Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Carolyn McBreen Gibbs Blog: My Best Friend!

Carolyn McBreen Gibbs Blog: My Best Friend!: Tomorrow I will have been married to my best friend for 37 years!  At this time in our life together, we think simultaneous, and we even hav...

My Best Friend!

Tomorrow I will have been married to my best friend for 37 years!  At this time in our life together, we think simultaneous, and we even have common aches and pains! We have built a love and a friendship out of pain, disappointment, sad times, and hooray times! A marriage is like that. It starts out with stars in your eyes, and dreams.     
Reality is, hard work, and lots of compromise! 

John has super patience. When we met and married, I had no relationship with Jesus. I struggled a lot letting John be the head of our house. I thought I knew better, and he always proved me wrong. I struggled with honor and obey. I was fine, if we were thinking alike, but if he wanted something different, I was not too agreeable.

Once I found God, and began a relationship with Jesus, that slowly changed. Through all my silliness, John stayed loyal, and even refrained from saying, "Told you so!" I can not count how many times he had to forgive my arrogance, self-centeredness, and mistakes. Did, he get mad? Yes, when he needed to, but it never has lasted too long. Amazingly he loves me as I am.

He always takes care of me, and makes me feel special. Because of my upbringing, I felt like I had to hide the real me, so he would still love me. He has helped me see that I don't need to do that. Over the years, he has been generous with his time. I am blessed with a husband that would rather be with me than the guys. Over the years he has surprised me with making dinners, having a candlelit bath ready for me when I came home from work, and with dinners out. 

We have come to realize, God made us perfect for each other. God knew I needed to be pushed in directions I didn't want to go. He knew I needed lots of love, and someone I could have fun with. John is all that! He always has my back!  Even when he hurts or doesn't feel good, he is more concerned about me! He is never too busy to talk. We have never run out of things to talk about.

His humor is one of a kind! We have laughed a lot and often in 37 years! We see humor in weird things, but there is comfort in being a little weird together. As I write this, John is making a shelf with legs to fit in our closet, so I have more room for shoes and purses. Most of all, he is my spiritual leader. He guides our home toward Jesus, and praying together is a huge blessing. He has been there in all my writing and has had to go out of his way sometimes, when there were computer glitches, and I had a deadline. He gives of himself to so many, but I am grateful, he puts me first!

I can't imagine life without you John! I love you with all my heard, and many, many, times more than when we began this journey! I am grateful for your love, your guidance, and your care! We are forever....here or in Heaven!

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Carolyn McBreen Gibbs Blog: All Are Victims!

Carolyn McBreen Gibbs Blog: All Are Victims!: I'm headed for death. The verdict is in, and I have been found guilty of being inconvenient. Although I'm not very big yet, I will c...

All Are Victims!

I'm headed for death. The verdict is in, and I have been found guilty of being inconvenient. Although I'm not very big yet, I will cause you some discomfort and pain. I will take up a lot of your time and will do little for you except give you smiles, and snuggles. Some will tell you I'm not worth much and I'm not equipped to argue with them.

They will tell you I am not human, and have no value. They will say I am just a blob of tissue, and can be destroyed....no problem. In my defense, I haven't killed anyone, or stolen anything, or lied, but I'm still deemed undesirable. I will take a lot of love and care. If I were given a chance, you would learn to love me, but now I won't have that time with you! 

I don't know when my time with you will end. It may be in 32 days, 42 days, or even 84 days. I'll have no warning, but at some point, I'll be pulled apart, piece by piece, and executed. I make noise, I cry in pain, but no one hears my voice. It is too small, and they don't care. I wish I could tell you that I do feel the pain, even though they say I don't.

I wish I could tell you that I could have contributed to your life. God created me as surely as He created you. He had a plan for my life, and for the people I would have touched by my existence. I am so sorry we'll never know each other or hold each other. One more thing, I forgive you. I know you were misinformed about me. They lied to you. When you do think of me....and you will, God will gather your tears in a bottle as He says in Psalm 56:8.

I am your pre-born son, your pre-born daughter, who loved you, but didn't survive the abortion.

A mother has a heart that beats, her unborn baby has a heart that beats. Mom has eyes, ears, fingers, and toes. Unborn baby has eyes, ears, fingers and toes. Moms have all the other parts that make her human, and the unborn baby does too. Babies are simply in different stages of progress. Undeveloped potential!

If you are human and alive, why isn't your baby? Moms have been convinced this is not human, it is inconvenient, and they can hire someone for money to murder it. That is abortion!  This little committed no crime, has no voice, and is torn limb from limb from the inside. Women are convince it is their choice, over their bodies. First the victim is not your body, it is the baby's. Second,  the choices should have been made before a child was formed. Abortionists will convince women they are doing something normal and noble. That is another lie.

This is no different from the Old Testament people who threw their babies into fire pits as sacrifices to the gods they worshiped. Abortion kills babies today as a sacrifice for selfish desires. God did not stay silent...there were consequences. From the women I have talked to that had abortions, they have suffered physical emotional, and mental consequences. The abortionists don't care about that. It's just another day of baby body parts that add up to money.

God can and will forgive if abortionists, nurses, or Moms want to be free of this. It is like any other sin, it is against God's word, but if we repent and turn from our wicked ways, He will forgive. If they accept Him as their Lord and Savior, they can live free of the pain. A prime example is the woman that started abortion being legal in Roe vs Wade,  she
became a born again Christian. Now she works tirelessly to try and reverse the monster she helped create. God is good! He was the first ever to love the sinner, but hate their sin!  For my friends who don't agree, I have to speak out, because abortion is wrong. It takes a human life!

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Carolyn McBreen Gibbs Blog: Survivor!

Carolyn McBreen Gibbs Blog: Survivor!: I am a survivor! I am a survivor from being lost in sin to being rescued by Jesus! What does the heart of a sinner look like? Mine was as bl...

Survivor!

I am a survivor! I am a survivor from being lost in sin to being rescued by Jesus! What does the heart of a sinner look like? Mine was as black as it could be. It was ugly, mean spirited, and was a good follower of Satan. I was a very selfish, egotistical person. The world revolved around me, and if it didn't I was nasty and mean to whoever crossed my path!

I don't think I started out that way. I was a fairly normal little girl. I was spoiled, and got everything I wanted. Perhaps that was the problem. Deep down I was a scared, insecure little girl. Only my Dad loved me. So I learned to act tough with my friends. We played at my house. We played what I wanted to, and I got the good parts in our play acting games. If a friend opposed me, I took my toys inside, and told them to go home!

Sunday School I did because I was promised a puppy! Church I did, because I had no choice. I did not care about either. As a
Teen, I went to Youth activities and Church because of boys. I am sure my mind wandered in Church more than any lost lamb ever! And I did not care! I didn't know it, but I was of the world, I did not have the right values, and I was satan's girl. It was all about me. 

I know it sounds like I was some kind of monster, but to the world and my friends, I was average, and normal. I didn't steal, or hurt people, except with words, and I was polite and respectful to those in authority. I focused on things money could buy, dating, clothes, and my looks. Never once did I worry about what was on the inside. As I got into college, I drank, smoked, and spouted off words that were awful. I was a flirt and a tease. It was all about fun. When I didn't have to go to Church anymore, I didn't. God was not real to me so He was not part of my life. 

I discovered witchcraft, transcendental meditation, and everything connected with it. Taro cards, spells,  and horoscopes all fascinated me. Then a time came when I was no longer happy living on the dark side. My soul was black, my heart was black, and suddenly it was no longer fun. I became miserable and started searching, but for what? I had no idea. I joined the Catholic Church. They had a beautiful Church, ritual, and my friends belonged. I was in the blackest of pits and didn't know how to get out. At the time I'm not sure I wanted out. Satan and bad behavior, and sin were all I knew. I was part of the world, and convinced myself it wasn't bad. If the world wasn't bad or sinful, then I couldn't be either.

What I didn't know was, God's hand was on me. He had been there all along, and He was not letting go. He knew one day I would turn to Him and accept Him as my Lord and Savior. He knew exactly where I needed to be, and what I needed to hear! For me it became a terrible fear of death. At some level, I knew I was awful, ugly in sin, and I was terrified I wouldn't be good enough to go to Heaven. I knew just enough to be totally confused.

God did meet me one morning. He used a T.V. Evangelist in Arizona to reach me with His Gospel message! I had family praying for me, and I listened, and I said yes Lord! I was reborn. My spirit was washed clean, my heart was new, and I was filled with a joy I had never known! God cleaned up my language immediately, because that must have really bothered Him. He gave me a new loving, gene rouse heart. I began to see me as God had seen me. That was amazing, because it was hard to look at, and yet He did and He loved me anyway!

It is amazing even in the midst of trouble, pain, illness, and loss how beautiful a life lived in Christ can be! It is like night and day. Yes, I am a survivor! I lived through the depths of hell, and came out on the other side as a Princess of The King! My life broke Jesus heart, but He let me come back to Him! I chose life as a survivor!




Saturday, September 12, 2015

Wait For It

LAs I attended our Church kick-off for our Christmas Pageant, my mind began to wander. The name of our Pageant this year is The Waiting Room. That brought to mind that our life is a constant round of waiting. From the beginning of who we are, we wait to be born. There is an estimated date of birth, yet, Moms and Dads are in a holding pattern, waiting for the blessed event. Even after that first birth pain, it's a wait time until the little one is actually here.

From then on, we wait. Babies can't do for themselves, so they wait for Mom to feed them, change them, and they wait for the day they can walk, talk, and run. We wait to go to Kindergarten and be a big kid. We wait to learn to ride a bike. We wait to become a teenager and we wait for our first date, first kiss!

We all grew up with so many phrases telling us to wait. Wait your turn, wait for me. Wait until your Father comes home! (I heard that one a lot!) You have to wait until after dinner for dessert. Wait and see, waiting for the weekend! We spend most of our time waiting for something. It's hard to wait. Most of us don't really enjoy waiting. We want instant gratification. Instant reward. 

As we get older, waiting is just as hard as when you were a child waiting for Christmas. As adults our waits get more complicated, more serious, more urgent. We apply for a job, then we wait. Will we get it? We have a chance to buy the home of our dreams...then we wait to see if it is ours. We become engaged to be married. We wait through months of planning before the magical day arrives. We wait for our children to be born just as our parents waited for us. 

Through our waiting life, we will at some point wait in a hospital waiting room. A loved one is in surgery, or very ill. We wait on tests, we wait for the doctor to fix it. We pray and wait for  God to heal. We wait for retirement, we wait for children to come home to visit, and we wait for the end of our life!

God's people waited too. They waited throughout the Bible for God to rescue them from their enemies, from tragedies, and  they waited for God to send their Messiah. God's plan didn't unfold all at once, it took many generations before His perfect plan was born! After waiting years and years, Jesus was born! We waited when we didn't know what we were waiting for. 

God sent His son to earth, as a human baby, so that He could shed His blood for each of us. If you have not given your heart to Jesus, this is foreign to you. It was to me too. We are all sinners. Because God is perfect, He can not be in a relationship with sinners. So He planned to send His son to take our sin on Himself, bleed and die, so that sin could be forgiven. Jesus waited three years while He taught God's word to many, before He was crucified for us. 

Jesus waited in the grave three days, then arose and is still with us! If we ask Him to forgive us, He will. We are made clean with the blood He shed. Now we can have a personal relationship with God, and we can spend eternity with Him! The blood of the Lamb, Jesus covers us. Right now, if you haven't given your life, your heart to Him, He is waiting! 

Our final wait is when we close our eyes on this world, and open them in heaven. When we accept Him, turn from our sin, and ask forgiveness, we are assured we will spend eternity with God in Heaven. So we wait. We are not fearful, because it is a joyful event, and we are at peace. We as believers know Jesus is coming back. If we do not die before that, we will be caught up in the air when Jesus returns for us. And we wait! Will you take Him as your Savior, so you can wait in peace? Are you ready for the final wait of this life? It is a free choice. God will not force you, but He is waiting just for you! 


Thursday, September 10, 2015

Friday, September 4, 2015

Carolyn McBreen Gibbs Blog: Culturally Right Or God Right?

Carolyn McBreen Gibbs Blog: Culturally Right Or God Right?: Culture says almost anything is right. If it makes money, or if it feels good, do it! It doesn't matter what the consequences are to oth...

Culturally Right Or God Right?

Culture says almost anything is right. If it makes money, or if it feels good, do it! It doesn't matter what the consequences are to others or to you. God and the Bible are behind the times. It may have applied in the past, but not today! After all, we know what's best for us.....right?

How should we discern right from wrong?
 First we have to acknowledge God and His word are still relevant today. It doesn't matter what our culture says. When we see our world openly practicing evil, we see a world that is lost. When wrong becomes right, it reveals evil in the hearts of the lost.

It is God who sees our heart. God searches our heart. If our heart chooses to believe lies, our heart will tell us lies. When our society allows wrong to become right, it dares God to send judgment. I often look at the news of the day. It reports crimes against others, floods, storms, terrorist attacks, and I wonder.... Is this God's judgment?

It appears things are getting worse in our culture. Evil is running rampant, and yet so many don't understand God's judgment or His ways. You see, we serve a God who is just, full of Grace and Mercy. He gives people chance after chance to repent of their sin, and accept Him as the ruler of their life. Eventually God comes to a point when He gives you over to your sin.

Doing evil and applauding the evil one are the same, both are sin. Following selfish desires instead of God, is allowing our wrong to become our right which results in rejecting God. When a people reject God, a people have fallen. Will you stand for God, or for the approval of other people? There is no in between. If you are luke warm, God will spit you out as He says in Revaluation to one of the seven Churches.

God created you. He knows you. He loves you. Are you His child? Some believe we are all God's children, but that is a lie.  God's Children, have experienced a new birth. They have accepted Him as their Savior, turned from their sin, and let Him have control of all their life. Our society today, on the other side, are trying to eliminate Him  totally. So if you are for God and what is truly right, don't agree with world's view of right. Don't try to appease the wrong, and don't minimize the wrong. If God says it is wrong...it is wrong!

Stand for what's right. Warn our culture. Embrace and declare Biblical values. Be strong and stand on the truth. Be at peace and do right. Share Christ with others. We Christians can make a difference, one person at a time! Pray for those who are lost in this worldly maze of the new right. Once you were on that side of the fence. By praying and sharing you can be a light in the dark.

When a society continually chooses wrong, their moral compass becomes skewed. What once was right no longer has any affect when it becomes wrong. For so many they no longer see wrong. Everything is good. It is time to raise up an army of believers who aren't afraid o speak truth into others. We can no longer sit back and pretend it's O.K. It isn't!  If we don't speak out, who will?

Don't apologize, and don't be intimidated. When you are
called judgmental, remember the accuser is judging you!  You are speaking up for what is right in God's eyes. Only God is the ultimate and final judge!