tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26969423905278818072024-03-19T13:11:43.837-07:00 Same Sex Attraction HopeA place of Hope for those who experiences unwanted attraction to the same sex. Blogs are written by contributing authors.SSA Hope Contributorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17346948036141808647noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2696942390527881807.post-62541250635806520102018-06-07T10:41:00.001-07:002018-06-07T17:42:09.576-07:00I'm Offended!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOMfam_hyphenhyphenp3O5rSl08rrTdBhMoB0ZYcMsvh2Pq8Kl74mariJ9nI082dwrZD1znXhffq2g5GFImoyazeYKQSviiZ_eqoz2LpSQG8pu4gFS2QV8ivMPW2NAca5iS-0jj-dBpJydlGX99rI50/s1600/Spunkinator+CCPL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOMfam_hyphenhyphenp3O5rSl08rrTdBhMoB0ZYcMsvh2Pq8Kl74mariJ9nI082dwrZD1znXhffq2g5GFImoyazeYKQSviiZ_eqoz2LpSQG8pu4gFS2QV8ivMPW2NAca5iS-0jj-dBpJydlGX99rI50/s400/Spunkinator+CCPL.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Were you ever in a disagreement with someone only to have them claim they were offended by you or by what you believe? Such a comment has a chilling effect. It's as if an invisible barrier were lowered, and all further explanation, discussion, or communication on the topic is shut down. The very beliefs of one person are supposedly so offensive to the other person that nothing further can be said without the offender looking like a brute who revels in torturing the offended. The comment silences debate and appears to give the <i>offendee </i>a win by forfeit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I used to debate with people (when I was young and thought debate would actually help) about why I could not accept certain religious or moral beliefs as being as valid as mine. Not that they weren't valid in the sense that the other person had those beliefs and had a right to those beliefs etc, but valid in the sense that they were not true. I would try to explain that if I believe what I believe is true, it's necessarily true that I must also hold that what they believe is false as long as it is diametrically opposed to my beliefs. So while I can respect everyone's right to believe or disbelieve truth - I can not accept all beliefs as equal or as truth. Does that make sense? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As an example, a friend's son argued recently with his sister who called Tarot cards evil. He said she was a bigot, and told her it was offensive for her to say such a thing because she was dissing his and other people's beliefs. She argued that she felt Tarot cards and fortune tellers were charlatans, and that the devil uses them to mislead people. Therefore, she reasoned, she had a right and duty to say so. She argued, that since she believed Tarot cards were evil, and that they lead people to evil, she had a right to say so.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN7sYcV95FafRuRvRdu9YJuqQSQ6V7xldG-YgGqYal-9JgSVzU9lZOZHa7VN9m3Jrs7YKWmiMh8Ys1rfx03nq6zeClQcs9PmJ2XDOLhgQSUjr7Jx9xRtiNEOIM3eBLdswUnz6PgnhVJi4/s1600/valid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Definition of Valid" border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="628" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN7sYcV95FafRuRvRdu9YJuqQSQ6V7xldG-YgGqYal-9JgSVzU9lZOZHa7VN9m3Jrs7YKWmiMh8Ys1rfx03nq6zeClQcs9PmJ2XDOLhgQSUjr7Jx9xRtiNEOIM3eBLdswUnz6PgnhVJi4/s320/valid.jpg" title="Valid" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Personally, I am never offended by hearing what someone believes. A woman once told me the Pope and the Catholic Church were evil. I was prepared to explain any belief I had with the woman and willing to listen to her beliefs, but I was unwilling, indeed I would be a liar, if I conceded that her beliefs were valid. Again, she had a right to them, but I could not accept her beliefs as true.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I find so often in this SSA world that many who identify themselves as homosexuals say they are offended by my faith. To my mind, it would be more legitimate, and more helpful, for them to say they do not believe what I believe. Even for them to say they feel sorry for me because they think I'm ignorant or blind would be more legitimate than to claim my very belief offends them. Why be offended? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I have friends who say they are searching and working for a world where everyone accepts everyone's beliefs. That would be a silly world, I think. Truth is black and white, and morality is based on standards. For instance, we all must agree that red means stop and green means go on the traffic signals, or chaos will shortly ensue. My point is that tolerance is <i>not </i>the same as acceptance. It would be more useful for my friends to wish for a world where everyone accepts that every person has a right to his or her beliefs. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The problem in the LGBT world that I encounter regularly is that many will not stop being "offended" until every last person in the world accepts their beliefs and their actions as true and right. But I do accept my friends as they are. I do accept that they do not share my beliefs, and that they have the free-will to pursue their own path to happiness as they see fit. I even accept that they have a right to continue to claim something wrongly and unfairly, such as taking offense at my right to live and speak as I do. I just <i>wish </i>they would extend the same courtesy to me. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Image from Spunkinator - Creative Commons Public License</span><br />
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Chris<br />
<br />SSA Hope Contributorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17346948036141808647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2696942390527881807.post-67430865203842668182014-07-11T06:11:00.000-07:002018-06-07T17:43:29.491-07:00In Defense of SSA THERAPY<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.frcblog.com/2014/07/frcs-peter-sprigg-testifies-dc-city-council/" target="_blank">http://www.frcblog.com/2014/07/frcs-peter-sprigg-testifies-dc-city-council/</a></div>
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Listen to Peter Briggs testify before the DC City Council explaining how re-orientation therapy has been helpful to many.<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFwbJrTNHrs">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFwbJrTNHrs</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_WlPNAEthc4Q6H0LWdgBedXIVpLHcSsB1aXZYRnjmwrdhr4t5svk9hgIMK3eSDYXnyGcGZd3IlLkuMbOGq-u1Q39G6tSjYWgt_yY1d_3hJMsHP0B6Bst0f8LcIZ2cbc6AlAwLvDW0GnoR/s1600/Briggs.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="http://www.frcblog.com/2014/07/frcs-peter-sprigg-testifies-dc-city-council/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_WlPNAEthc4Q6H0LWdgBedXIVpLHcSsB1aXZYRnjmwrdhr4t5svk9hgIMK3eSDYXnyGcGZd3IlLkuMbOGq-u1Q39G6tSjYWgt_yY1d_3hJMsHP0B6Bst0f8LcIZ2cbc6AlAwLvDW0GnoR/s1600/Briggs.bmp" title="Peter Briggs testifies before DC Council" /></a></div>
Briggs, from the <em>Family Research Council</em> does an amazing job. I would only add this. The talk of re-orientation is not my favorite way of speaking about therapeutic help for those who struggle with SSA (same sex attraction.) I believe the movement for educating the public on SSA, it's true origins, what it means and what it does not mean is harmed by the perpetuation of the idea that therapy is aimed at "changing" someone's attraction to the same sex INTO an attraction to the opposite sex. THE TWO ARE ENTIRELY UNRELATED. This is the message that seems to continually be lost when debating therapy. <br />
Peter does try to clarify this, but I believe it is important to admit our brokenness, important to understand that those who have SSA necessarily<em> are</em> broken in the sense that we usually carry deep emotional wounds and have many unmet and legitimate same sex emotional needs - whether perceived or real. <br />
The greatest tragedy of all this political crushing of SSA counseling and therapy efforts is that those who WANT professional help can no longer find it. Their freedom to pursue their own emotional and mental health is dangerously thwarted by denying them the vast knowledge and tools of the medical professions.<br />
Thank you Peter Briggs and the <em>Family Research Council</em> for your defense of this sorely needed therapy.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_2DyTGMth1JhgXLR9DCUDbDz03Z32sGkqo9nv-dEo0QWCNPWXtHmlS3O_OWMiPH6Gj7-ipM-6FGjXLVVyIrJqYPmeC5TqJ6A_jdcX1lEf5u3pKofL-Fg2lvt1XGEkDdxV0PRSB7J-TopJ/s1600/header_prayer-groups.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_2DyTGMth1JhgXLR9DCUDbDz03Z32sGkqo9nv-dEo0QWCNPWXtHmlS3O_OWMiPH6Gj7-ipM-6FGjXLVVyIrJqYPmeC5TqJ6A_jdcX1lEf5u3pKofL-Fg2lvt1XGEkDdxV0PRSB7J-TopJ/s400/header_prayer-groups.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I am an SSA HOPE mom , who is blessed to be able to attend in our area a monthly support group of
friends and family members of those with SSA. Last night, we had a guest
speaker, who brought up the idea of restoration pray-ers. (Even as I tap at
these keys this morning, I realize this distracted middle-aged brain may butcher
most of what I heard, so I am not re-capping, just using some of what stuck with
me as a talking point.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As I understand it, restoration pray-ers would be a group of people
(hand-picked by you) to join you in fasting and praying for your loved one or
yourself. Hardly a radical idea, but what stood out to me was his description
of how at times, when we feel crushed and defeated, overwhelmed and despairing,
it’s hard for us to keep the “charge” going in our battle against SSA. He spoke
of how your restoration team holds you up and leads the charge on those days. Because
the people on a restoration team are further removed from and have more of an
emotional distance from the pain of watching your loved suffer or your own
suffering, they are not taking the same crushing blows and can remain in prayer
for you even when you can barely lift your head to heaven. In other words, on
those days when you just can’t seem to crawl out from under that giant boulder
of SSA and the weight of it is keeping you down, making prayer almost
impossible, such a group praying for you can take your place before the Lord and
continue storming heaven and charging against the powers of hell. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When I first learned of our son’s SSA, even as shame,
embarrassment, and fear were crushing me, I knew that I needed prayers for my
son beyond mine and my immediate family. I remember I wrote letters introducing
SSA, sharing our concerns for our son, and begging people to pray daily for
him. I intended to hand these to only the most trusted friends, who I felt
would pray and not condemn my son or my family. Even before I handed out the
first letter, I had included a couple of other first names of young boys I knew
who also needed prayers for this. So the letter ended by asking them to say the
prayer to the Archangel Michael or any other prayer every day for those on the
list. The list grew and grew, of course, and all of those names are now
included on the SSA HOPE prayer list. Think what power there would be to defeat
Satan and his lies and bring healing and hope, if all Christians had compassion
and understanding enough to pray one prayer every day for those with SSA!!! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This speaker’s idea is more personal than that but revolves
around that same “power of prayer” philosophy. Who could deny that God wishes
us to join in prayer for each other? What believing Christian could doubt the
power of such communal intercession before Our Lord? It’s beyond my scope here
to delve into the theology of why God expects (and indeed sometimes appears to
wait for) our prayers to be multiplied and echo before his throne before He
will rescue us or our loved one. Suffice to say, He expects us to care for one
another as family cares for each other. If one is hurting, we are all hurting -
we are all one Body in Christ, right? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The problem with all this for both those with SSA and their
family members is one of isolation. Often shame, fear of condemnation and even
our own pride can keep us from reaching out to others for prayer. In guarding
our privacy, it is as if we shut ourselves up into little prayer closets, and
by our little lonesome self are trying to hold out against the battering rams
of hell.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Picture if you will, Hell on one side of the closet, pushing and shaking the wall to
crush us and our loved one, and on the other side is a closed door, beyond
which lies our Christian family. If we opened the door and called out for help,
willing and helping hands might rush to our aid to shore up that wall against
the fiendish battering ram. How long can we or even our tiny family hold out
alone in that closet? </span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Restoration pray-ers are more than a fine idea in this
battle against SSA, this battle against the powers of Hell. Whether we find one
or two, or ten or twenty, we must find a way to open the door to our prayer
closet, to call for reinforcements, and to multiply our prayers before God! </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Even beyond these teams of pray-ers, we need as Church members
to join together in daily prayer for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all</i>
those who battle SSA. Let this be our battle cry: <strong>“Once a Day for SSA.”</strong></span></div>
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SSA Hope Contributorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17346948036141808647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2696942390527881807.post-83774122462960310662012-08-16T16:20:00.002-07:002018-06-07T17:46:33.740-07:00The Battle Over Gay MarriageA friend posted this link on facebook. The article is so unexpected in that the author fits no box or profile and he takes his stand in a raw and humble way. He was raised by two lesbian 'mothers', had no father, grew up gay, had a relationship and married a woman, was labeled bisexual and sumarily dismissed by everyone in the gay community. <br />
I advise you to click on the link and read the whole article, which is really about gay marriage. Here is an excerpt from:<br />
<span class="home_blog_date">August 11, 2012</span><br />
<span class="home_blog_date"></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/08/m-the_soul-crushing_scorched-earth_battle_for_gay_marriage.html" rel="nofollow">The Soul-Crushing Scorched-Earth Battle for Gay Marriage</a></span><br />
By <a href="http://www.americanthinker.com/robert_oscar_lopez/">Robert Oscar Lopez</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEqDxZvSPDBcCDv5huYkp-T2OC8Jrz2t7TF31zkEQDdLE3CzvQZTOMgfKdxyrjRaVAGgMGGdzKKYdsAU_ayese_f_qTWaCZ5kEfW4nfTbv0kW6pohAut7uCU8iYq_yB5vvLIZpp6xlW_c/s1600/RobertLopez.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="197" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEqDxZvSPDBcCDv5huYkp-T2OC8Jrz2t7TF31zkEQDdLE3CzvQZTOMgfKdxyrjRaVAGgMGGdzKKYdsAU_ayese_f_qTWaCZ5kEfW4nfTbv0kW6pohAut7uCU8iYq_yB5vvLIZpp6xlW_c/s320/RobertLopez.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "times";">Since I was a toddler, I have been stuck with all sorts of Gay Questions. You see, I have no memories of my biological father being around my house. My earliest memories are of my mother and her best friend, who I eventually discovered was her female romantic partner. They raised me together through all of my childhood and adolescence. My mother died when I was nineteen. It may please today's gay activists to know that then, in 1990, my mother's partner was able to be by my mother's bedside.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "times";">Yet there has never been peace between me and the gay community. In the 1970s and 1980s, I was raised by two women, both of whom I credit for doing a great job in a rather intolerant era. But it was hard on me, and I have never been hesitant to share my experience truthfully. I suffered from not having contact with my father and lacking a male role model. Period.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "times";">One effect of the difficulties was that I dropped out of college and sought parenting from troublesome people.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "times";">In the 1990s, I watched many gay men who had become surrogate father and surrogate mother figures to me die. One by one, repeating the tragedy of my mother, they disappeared. They were all alone except, in many cases, for me. The gay community treated them with shame even as they were the only sense of family I thought I'd have left.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "times";">In my late twenties, I finally lost my virginity to the woman who would bear me a child and become my wife. So bingo, I was suddenly "bisexual." (My wife knows everything, and I do not plan on hiding my past.) I realized soon enough that bisexuals aren't very popular among the gays. "You're lying," "you're a wacko ex-gay," and "those pictures are going to destroy you!" were all subtle ways of gay friends telling me they weren't going to invite me to parties anymore.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "times";">There's more, but I'll stop with the autobiography there. The point is this: if gay marriage is a solution without a problem, I am the gay community's problem without a solution. I don't fit any of their narratives. Through no fault of my own, I explode every one of their myths, from the narrative of idyllic same-sex couple parenting to the supposed fabulousness of post-Stonewall New York to the insistence that gay people are born a certain way and sexual orientation can never change.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "times";">I feel like walking around with a sign on my chest saying, "Dear Gays, Please Forgive Me For Existing." Their instinct would be to do what they usually do, which is ignore me. Anyway, I am conservative. That makes me Satan...</span></span></blockquote>
Keep up with Mr. Lopez. Visit his blog <a href="http://englishmanif.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">English Manif</a><br />
<br />SSA Hope Contributorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17346948036141808647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2696942390527881807.post-53018473679925782012-02-14T08:28:00.000-08:002018-06-07T17:47:25.970-07:00Faith & ParentsSince the dawn of time, and I do mean since Adam & Eve, parents have passed their beliefs down to their children. Faith in particular is meant to be passed down from one generation to the next, first and primarily through the parents. It makes sense really. If parents live by a certain moral code and belief system and they believe that way of life best, they would naturally want to show their children that same path.<br />
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But faith is a personal thing. It is a mysterious gift,<br />
given to some and not others, given in different measures, at different times. Moreover faith is interpreted very individually, but perhaps more because of our personal flaws and sins than for any reason of uniqueness. After all, God is the same yesterday, today and always.<br />
Truth is Truth and does not change.<br />
I was raised in a wholesome Roman Catholic Household, Irish, not that it matters. Although many readers will aha when they hear I was one of eight kids, and I am now mother to eight kids. Irish Catholics have that big-family reputation after all , but in mine it is was and is a sign of our cooperation in God's procreation. Anyway, when us kids hit that teenage rebellion stage and general adolescent laziness made us more interested in catching z's than going to church on Sunday, we heard the old, "As long as you live in this house, you live by our rules," speech. It made sense on many levels. It showed us what was important to our parents and how highly they valued God and the worship due Him. It also protected us from being God-less heathens just that much longer. I always thought we would have the same deal in our house with our kids, and we do, we did, for the most part, except for SSA.<br />
Shortly after we learned of our son's SSA, he announced he would no longer go to church with us. He said the church was anti-gay and therefore anti-him. I was devastated anew. Already worried about his salvation and the influence of the world, it seemed extremely important that he continue to go to church at least once a week, there to be surrounded by God's word and grace, to hear truth, and just by virtue of being in church, want to communicate with God. Our son told us just minutes before we were to leave, and when he would not comply with my order to get in the car, I felt powerless and panicked. I yelled the old standby.."As long as you live.." and when he still refused, I told him he would lose privileges. I snatched his Ipod from him and grounded him storming from the house. At Church, I cried and cried struggling to control tears that ran and ran down my face. After Mass our pastor asked what was wrong, he probably thought someone had died. We shared, and he told us it would not be right in this case to force him. This was no teenage rebellion - because of his SSA, our son had rejected God and the Church, and we would have to respect his free will, pray for him and wait for God's saving hand.<br />
After Mass we returned his Ipod, un-grounded him and explained our decision. Sometimes it still stings, and I second-guess the wisdom, but only sometimes, wistfully wishing he could have hung on a little longer, he could have read and researched with us the truth of his condition, the true meaning of his attraction to the same sex. Most of all that he could have held onto faith - through the thick storm of SSA - that he could have tried harder to understand the church, her position and that he could have searched for God's plan.<br />
But whether or not he knows it, God has a big fat plan for our son - a big fat plan for me too. I just have to pray, to wait and to HOPE.<br />
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Keep all of us SSA Families in your prayers!SSA Hope Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02242106079749468233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2696942390527881807.post-43692709237545278132011-12-09T10:01:00.000-08:002018-06-07T17:51:47.584-07:00Set Free To Serve<div>
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Here is a story about one of the first pioneers of the Exodus ministry, a non-denominational and international ex-gay ministry that has helped many people come out of homosexuality. The author's name is Roberta Laurila. This is an excerpt from her book, Set Free To Serve, a wonderful example of God's healing love. Enjoy!<br />
<strong></strong><br /><strong>SALVATION </strong><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Roberta Laurila<br /><i>Set Free To Serve</i></td></tr>
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I was home alone the afternoon of October 7, 1955. With fear and panic in my heart, I made the decision to take my own life. I was too ashamed to commit myself to an institution to find help for my troubled mind. Pride was still very much alive, even though I thought I was beyond help. I wondered how to call my friend to ask her forgiveness. I wanted so much to be forgiven, but it seemed out of the question.<br />
<br />
I started for the kitchen to turn on the gas jets. I had already had a few drinks to try to give me courage. Just before I entered the kitchen door, I fell to my knees in front of a chair. With tears streaming down my face, I cried out, “God forgive me. God forgive me!”<br />
<br />
Only later did I realize that I was saved at that moment. The Holy Spirit came to live within me, and began leading me in ways that confirmed my salvation. But in rebellion, I still held onto my old friends.<br />
<br />
I had two lesbian relationships after my salvation. “God doesn’t expect me to quit lov- ing women,” I reasoned. Of course, I couldn’t stop without supernatural help. And I didn’t have anyone else to help. This was years before God raised up former homosexuals to begin ministries.<br />
<br />
Ten years after I received Jesus as my Savior, I was still living in sin. God began allowing me to feel the consequences of my rebellion. I could not have survived the trauma that followed without the Lord’s care and mercy. God allowed the devil to pour out his wrath in such a devastating way. I still shudder at his trickery. With demonic signs and wonders, Satan convinced me that God was wanting me to live with another woman while involved in Christian ministry.<br />
<br />
The climax came following the suicidal death of a dear friend whom I had betrayed. It was from that shocking emotional experience that my stubborn will was broken. I promised God that I would not let her death be for nothing. Then came the vision.<br />
<strong><br />THE VISION</strong><br />
While living in what seemed to be a hell on earth with my lover, God came to me one night. I was alone and in deep despair. The Lord gave me a spiritual vision of a world-wide ministry. This outreach would reach homosexuals who wanted a close relationships with Jesus Christ and who wanted to be set free from their sin.<br />
<br />
As the vision unfolded, I knew God was saying I must leave this lifestyle forever. I was to begin interceding for Him to raise up individuals from the gay lifestyle and others, truly called by Him, to begin specific ministries to homosexuals.<br />
<br />
Six years after the vision, God directed me to write my personal testimony of deliverance from lesbianism. My story, entitled Gay Liberation, was published in book form in 1975. It was the first of its kind and not many bookstores would accept it, due to the subject which was “hush-hush” at the time.<br />
<br />
<strong>INTERCESSION</strong><br />
Much has happened since that time. While I continued to intercede, God began calling forth former gays to minister. God has blessed my friendships with many of the “pioneers” in the Exodus movement, such as Frank Worthen, Robbi Kenney, Ed Hurst and others. I have been blessed also to see many ministries begin in foreign soil. What a wonderful God he is!<br />
<br />
God has kept me at a low profile. At times, I have rebelled concerning this. But deep down, I know I was called to intercede for others to be led by the Holy Spirit into all the world.<br />
<br />
Even as I write these words, tears are flowing down my cheeks. Surely God will complete His perfect plan to reach the many millions of the lost who have been so rejected and lonely so many years. I weep for the church, blinded by the enemy so it cannot see the need to reach gays. So many Christians cannot truly believe that God can set these people free. My great desire now is to reach those in the gay church. I am believing God to also work a miracle there.<br />
<br />
Our God reigns!<br />
<br />
Additional Information: Roberta is a pioneer in the ex-gay movement. She came out of lesbianism in 1969, long before there were any ex-gay ministries. She passed away in October, 2011.</div>
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ladybrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00900328922292035990noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2696942390527881807.post-7602601638506798592011-12-08T09:50:00.000-08:002018-06-07T17:52:26.723-07:00Favorite St. Augustine Quote<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEila43u2QqzM2JJ0LKLbtmFsyDM9INW_2cA-7ZWUr9WVnmB9xtn8U5JvKwwHKL812YA5COu9BCKWRbngphfiwi2lo7k_8a1uYJPs0QV3_z5UyFiMx1XpdcbRt9GPqDdz0jd0g2YtwweP6o/s1600/Saint_Augustine_Portrait1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="385" data-original-width="635" height="121" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEila43u2QqzM2JJ0LKLbtmFsyDM9INW_2cA-7ZWUr9WVnmB9xtn8U5JvKwwHKL812YA5COu9BCKWRbngphfiwi2lo7k_8a1uYJPs0QV3_z5UyFiMx1XpdcbRt9GPqDdz0jd0g2YtwweP6o/s200/Saint_Augustine_Portrait1.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Oh, too late have I loved thee, beauty so ancient and so new, too late have I loved thee. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Behold, You were within me, and I was searching outside, among the beauty of Your creation. At last, didst You call out loud, did You force open my deafness and chase away my blindness. You did breathe fragrant odours, and I drew in my breath; and now I pant for You. You did touch me, and I burned for Your peace. Lord, have pity on me; my evil sorrows contend with my good joys. Lord, have pity on me. You are the Physician, I am the sick man; You are merciful, I need mercy. Is not the life of man on earth an ordeal? My whole hope is in Your exceeding great mercy and that alone. Give what You command and command what You will. O Love, O my God, enkindle me! – St. Augustine</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here are a few more because I can't resist. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Christ is not valued at all, unless he is valued above all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Give me chastity and continence, but not yet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe.</div>
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Patience is the companion of wisdom.</div>
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Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.</div>
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JohnMPhilomenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06179842710255349910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2696942390527881807.post-88137456347142194292011-11-07T16:24:00.000-08:002018-06-07T17:55:16.897-07:00Seeing the whole person.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1x54yR-HIIiN803rhMLTzxTD81roZ0swistj9bufirfvqklm2mCPLAAVBcVO5KdTz5tdkMMFSg8ydN2gUp7_BzWtMoSOrZ9EG1QnJErbA5iQGGqjr8NLXpOOxHsHe3esT0RR_qxl67IiK/s1600/broken-heart1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672417562021780082" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1x54yR-HIIiN803rhMLTzxTD81roZ0swistj9bufirfvqklm2mCPLAAVBcVO5KdTz5tdkMMFSg8ydN2gUp7_BzWtMoSOrZ9EG1QnJErbA5iQGGqjr8NLXpOOxHsHe3esT0RR_qxl67IiK/s320/broken-heart1.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 107px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 150px;" /></a> Recently, I met a woman whose son-in-law left her daughter to become a man. She told me with tears in her eyes that she still loves her son-in-law despite the pain he caused her daughter. Her daughter, trying to cope, sought help in a group for spouses of homosexuals, but she quickly gave up as the group was telling her he was supposed to be a woman. They claimed she should be happy for him, that he is pursuing the real him, that she must accept him etc. "We accept him," the mother told me, "we <em>love</em> him."<br />
She told me how he came to a dinner recently after he'd begun operations to change his appearance. When she looked at him, she said she saw "only her son-in-law, with breasts." She saw the <em>person</em>, she saw <em>him,</em> and she said he was still the same guy the family fell in love with and invited into their family four years ago.<br />
Of course he is the same person, and by God's grace her love will remain. But that love is true love, the kind of love that wants the best for him, and she and her daughter want the best for him. They know he is not happy, but they also instictively know that this outward change will not cause the inner healing he seeks. They pray for him, they continue to have a realtionship with him, and that is <em>acceptanc</em>e of him the person. It is all that acceptance should be.<br />
Acceptance is not an agreement with behavior or actions that are contrary to truth or nature. Actions that are sinful, harmful or destructive need NEVER be accepted. And often the mere disagreement with behavior or actions makes people uncomfortable.<br />
Coming home from that conference where I met this woman, I heard a preacher in the car and his words are appropro. Using the example of a married couple where one spouse has faith and the other does not, he asked, "Why is it that so often the spouse who is faithful stops going to church on Sunday, because it makes the non-believing spouse uncomfortable?" "Why," he asks, "does the person with the light of faith, living the light of truth, feel they must make the person who is living in error and darkness comfortable?" He's so right and it happens all over the place with us believers. It's as if we so pity the non-believer, and we can imagine how painful and uncomfortable the truth and their denial of it makes them, we wrongfully wish to spare them this discomfort. This is a compromise with error. He said, "And whenever we compromise with error, TRUTH is sacrificed!"<br />
We must not compromise with error any longer. Join me now. Make a vow to allow yourself to live your faith openly, to speak the truth openly, to call a spade a spade, to SPEAK THE TRUTH IN LOVE from here on out with the grace of God to let those He is working on BE UNCOMFORTABLE. That is the way of the Holy Spirit, is it not? Let the discomfort, the disquiet they feel in their soul seeing you and your faith contrasted against their lack or denial of that same faith make them uncomfortable! At the same time, may we always with God's merciful grace see the whole person and God who lives in that person, and accept the person with all the love we can show.<br />
PeaceSSA Hope Contributorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17346948036141808647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2696942390527881807.post-5569777510962934172011-02-23T08:27:00.000-08:002018-06-07T17:58:32.749-07:00Growth into Manhood<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiUgnKI45NsqCLZ3VMGiRHjjZNHATqY849Z-HdCDLRCYCAeVDNe7KpaEyK3j2mDfpbiLNzQAtzmYfwoXd_z4cdmERoPnmWmlB2ZkAHFrsEGWcVAL2D1Vs4AyPdfqe_uHESQ_XuaOghuds/s1600/boy+in+tutu.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576926842390002770" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiUgnKI45NsqCLZ3VMGiRHjjZNHATqY849Z-HdCDLRCYCAeVDNe7KpaEyK3j2mDfpbiLNzQAtzmYfwoXd_z4cdmERoPnmWmlB2ZkAHFrsEGWcVAL2D1Vs4AyPdfqe_uHESQ_XuaOghuds/s320/boy+in+tutu.jpg" style="float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 150px;" width="240" /></a><br />
A friend has a friend with a three year old who exhibits what her friend calls homosexual tendencies. The little boy likes girls’ clothes and mom’s makeup, seems overly sensitive etc… The mother and father are already talking about what it will be like to have a gay son. Imagine, the tragedy unfolding here! These uninformed parents are already foisting a gay identity on their little boy, and this labeling of their toddler may greatly affect and even retard the masculine maturation of their child when consciously and unconsciously they encourage and entertain certain behaviors, while neglecting the development of other behaviors such as male bonding, imitation of males (especially the father), and male skills. Alan Medinger in his book <em>Growth into Manhood </em>explains the process of the way a man develops, and he examines the various roadblocks, especially in our modern society, that can thwart a boy’s growth into a man.<br />
<blockquote>
“The following two hypothesis are necessary to support the concept of growth into manhood put forth in this book. …<br />
1. Boys have a biological destiny to grow into men: men who are different from women in ways that go well beyond genital design and reproductive functions.<br />
2. Societal structures have always existed to guide the process of growth from boyhood to manhood.<br />
Taken together, these hypotheses do not reflect an extreme viewpoint. I am not claiming that manhood is either all genetic or all learned. ... Boys are genetically destined to become men, but guidance along the way is necessary or the process may not work out satisfactorily.” </blockquote>
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Medinger outlines the process of male maturation from the early years of separating from the mother and identifying with the father and/or other males, to the trials and testing of his manhood, to his manhood being affirmed, and finally accepting his manhood. Medinger, himself a former homosexual, goes on to explain that the most crucial step in the whole process is the affirmation of his manhood.<br />
<blockquote>
“Surely some things went wrong in the early years of most of our lives (homosexuals), but most of us did separate from our mothers, and most of us did have some sort of men with whom we could identify. If we did not bond, so be it. In fact, except for the rare transsexual, everyone came to know at some level that we were male. And even today, an adult man who has been in gender confusion for much of his life can easily identify himself intellectually as a man. But what is really needed is affirmation of that identification. This is where our emphasis should lie. This is where the struggles occur, for it is through affirmation that our sense of manhood comes to dwell in our deepest parts.” </blockquote>
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The toddler described is actually not exhibiting any odd behavior considering he has not even reached the age of separating from his mother. Sometimes dress up is just dress up. But his parents who are already labeling him, risk a train wreck of gender confusion and identity crisis for him.<br />
Thankfully, the growth into manhood that Medinger describes is circular not linear. In other words, a boy tests his skills, his bonding, his manhood, and receives affirmation by every success or encouragement from other males. The process testing-affirmation repeats and repeats as the male identity grows stronger. And Medinger assures, <br />
<blockquote>
“Just because it was skipped in childhood, don’t conclude it cannot be gone through later. <strong>It is not too late for you</strong>!”</blockquote>
SSA Hope Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02242106079749468233noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2696942390527881807.post-16014010454876795362011-02-10T05:57:00.000-08:002018-06-07T18:06:00.195-07:00Down but Never Out<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhozT5BTgaIeJ8qlawTOY2RWx6M9ZtEMhhIzso6gsHA2n3xcdbkxQz1d8CcblhcYAlRD9kjh1rTwaIoo0cW1JqJ3LgSWiAh7nOon29DBA-2gZ3buP4jNokeRRqoOBY6AN2_aBZSlzf88iY/s1600/down.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5572068184005078130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhozT5BTgaIeJ8qlawTOY2RWx6M9ZtEMhhIzso6gsHA2n3xcdbkxQz1d8CcblhcYAlRD9kjh1rTwaIoo0cW1JqJ3LgSWiAh7nOon29DBA-2gZ3buP4jNokeRRqoOBY6AN2_aBZSlzf88iY/s320/down.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 184px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 274px;" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Is it ironic that I can not help my own son, but God sends me other young men who welcome my prayers and bit of encouragement? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Not really, God's plan becomes painfully obvious at times, that is when I'm not driving myself crazy trying to figure the Big Guy out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Anyway, I'm copying a snippet of a response I gave to a 19 year old whose struggle would rival a saint's, not because of his triumph but because of his<i> desire</i> to triumph. His humility and pure yearning for God struck me the most. In the midst of enormous temptations, his every fall causes him excruciating pain and regret, and then in his humilty he called himself "bad." It broke my heart to read it, especially as it was so clear to me reading his letter that this beautiful soul was so much closer to God than I. </span></div>
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<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"By His perfect example,Christ teaches us to rise after each fall, never to give in, and when we are too weak to rise, our willingness to and desire to do so will suffice.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Mateus, you are never so close to Our Lord as when you are lying there in the dust with all your weakness, failure and temptations weighing you down. Your sufferins IS drawing you closer to Him. Your falls are His falls, and you must not beat yourself up over them, but instead rejoice that He is there to help you up each and every time. You are not bad, you are good! You are a child of God. Our failures matter nothing to<br />God. Only our willingness to serve and to love Him. You have that Mateus! Praise God!"</span></blockquote>
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SSA Hope Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02242106079749468233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2696942390527881807.post-87295364717581945702011-02-09T16:00:00.000-08:002018-06-07T18:07:15.696-07:00Twisting the Knife<br />
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Today was tough. Our 17 year old son now calls us by our first names. Today I heard him say it again. It kills, and I wonder if he really knows how he is twisting the knife in my heart. </div>
<div>
You see our son claims we can not be his parents as long as we remain Catholic, as long as we refuse to renounce our faith, a faith he feels condemns the practice of homosexuality. No amount of reasoning or reasonableness seems to get through to him. He wants something we can not give, he wants us to deny truth and to condone acts contrary to truth. I would give him anything, anything else, my very life, the very heart he pains, anything, but my faith.</div>
<div>
We continue to give him unconditional love as we have since learning he feels he is gay, and he continues to reject us. He will not eat with us, he will not stay in a room with us, he will not speak to us unless he needs something - and he goes out of his way NOT to need anything from us. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXSOJooR8kM8ZpAczsT-ifCqdGm3Fx_ZE-crEBXWSBcY92-r55NRe5_XMVL3eR520bcwQfpzywIu0AKobN1jv78-Y9gwPvRstYa8vgp9VWlKXr7S95N0ElxDRAgv4WCBBpP7O7xMLpt20/s1600/pain2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXSOJooR8kM8ZpAczsT-ifCqdGm3Fx_ZE-crEBXWSBcY92-r55NRe5_XMVL3eR520bcwQfpzywIu0AKobN1jv78-Y9gwPvRstYa8vgp9VWlKXr7S95N0ElxDRAgv4WCBBpP7O7xMLpt20/s320/pain2.jpg" width="320" /></a>He intends to live away at college, which of course will take loans. College will necessarily involve us, as he is beginning to realize. My husband gets justifiably hurt by our son's rejection, which is why I wasn't going to bring up my personal pain at having to hear him refer to us by our first names again. I had every intention of sparing my husband and even managed to bite it down when a natural segue opened. Then somehow after the family rosary, we got talking about pain and it just came out. His gut reaction was, " Well, if we're not his parents, we don't have to help him with college." But I knew he didn't mean it. We understand the term "unconditional love." Haven't we been living it these past two years through excruciating pain? We will continue to show our son love and to give him all the same help we give to any of our eight children as they need it. </div>
<div>
We will be Christ for him, let Christ love him through us (and others), and one day.. one day, because I believe God has a plan and I trust in Jesus, our son will call us mom and dad again. That day he will see that our love is bigger than his homosexuality.</div>
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<div>
God is bigger than homosexuality.</div>
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God is bigger than all our trials, all our sins, all our faults, bigger than our past, and He <em>is </em>our only present and future.</div>
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Pray for us dear reader, and pray for all who suffer SSA and their families.</div>
<div>
Carla</div>
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SSA Hope Contributorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17346948036141808647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2696942390527881807.post-87612329495893501792010-10-28T11:14:00.000-07:002018-06-07T18:09:14.822-07:00SSA Souls as Victim Souls<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGx4jGDIIsnh6eRl9z7tO7UZxbDaFbRU8dox6r_ZVyyhXNyX1OC91PkdFoElBuUdTHfID_EtRSaFQ7OFtrUi4xP4Z4_ZIVpPENPJaddcAKVsI7Quga-rMZy_vRl3e_yJ2OLF9cBom9pglA/s1600/thinking.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533166703500148930" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGx4jGDIIsnh6eRl9z7tO7UZxbDaFbRU8dox6r_ZVyyhXNyX1OC91PkdFoElBuUdTHfID_EtRSaFQ7OFtrUi4xP4Z4_ZIVpPENPJaddcAKVsI7Quga-rMZy_vRl3e_yJ2OLF9cBom9pglA/s320/thinking.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 243px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 220px;" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is the first time I have ever seen anything quite so clear as this explanation of the possible purpose of SSA. The author also seems to have a pretty real understanding of the loneliness and pain of a Christian with SSA. He explains it well and admits his explanation is entirely from a Catholic point of view. But it makes sense to me that all this suffering has a great purpose. Nothing is wasted, right? At least, and so long as it is accepted as a cross and offered for others. So are we Victim Souls?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Will it make the pain less - ease the ache and loneliness, the intense longing? A Christian would have to answer yes if he believed Jesus promise, "Take up your cross daily and follow Me." Matt 16:24 My yoke is easy, my burden light." Matt 11:28 </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Check the link out -<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0sILSapUUc">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0sILSapUUc</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I for one feel better just knowing someone understands that we are in pain.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Chris</span></div>
SSA Hope Contributorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17346948036141808647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2696942390527881807.post-82237091667855274742010-03-28T14:53:00.000-07:002018-06-07T18:13:22.965-07:00The Rise & Fall<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuMId_tT9p61yANasWq_9MTUOdo98vbIF3vXJ5B8RQIsOemmtQgEEJUe_q2hVBRi49itU1ViIvdCcK7yY1DaxAsyCU_W1SBz0FsDgfgYt_UUT9Jh3q8n2sRwPHwKYb24AouIY0owGOERxj/s1600/the+fall.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453857760390788706" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuMId_tT9p61yANasWq_9MTUOdo98vbIF3vXJ5B8RQIsOemmtQgEEJUe_q2hVBRi49itU1ViIvdCcK7yY1DaxAsyCU_W1SBz0FsDgfgYt_UUT9Jh3q8n2sRwPHwKYb24AouIY0owGOERxj/s320/the+fall.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: right; height: 320px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
<div>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was visiting a friend's daughter today in the hospital. She's in a small psych unit that's basically for addicts in a holding pattern waiting for a coveted spot in a rehabilitation program. Such programs, too few, understaffed, underfunded are forever having to turn away the "ready-to-recover."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> My heart broke listening to this beautiful girl describe her last fall from grace. She had been working hard, she said, on her "list." A list CPS had developed as the conditions for her to regain custody of her 9 month baby boy. She was happily checking the requirements off on the list, turning her life around for her son, when she hit the brick wall - a requirement that she attend and "graduate" from a certain rehabilitation program, which program had as its requirement a permanent residence. But even if the homeless girl could solve that dilemma, she was informed the waiting list for entry was at least six months out. "I thought, what's the use?" she said, "Might as well get high."</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But I was looking at a girl who had fallen, again and again. And as tired as my friend was of picking up the pieces of her daughter's life, as tired as the girl was of trying, only to fail over and over, and after umpteen years as tired as so many hearts may be of praying for her, NONE OF US CAN GIVE UP. Hope must reign, and that means getting up again, and again, and again. Fall, get up.., fall, get up,.. fall, get up. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The journey out of homosexuality is similar. The "might as well ..have a drink, get high, have sex, or fill in the addiction here," mentality is a killer, a never-ending cycle, seemingly. But no matter how many "might as well" falls, you can get up again. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For those who believe in Christ, His example is clear on the Way of the Cross. In reality He fell numerous times, beaten, bruised, bloody the weight of the cross crushing Him. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The number of falls recorded by the Gospel writers is three. For the Jews numbers held deep spiritual meaning. The number three represents that which is solid and real, substantial, complete and entire. It seems somehow the focus of the writers was on His fall, but the Good News is not in His fall. The Good News is He got up again, and again, and again. As many times as it took til He reached Calvary. In His humanity, Jesus could not control the fall, or the soldier's whips, or the taunting crowd, BUT he could control His will to rise after each and every fall. And He did it for us!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is our will to rise that matters most, not how many times we fail. Here's wishing you a happy Resurection and the will to rise. </span></div>
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SSA Hope Contributorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17346948036141808647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2696942390527881807.post-32314379233620940372010-03-13T15:15:00.001-08:002018-06-07T18:15:59.301-07:00If only. . .<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjAYpKDuci05QXSxDpEiRFWYhXO63K1CEnlLg3yWReQj-h4F-DbzDtaEafJ6UGTojSEIOusBZWFpUUAStx2MZomPNnY9vJLUMaLvXbDGFzN6kRo1GAj2BJ0fKfha9GDEvuI7eWxrmBs3Qv/s1600-h/thinking.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448262057348691970" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjAYpKDuci05QXSxDpEiRFWYhXO63K1CEnlLg3yWReQj-h4F-DbzDtaEafJ6UGTojSEIOusBZWFpUUAStx2MZomPNnY9vJLUMaLvXbDGFzN6kRo1GAj2BJ0fKfha9GDEvuI7eWxrmBs3Qv/s320/thinking.jpg" style="float: right; height: 243px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 220px;" /></a><br />
Here we struggle and work to know ourselves - to figure out what makes us tick the way we do, and then do our damndest to filter out what stems from past wounds and deprivations and what <em>just</em> <em>is</em>, and finally we work up the courage to change what should be changed, and hope to humbly accept what can’t. And then as though this sometimes gut-wenching process were not enough, we face the sting of rejection all over again, when close friends, (our “family”) call us liars and deny our honest experience of self.<br />
We no longer fit in one world and feel horribly ill-equipped to fit in the other. Caught between both, we experience torture of the fiercest variety. What agony! We sit, once again, as we did in our youth, not fitting in, frustrated, broken, and so lonely.<br />
If only..<br />
If only old friends would remain loyal and supportive, not taking our choice as a personal affront but respecting our need to journey out of homosexuality. If only new friends could treat us with true Christian love, not letting phobias get in the way of getting to know us. If only every loving person could understand our painful past, our struggle in the present, and God’s glorious plan for our future.<br />
If only..SSA Hope Contributorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17346948036141808647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2696942390527881807.post-72691311078383397412009-11-13T05:10:00.000-08:002018-06-07T18:23:08.474-07:00Where There Is Love<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIJmmCOj5jBoj_nO8VFdLNAt0-8M0A1mLTpcbsbU5Aizxo2Kw29RxAlgKrY7Nlz5Fx8z7FG-Y25eJwpfFJbw81t8AZlMNAIgqxrBhaQX5FLxCAq64kamCQmBGv8UoWKAfdw21EvraJ62k/s1600/conversation2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="896" data-original-width="1600" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIJmmCOj5jBoj_nO8VFdLNAt0-8M0A1mLTpcbsbU5Aizxo2Kw29RxAlgKrY7Nlz5Fx8z7FG-Y25eJwpfFJbw81t8AZlMNAIgqxrBhaQX5FLxCAq64kamCQmBGv8UoWKAfdw21EvraJ62k/s320/conversation2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hey - I've been involved of late talking to (debating with) men and women who disagree with my opinions about same sex attraction and other conditions or considered anomalies like transgender issues, bisexuals, fetishes, etc.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Talks get heated, feelings hurt and motives questioned. But there is one ingredient with the most sincere individuals that acts as a salve allowing the communication to flourish. On the flip side, when the magic ingredient is missing or lacking, the conversations invariably turn ugly and nothing of any benefit is produced.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">LOVE is that magic element - I can't belive how cliche that sounds. Call it charity if you want, but no matter what you call it, get some. Remind yourself of it when you are communicating your thoughts on subjects of SSA et al. Without it we can't begin to understand each other.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have found it is extremely personal for most people who even bother to debate or take a stand or investigate their own thinking. People who suffer, people who watch others suffer, people who feel they can help, people of conviction convinced of their personal truth, and people who believe it is their business to lead others. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">JMO - When you find yourself sparring with someone over your beliefs and knowledge of SSA, take time to delve into their personal motives and experiences. If its online ask them in a PM to share with you if they will their personal reasons for beliveing as they do. This is where the empathy is born and LOVE is right behind empathy. It's how we're programmed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Take time to KNOW the other guy and maybe we can all cool off the heat in these discussions and actually gain some ground in changing hearts and minds, in growing, and in finding ways to heal wounds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Peace</span>SSA Hope Contributorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17346948036141808647noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2696942390527881807.post-91731515919278065802009-11-04T16:46:00.000-08:002018-06-07T18:26:14.859-07:00St. Charles Borremeo<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi-T_mhQmnG6lh5mXon15FBU3BEimCM5GlgNyiPIw63yrNvZ3vFqjUl34_jhqAaNnSW69JKYxSu1cJx8LQzpHON_i_jr37PKy7WNl1hEgLypj8YCo7FrjaIbqrB8rPkwio3MhQDDtEz6SH/s1600-h/Charles-Borromeo.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400436289746300786" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi-T_mhQmnG6lh5mXon15FBU3BEimCM5GlgNyiPIw63yrNvZ3vFqjUl34_jhqAaNnSW69JKYxSu1cJx8LQzpHON_i_jr37PKy7WNl1hEgLypj8YCo7FrjaIbqrB8rPkwio3MhQDDtEz6SH/s200/Charles-Borromeo.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 149px;" /></a><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let us fear lest the angered judge say to us: If you were the enlighteners of My Church, why have you closed your eyes? If you pretended to be shepherds of the flock, why have you suffered it to stray? Salt of the earth, you have lost your savor. Light of the world, they that sat in darkness and the shadow of death have never seen you shine. .. since you have done nothing but seek to please men? You were the mouth of the Lord, and you have made that mouth dumb.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">St. Charles Borremeo, whose feast is today addressed a synod of Bishops with these harsh words in like 1545. Yet Charles could have been addressing almost any Church today for its treatment of homosexual issues.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Does the church close its eyes, ignore the suffering, marginalize the families of SSA. Has the church suffered its lost lambs to stray? Is the light of truth hidden behind political correctness, fear and ignorance of clergy. Does the relative silence on the issue render the mouth of the Lord dumb? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How many innocent boys and girls could be spared shame and undeserved guilt. And how many could be spared walking down a path of homosexuality because they wrongly believe they have no other choice?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How many parents could be educated, armed with the knowledge of truth preparing them to accept, to love and to nurture their SSA child? (And how many more could learn enough to thwart the development of SSA altogether?)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How many laity could be filled with proper Christian compassion so that no one would ever again have to climb in a closet?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I guess only God knows the how many's...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">All we can do is work with what is and hope for what can be.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here's to St. Charles.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Chris</span>SSA Hope Contributorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17346948036141808647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2696942390527881807.post-33406708429303320322009-10-24T09:35:00.000-07:002018-06-07T18:29:24.142-07:00No Man is an Island<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaOCTo2JEBH3na_G2fmMGUuOxDT2ikKq8s8chZqSPhnc_wLV9r70upRH04sfZTOMKYLqvTz2-LOOBqT0SipDzwz8940u7R0Lg5UsqTCV1svztzY9Q-raO6VaMKacPKX36geXcovnzGphCd/s1600-h/man+on+beach.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396219496135843106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaOCTo2JEBH3na_G2fmMGUuOxDT2ikKq8s8chZqSPhnc_wLV9r70upRH04sfZTOMKYLqvTz2-LOOBqT0SipDzwz8940u7R0Lg5UsqTCV1svztzY9Q-raO6VaMKacPKX36geXcovnzGphCd/s320/man+on+beach.jpg" style="float: left; height: 320px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 312px;" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our group meets tonight. It' a good mix, mostly parents of gays, a couple ex-gays, and one or two plain old super generous Christian souls that come just to show their support and to pray with us. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You know it's said when someone comes <em>out</em> of the closet their loved ones go <em>in</em>. So true - the pain, the shame, the shock and the knowledge that generally church-going type people won't understand. All of it forces people living with SSA into isolation. In a group (and online) you get to hear every side of living with SSA. It is equally heartbreaking to hear a mother or father's pain for their SSA child as as it is to hear the struggler's testimony. Both journeys are filled with shame, guilt, confusion, loneliness and regrets. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But there is something absolutely therapeutic in sharing and listening to each other's pain and learning from one another's experience. Something so powerfully strengthening in knowing <strong>you are not alone </strong>, in praying for other's instead of wallowing in self-pity. God had to be the designer here. The sharing forces us into a community, where we see a bigger picture that helps us to survive our personal pain. To our surprise, we find that by carrying each other's crosses our own cross has mysteriously been lightened.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Find a group, in a church, on-line, anywhere you can. If you can't find a group, create one of friends. Confide in someone of the highest caliber, someone of great personal charity. Just take that first step, and I bet you'll feel a difference.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am enormously renewed after every group session, after every opening up of my heart to my fellow man. Can they solve all the problems of living with SSA? Can they heal me, heal my family? Maybe not, but I know they are a part of the answer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NO MAN IS AN ISLAND. AMEN to that brother. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Peace all,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chris</span>SSA Hope Contributorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17346948036141808647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2696942390527881807.post-56716914279415122902009-10-23T04:49:00.000-07:002018-06-07T18:34:15.336-07:00Hope Springs Eternal<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hope does spring eternal. It better! It sucks living without it. In the back of my mind, I have hope even when I'm conscious of feeling despair. Maybe despair is a harsh word. It's more of a whiney woe is me, sorry for myself emotion than a desperate hopelessness. </span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>Despair</strong>: 1. To lose all hope 2. To be overcome by a sense of futility or defeat.</span></em><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuVWI7ScReyh5d19WOrKBviHlKeKaLkERK5oEzVqPt-BbOnohAFSmcfGQTRHal58A3LGo5gkENF7sIkOLnx7qPelVUBe7ZH7C0DK8emdTiCVNUg6DzET1UDFZRHUoh-lkb7H_m5JOcZUg/s1600/the_empty_tomb001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="297" data-original-width="395" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuVWI7ScReyh5d19WOrKBviHlKeKaLkERK5oEzVqPt-BbOnohAFSmcfGQTRHal58A3LGo5gkENF7sIkOLnx7qPelVUBe7ZH7C0DK8emdTiCVNUg6DzET1UDFZRHUoh-lkb7H_m5JOcZUg/s320/the_empty_tomb001.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the battle with SSA, I'm guilty of number 2 at times. I have to own that. At those low moments, I can feel myself reaching out to the universe, screaming for God to fix it all if He really loves me, knowing He darn well could and feeling such deep self-loathing that I just must be so bad that I don't deserve His omnipotent rescue.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"..overcome by a sense of futility.." yup that sums it up. But it's not useless to fight SSA, not hopeless. Down deep I KNOW all of this is part of His plan for me and for my loved ones. "What doesn't kill us.." and all that - but more than strength, we're supposed to <em>grow.</em> And I think too, we're supposed to feel helpless (not defeated.) After all, if we're not aware of our helplessness, our utter lack of power, how can we be humble enough to accept help? Our worst problems bring us to our knees and make us cry out for saving.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And what better, more intricate, more seemingly unsolvable problem could He have designed than SSA, from the politically correct lies that surround it, to the twisted mess of buried emotional problems that caused it, to the confusing feelings of repulsion and desire that drive it? <strong>It's so big ONLY GOD can solve it.</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And then there's HOPE springing eternal from every blessed testimony I hear, every ex-gay I meet, and every family that has been drawn to God and faith because of SSA touching their lives.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL ALRIGHT</strong>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For GOD LOVES ME and He loves my family. WOOT!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Visit <a href="http://www.ssahope.com/">SSA HOPE.com</a> and hang in there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Peace,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chris</span>SSA Hope Contributorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17346948036141808647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2696942390527881807.post-70243971237599588962009-10-21T15:18:00.000-07:002018-06-07T19:03:46.464-07:00Hope is Alive and Well<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We worry and fret, riding along our own anxieties like they were as real and frightening as the recycled, still running, first, wooden roller coaster built at Coney Island in 1926. Odd analogy, unless you know I recently came across the very same coaster (or parts of it - it was dismantled in 1948 because of it's frightening reputation and rebuilt as the Cyclone. When the park closed in 1989, Great Escape in Lake George acquired it. Once again it was rebuilt and I swear, it's the Comet, which was the Cyclone from Coney Island. After taking my life in my hands and getting on that rickety wooden track in what felt like all original parts (Yikes!), I wanted to kiss the ground when I got off. The kids Loved it, of course. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I got thinking our worries are recycled about as efficiently as that old roller coaster, running at breakneck speed, bumping, rickety, shaky, feeling unsafe yet familiar. It did remind me of ones I rode as a kid, although those were much smaller. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Where's this going.. I dunno, I guess the point is letting go of old ways is incredibly hard. At least as hard as it would have been for me to un-grip the handle in the cart I rode on as it rattled at breakneck speed along wooden track.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtAfMa9dstvANT_ie7cDACw_zB8jvpbvspLLi2_nWJEFlbWs97zstqnM2rBF77gXrXD4eeY4K6ppOhqNAMoC85Mrt68g96OU4Wq7l6_GyFhX_aBhT3_FPwKNPKWZBWMU-q26igVcaLxB4/s1600/wooden+coaster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtAfMa9dstvANT_ie7cDACw_zB8jvpbvspLLi2_nWJEFlbWs97zstqnM2rBF77gXrXD4eeY4K6ppOhqNAMoC85Mrt68g96OU4Wq7l6_GyFhX_aBhT3_FPwKNPKWZBWMU-q26igVcaLxB4/s320/wooden+coaster.jpg" width="240" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was teaching a religion lesson to my daughter today, and a picture really caught me. (Sorry I can't scan it- not too savvy that way) It showed a car kind of hanging off a cliff and stuck in the mud at the same time. A tow truck driver had pulled up to help. Only he was telling the driver he couldn't help him till the man took his foot off the break. Funny, right?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We're the man, the car is our life, and God is the tow truck operator ready to help, wanting to help, but being the Guy He is..respecting our free will and all.. well, <i>He can't help us till we slip it into neutral and give him the power over our life.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pray for me and I'll pray for you - all you beautiful souls who happen to live with SSA, either yourself or your loved ones. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Peace</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Carla</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can read more about the Comet (Cyclone) here: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://parkvault.net/2014/10/19/the-great-escape-an-history-of-preservation/" target="_blank">Preservation of the Comet at Great Escape </a></span></div>
SSA Hope Contributorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17346948036141808647noreply@blogger.com0