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:51:57 -0400

1 Palin 3:5 For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, leading their own husbands:
6 Even as Sarah led Todd, calling him Mr. Mom: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.

We believe that a woman should never rule over her husband. We believe she should never rule over the elders in the church. We believe, I hope, that she should never rule over her grown son. Yet we seek to help a woman get into a position where she will lead her husband and the elders in her congregation and be a heartbeat away from the commander-in-chief of her grown son. I just can't comprehend that.

Christina Elizabeth Dozier
September 12, 2008

Palin in Menopause

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 11:46:10 -0400

Tyger in Texas wrote: "Recently I attended a lecture given by Suzanne Somers; she was introducing the Menopause Clinics of America. There were over 1300 people in that ballroom. She gave a great lecture, and at one point said, 'If I could bring a group of PO'd menopausal women to Iraq, it would be over in no time. Bring on the insurgents!'" http://blogs.rockymountainnews.com/iraqiarmy/archives/2007/06/why.html

Sarah Palin should be menopausal by the time she makes it to President. If the war in Iraq isn't over by then, maybe she will, in a menopausal fit, blow up the whole place. Hey, she might even wake up one morning in an especially bad mood and blow up the USA too. You just never can tell with us women. The jokes about PMS and menopause are made for a reason. "I have PMS and a handgun. Any questions?" Remember that one? Why was it funny? Because it's all too real, that's why.

Christina Elizabeth Dozier
September 10, 2008

It Ain't Right

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 11:00:00 -0400

You know how you just know some things aren't right? You don't have to be told; you just know. Like, you just know it isn't right to slap somebody or pull somebody's hair, and you just know it isn't right to take somebody else's toy. For a long time my two-year-old grandson has been able to start to do something he knows isn't right and he'll turn around and look at me and shake his head no.

Well, that's how I feel about a woman being governor or president. Even if I couldn't find a biblical principle (and I can) that would tell me it's wrong, I just know. I just know it's not right for a woman to make a Mr. Mom out of her husband. I just know it's not right for him to be a helper meet for her. I just know it isn't right for her to be the one in the family who is known in the gates as she sits with the elders.

It ain't right. It ain't right. It ain't right. It's a perversion of God's plan for man, and it just ain't right.

But some will say it's right even in the face of all the Bible says about the roles of men and women and then turn around and preach that gambling will send a person to hell. Why? Because covetousness is a sin. Covetousness is a sin, so gambling is a sin. But God's order is God, Christ, man, woman; women are not to usurp authority over men; and women are to be keepers at home, etc., etc., etc. And yet it's okay for a woman to rule the country? It totally blows my mind.

Christina Elizabeth Dozier
September 10, 2008

Plain Talk About Sarah Palin

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 18:08:32 -0400

Plain Talk About Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin's Skirt Tails

The Republican Party has chosen a woman to run for the second highest office in the land. What have we come to that no man in this country is qualified to do the job and we had to pick a woman? Sodom and Gomorrha couldn't produce ten righteous souls, and the Republican Party can't offer up one man that is more fit than this woman to run for Vice-President of the United States.

Isaiah 3:12 As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

How are we feeling about this shameful condition in our country? Surprisingly, some are excited. They are happy. In fact, they are downright jubilant. They are fascinated by Sarah Palin. Yes, men who aren't fit to run the country are pleased that a woman is seeking to be second highest in command of them. These are men who think they are in authority over their own women and wouldn't allow their women to be over them in any way in the church. But for some reason they like the idea of a woman's having power in other ways over them.

A funny thing happened on the way to the White House. Women flung off their role in the home. They flung off their femininity. For all intents and purposes, they flung off motherhood. They flung off their submission to their husbands. So why would it surprise us to see a woman pursue a high office in the country, and why wouldn't we accept it and even be excited about it?

Maybe it is not surprising at all, but I am confounded. I just don't comprehend how a woman may not be over a man in the home and she may not be over a man in the church but suddenly God is pleased if she rules over a man in the rest of her (and his) life. I have to wonder how Sarah Palin learned how to rule a man. She couldn't do it in the home. She couldn't do it in the church. Where did she get the talent, ability, and experience to rule a country of men unless her boots have been walking where they shouldn't have been walking?

I don't know whether many people have considered it or not, but when Sarah Palin became a public official, she began ruling over her husband. And, if I were so bold, I'd like to ask the men who are excited about her nomination to the Vice-Presidency: Would you allow your own wife to be Vice-President and usurp authority over you? Would you be honored or humiliated to have your wife a heartbeat away from your commander-in-chief if you were a soldier?

I guess roshen ears aren't corn. It reminds me of our worship/Bible study situation. Ten o'clock Sunday morning comes and we flip a switch in our head and it's just Bible study and women may talk. Eleven o'clock comes and we flip another switch in our head and it's worship time and women may not talk. We're doing the same things--or some of them (praying, studying, and singing)--but somehow God likes it when women talk at 10:00 but He gets hopping mad when they talk at 11:00. That is, except, of course, that a woman may confess Christ. However, confession of sin should be whispered to the preacher, as it is a shame for a woman to speak in church. That is, of course, with the other exception of singing, which a woman must do. Don't ask me to explain all this; I can't.

But I reckon that's also how it has to be when Sarah Palin rules over her husband. If she is elected, when she and her husband walk out of their house and into official government buildings, we all just have to flip a switch and make it okay for her to rule over men.

1 Timothy 2:9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;
10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.
11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

Obviously, when it comes to usurping authority over a man, some take this to be only in the church and the home. But to be consistent, they would have to say that all of this scripture applies only in the church and the home. And in that case a woman may dress immodestly as long as she isn't in church or at home. And she doesn't have to do any good works except in church or at home. When a woman leaves her home or the church building, she may fling off her shamefacedness and sobriety. More than that, she may usurp authority over a man if she's not in church or in the home. This must be what some think; otherwise, they wouldn't be excited that Sarah Palin is hoping to usurp authority over her husband as well as every man in the country--except John McCain.

Maybe the argument is that this scripture applies only in the spiritual realm. If so, then a woman may usurp authority over her husband at home in any matter that is not spiritual. She may tell her husband what house or car to buy. She may tell him what groceries to pick up and when to fix supper. She may tell him to bring home the bacon and fry it up in the pan--and never ever let him think he's a man.

If this scripture indeed applies only in the spiritual realm, we have no basis for applying any of it across the board, and women must dress modestly in the church and at home, but when they go out into the world they can let it all hang out. Who can believe it? Not I. And one thing I know: We can't take part of this scripture and apply it to the spiritual realm and then take the other part and apply it to the secular realm. That is taking scripture out of context and making it fit with our preconceived notions.

We are worried, I know, about homosexuality and abortion, so we don't want Barack Obama in the White House. I recognize that danger. In fact, the thought of that man being President makes me cringe. But will homosexuality be abolished if McCain is elected? Will abortions cease or even be diminished? I don't think so. And we need to understand that God is concerned about authority and who rules whom. The line of authority is important to God. A man might as well usurp authority over Christ as a woman is to usurp authority over a man. Maybe we want to pick a lesser of two evils. But, frankly, I don't know which evil is worse, and I cannot vote for a woman.

If a woman is elected as Vice-President of the United States, she will lead our country to the shame and humiliation of every grown man. I hope men learn to be men and women learn to be women before it is too late. God has other ways of bringing us down if we don't learn quickly. Having a woman ruling over men may be only the beginning.

I haven't even spoken about how a vote for Sarah Palin is a vote for a woman to leave her God-ordained role at home and take on the ruling of a country instead. Let's not even try to fool ourselves into thinking she can do both, and we might want to consider whether we want to support her abandonment of her children, including her nursing baby.

Mr. Palin has agreed to be Mr. Mom. He will try to be a helper meet for Sarah. And clearly she will be known in the gates, when she sits among the elders of the land. So Mr. Palin might be what many of us women aspire to be: a Proverbs 31 woman. Will women look to him then as a role model for being a good housewife? Or will we look to his wife as a role model for being a good leader? Will men look to Mr. Palin as a role model for being a good househusband? Or will they look to his wife as a role model for being a good leader? I don't know; but I know that God is not the author of confusion, and we are one confused nation. And we shake our heads and wonder why homosexuality and unwed mothers seeking abortions continue to flourish in the land.

I wish Sarah Palin would go home to her children. We need her there! Had she, and all other mothers, been home instead of out seeking political office and the glory and honor due our men, maybe Barack Obama would have learned at his mother's knee not to support homosexuality and abortions. And maybe men, including Mr. Palin, would have learned how to be leaders and wouldn't be hiding behind Sarah Palin's skirt tails.

Christina Elizabeth Dozier
September 7, 2008

Silent Hands

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:02:52 -0400

For the past couple of weeks I've been listening to ksbj.org (out of Houston), which is a "Christian" station. And every morning I wake up with one of the songs in my head. Yesterday morning I didn't recognize the song. I searched for it on the Internet and couldn't find it. So I wrote down the part I remembered and made up the rest. My daughter Rachel searched for it too and decided that I am the author of this song. I hope y'all enjoy it.

One:

They say angels are messengers
Sent from above
Guiding us, helping us
Resist unto blood
And I know it's true 'cause I'd never be
Able to overcome
What overcomes me

Two:
Having no sustenance
Down on my luck
Wandering, bewildered
In the mud and the muck
Faithful ones find me and they take me in
Feed me and lead me
Where I've never been

Three:
Emptied and weary
I fall on my face
Losing all sight of
God's wonderful grace
Filled with misgivings, discouraged, depressed
Somehow I'm lifted
Somehow I'm blessed

Chorus:
Silent hands rescue me
Give me hope, set me free
Take me into a place
Of peace
When my eyes cannot see
And my heart fails me
Silent hands
Silent hands
Rescue me

Christina Elizabeth Dozier
August 26, 2008

Papsigull

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 19:03:30 -0400

Papsigull

My grandson, Jonathan, who is two years old, is quite intrigued with my husband's motorcycle. He stares at it, points at it, sits on it, and talks about it. He makes vrooom sounds when he thinks about it. And he likes to climb up on my husband's knees and have my husband bounce him around like he's riding a motorcycle. He sometimes puts a make-believe helmet on his head and pretends to be snapping it under his chin.

My husband often wears an orange shirt so he'll be seen on his motorcycle--and because he just loves the color orange. Jonathan has seen him in that shirt so often that the other day a woman went down the street in an orange skirt and Jonathan said, "Pap!" And now Jonathan has a word for a motorcycle that shows how important Pap is to him. His word for motorcycle? Papsigull.

We often hear about how our lives are being viewed by the little ones who are around us, and I think my grandson is a good example of this. He is watching Pap. He is not only watching him but he is aware of Pap's behavior. And he is imitating that behavior.

So for all you paps out there--and mamaws, moms and dads, aunts and uncles, and older brothers and sisters--remember that our little ones are watching us. And they are very impressionable. Let's pause and ponder a bit, and perhaps say a little prayer, before we throw on our orange shirt and snap on our helmet and go about the business of our day. Little eyes are watching. Little ears are hearing. Little hearts are learning. Let's make sure they're learning something good.

In Memory of Kineta

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 23:30:50 -0400

We got Kineta in about 2000, when we moved to Berea, Kentucky. Her "mom" couldn't keep her any longer and asked us to take care of her. Her name was Scully, but my girls changed it to Kineta.

Kineta was an independent cat. She came and went as she pleased. Sometimes she'd be gone for days and then she'd show up again. Sometimes she'd come in looking like she'd been in a brawl. I think she must have had MORE than nine lives.

When we moved to an apartment we couldn't take Kineta with us, so my friend Kierca took her. Kierca kept Kineta for a while and then passed her on to her mother, who took Kineta out into the country. She lived happily there.

But last week Kierca's mother called to say Kineta had died of kidney failure. Kierca's little sister, Kedgerie, insisted that the family members make sympathy cards for Kineta. Kedgerie made sure that Kineta was loved in death as she was in life.

Rest in peace, sweet Kineta.