One Nation under Condemnation

There seems to be a pretty strong correlation between our nation’s departure from God-given traditional values and the condition of our nation. When you read scriptures you don’t have to turn too many pages to get the message that if we are good, we will be blessed. The problem is that we as a nation as a whole are not being good. Of course there are many people who are striving to do their best to follow God and His commandments, but there are also a growing number of people who don’t believe or have the desire to keep the commandments of God. As a result our laws have changed, our values are eroding, and our nation is in big trouble. In the past few years our nation has legalized abortion and now our tax dollars pay for abortion, teenage contraception and even abortions in other countries. At this sad place in history, 40% of all babies born in our country are born without a father in their home. Our country is encouraging the abandonment of children by providing ample support to those who are fatherless. We, as a society, are trying to compensate by meeting physical needs when what the children really need is a parent. We not only have citizens who demand their right to live a life of immorality,, but they expect those few who pay federal taxes to fund their immoral fun. We as a nation are more tolerant of homosexuality than ever before. We are not allowed to call it wrong without being labeled an “intolerant bigot.” Even when there are many people who believe that acting on homosexual impulses is in the same category as child molestation and other perverse acts, they are silenced by our society’s acceptance of the gay moment. We have more drug and alcohol abuse, more corporate and personal dishonesty and greed, more blatant pornography and lewdness, more personal and governmental debt and a total loss of control in government and in American households. Can a day go by when we are not infested with more annoying emails trying to scam us? Do we feel that our children are more safe from child predators than in past years? At the same time, in almost perfect synchronization, we are seeing more fires, floods, earthquakes and many other natural disasters. There is more unrest in society, and more economic distress than we have in many, many years. Innocent people may be made to suffer because guilty people won’t abandon their wickedness. Although it is impossible to document for a certainty that our nation’s departure from being good is causing the bad, it sure seems to fit nicely into the many patterns of destruction played out historically on the Earth when the people turn away from their maker and made fun of sacred things. Perhaps we can’t put all the blame for the condition of our nation on our government leaders. Perhaps there is some truth in the fact that when we distance ourselves from God, He withholds blessings from us. Perhaps we are feeling the condemnation that comes when we abandon truth and righteousness. If we really want to witness hope and change, we as a nation are going to have to hope and change. The real future of our nation does not only lie with the actions and decisions of politicians, but with the actions and decisions of each and every citizen. It is time to be good so that American can once again be great. Christy Hinkson

Motherhood-The Greatest Work

Motherhood—the Greatest Work

The debate is back with some people questioning the value of the role of stay-at-home mothers. It is amazing that anyone would actually think that mothers who do not leave their homes to join the workforce are not working. As a mother of 10 children and the grandmother of 4, I would like to invite anyone who holds this belief to come to my house and follow me around for a day. Children enter this world through a process called "labor" and the work associated with motherhood is never done. Each and every mother in this world works and works hard.

By watching a mother at work you can witness what she does for her family physically, but it is impossible to witness the enormous impact that a mother has on the world now and forever. I dare anyone to find any job on Earth that is more important and has a more lasting effect on humankind than mothers do. Governments rise and fall, companies come and go, celebrities leave superficial impressions but no one can shape and influence another human like a mother can. Women do many kinds of work and make lasting contributions to the world, but any contribution pales in insignifigance when compared to the impact of what she does as a good mother.

Sometimes mothers doubt their ability to impact because motherhood is available to so many. This responsibility is given by God to so many, because it is SO important. Every hero that has entered this world came the same way, tiny, fragile and placed by God into the arms of a mother. Mothers teach and influence their children in a very personal way, who in turn teach and influence others, who teach and influence many others and on and on and on. All that is good and right in this world can be traced back to the influence of somebody's mother.

While I was in college, I wrote a simple song and now, 25 years later, I still believe every word of it. I will include the lyrics below. Our daughter, Heather, now the mother of 2, recorded the song. A free download is available at this link:

http://www.heartrisemusic.com/Downloads/Music/07%20The%20Greatest%20Work.mp3

The Greatest Work
The Greatest Work that I will ever do, will be in my own Home
I want to live in a way that I can give and make my potential known.
The greatest thing that I will ever do, I know inside will be
To live my life as a mother and a wife and raise a family.
The greatest work, the greatest thing, now is clearly in my view
I may reach heights unknown, but I know that in my home,
Is the greatest work that I will ever do.
Christy Hinkson

What about Abstinence? It is Free and Freeing.

What about Abstinence? It is Free and Freeing.

With the contraception debate brewing and boiling over, I have to ask: What about Abstinence? Why does anyone have to pay for birth control at all? Why do people laugh and think it is impossible to keep sexual relations within the bonds of marriage. What about all the people in the world who manage to control themselves and refrain from sex until they are married. There are millions of people all over the world who do this and have lived to tell about it. I also believe that those who abstain before marriage are in a better position to speak about “women’s health” than those who are having sex with multiple partners and using birth control, which has historically caused several women’s health issues.

I practiced abstinence and so did my husband. Our children and their spouses have also abstained until they married. I attended a prestigious private University where people were expected to live by an honor code and if they had sex outside of marriage while they were students they faced being dismissed as students from the university. What a great opportunity to go to school where the focus was actually on academics.

Choosing to be “morally clean” was one of the best decisions that I have ever made. Here are some of the stresses in life that I now do not have to worry about now because I was not prematurely sexually active:

1. I don’t have to worry that I will get a sexually transmitted disease.

2. I don’t have to worry that I will be as tempted to succumb to breaking this law as an adult. If I can survive the raging hormone time of youth, I am well on my way to living a pure life.

3. I don’t have to worry that I will have an unwanted pregnancy outside the bonds of marriage.

4. I don’t have to worry that anyone will ask me to consider having an abortion or giving a child up for adoption.

5. I don’t have to worry that there will be a child somewhere that I gave birth to and have not been able to raise.

6. I don’t have to worry that I have near as high of a chance of developing cervical cancer that is significantly linked to having multiple sex partners.

7. I don’t have to worry that my husband married me because he “had to.”

8. I don’t have to worry that I will run into old partners and be embarrassed.

9. I don’t have to worry that I will ever think about other partners that I was immoral with.

10. I don’t have to worry that God will be disappointed with my choices.

Practicing abstinence is not only free, but it is freeing. It may cause some people a little stress to practice abstinence but look at all the stress you are able to live without later.

Christy Hinkson