Torn Between Two Countries

Valerie Cullers 46 Comments
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I was born the child of parents from two different countries. My father met my mother while he was overseas in the service. She was Italian and her family lived in Milan. They were married and returned to the States to live. From the time I was little, I would hear stories about Italy and have letters read to me from my Italian family. I would look at the pictures they sent and long to meet them. 

Growing up, I never quite felt at home in the States. There seemed to be a part of me that was longing for another country, another family, another culture. When I got older, my father decided I should go to Italy and get to know my Italian family.

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I began learning the language, made arrangements to go to school over there, and flew to Milan. I met my family and spent several months with them. It was an experience I will never forget. They showered me with love and took me around to different cities and taught me about the history and culture of the country. Even though I loved my new family, the people, and that country, there was a part of me that still didn’t quite fit in there completely. 

Eventually, I moved back to the States and married. I still kept in touch with my family in Italy, and my heart was always torn between the two countries. I had people I loved in two different places, and for better or worse, I was now part of two different cultures. Since that time, I have never completely fit in the country I am living in because there are always people I love and want to be near living elsewhere.

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During this time, I became a Christian, so I began learning about another culture. I read the Bible and began to experience an entirely different kind of life. I heard about a place where there was no violence, murder, or crime of any kind. I learned of a place where peace reigned because God reigned there. Again, my heart became divided. There were people I loved here on Earth, but I longed to be with my Heavenly Father in Heaven. There was a better place to live, and more and more my heart longed to be there.

So again, I am torn between two countries, two cultures, two peoples, two places. There are people I love here on Earth, but I hate the crime, division, and the lack of love people have for one another. I long for that place where people will treat each other kindly and where love will reign supreme. 

I know that I am not alone. Most people sense that there is something not right here on the earth. We look around and know instinctively that there is not supposed to be hunger, thirst, disease, war, poverty, greed, and all the other kinds of evil there are here. We were made for something different, and we all have a deep longing for a better place, a better life. 

What about you? Are you torn between two countries also? Do you long for a better life and a better place? It’s available to you; all you have to do is ask for it.

“Then he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me when you come into Your kingdom.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” Luke 42 – 43.

“Take a God Look at it!”

Valerie Cullers 26 Comments
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When you were younger, did your parents ever say to you, “Take a good look at it!” Usually, you were in trouble and they were trying to show you the right way to do something, or you were facing the consequences of your own bad behavior.  Possibly, you might have been with them in the car, and there was someone strung out on drugs on the sidewalk. They would then point out what they wanted you to learn from the situation in question. That phrase was usually related to something negative, no doubt about it. 

Might there be another way to look at these negative situations? Take the homeless man on the corner, the drug addict sleeping on the sidewalk, or the people at the soup kitchen trying to get a hot meal. Do we need to “take a good look” at these situations or do we need to “take a God look” at them?

How does God look at people in difficult situations? Does He view them with compassion and have a plan to help them when they cry out to Him? I believe He does. His compassion extends to those who are stuck in the most unfortunate of situations. When we see them, let’s try to see them from God’s perspective. What would He have us do to help others when they are right before our eyes?

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Let’s not “take a good look at them,” let’s “take a God look at them,” and see how we should respond to the needs before us.

THE ORIGINS OF DARWIN’S THEORY — AGIA PARASKEVI

QuoteValerie Cullers 6 Comments

Written by Vladimir Moss The Bible of the new, mid-nineteenth-century rationalism was Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species, published in 1859 but written considerably earlier.[1] The year 1859, according to M.S. Anderson, “can be seen as the beginning of a new era in intellectual life”; for it “gave birth not merely to the Origin of Species but also to Marx’s Critique […]

via THE ORIGINS OF DARWIN’S THEORY — AGIA PARASKEVI

I could not have said it better…or as well for that matter!

Perfect is the Enemy of Good

Valerie Cullers 33 Comments

As we move into the New Year, there is a lot to keep in mind. One thing that will help us all is if we can remember that “Perfect is the Enemy of Good.”wisdom-92901_640

As a recovering perfectionist, I have to keep remembering this. Whether I am cleaning my house, doing a project, or writing an article; there is a point where I must say, “It is good enough.” If I keep striving to make it perfect, I am only going to be spinning my wheels and wasting my time.

I began to learn this lesson when my oldest son was a toddler. I would clean the house, look around, and think, “Everything looks so good, it is perfect.” That would last about five minutes. He would drag his toys into the living room, spread them out, and begin to play. My perfect home was no more. At some point, he would be done with those toys; we would pick them up, put them away, and he would drag out some more. All day long this would go on, and only at night, when all the toys were put away and he was in bed sleeping, did my house look “perfect” again.

I then had another child. The cycle continued, and I continued to be stressed on the inside because my “house wasn’t perfect.” Looking back, I can see that I should have just relaxed and enjoyed the fact that my children were having fun. That was really a good thing; my children had a good childhood and enjoyed their home. If I had learned the lesson then, I could have saved myself years of stress.

You see, when you are a perfectionist, you look at life through a lens that casts a negative light on everything you see. That critical eye can find something that is not quite right in every situation. It can rob you of your happiness, because as you look around, you see the things that take away from the perfection in every situation.

The truth is, life is not perfect; nothing really is. The new car is only perfect until you drive it off the lot, and a rock puts a ding in the paint. That new home is only perfect until you move into it and someone spills coffee on the rug. The new husband or wife is only perfect until you start living with them. Instead of seeing things through the lens of perfection, we need to see things through a lens that sees the good in every situation.

As we move into the New Year, I wish you one that is good – not perfect!

Angels Announced His Birth

Valerie Cullers 14 Comments

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“For unto us a child is born,

unto us a son is given,

and the government shall be upon his shoulder;

and his name shall be called Wonderful,

Counselor,

The Mighty God,

The Everlasting Father,

The Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end,

upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it,

and to establish it with justice and with righteousness

from henceforth even forever.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”

Isaiah 9:6-7 (KJV)

 

Lord Jesus, as we reflect on Your First Advent, we await Your Second Advent when You shall truly bring peace to the earth and the restoration of all things. Amen

 

BLESSINGS OF THE SEASON TO ALL!!!

 

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Is America “Babylon the Great?”

Valerie Cullers 23 Comments

Every year, I try to read through the Bible. As I was nearing the end of Revelation in November, I wondered, “Is America “Babylon the Great?” For years, people have asked, “Where is America in Scripture?” They couldn’t find her and thought that perhaps she would have receded in power and would no longer be part of the End Times Scenario.

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But what if she is there under another name?

“Some great scholars believe that America and Babylon the great are one and the same because of the information presented in the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah, plus the words of John the Seer in Revelation, chapter 18.

Consider the following momentarily. Isaiah 18:1,2 depicts a latter-day nation that amazingly resembles modern America. This nation (1) has the insignia of wings – similar to our national emblem, the bald eagle; (2) is a land that is beyond the sea from Israel; (3) is scattered and peeled – meaning it is widely spread out or has great land areas; (4) is meted out – or staked out – by acres and miles; and (5) is a land whose rivers are spoiled – or polluted.

As one studies Jeremiah’s remarks, he is amazed to see that modern America seems to be the fulfillment of these predictions because : (1) she is a nation of mingled people (Jeremiah 50:37); (2) she is a nation whose mother shall be sorely confounded and who coexists with the “mother” at the hour of her decline (50:12);  (3) she dwellest upon many waters (51:13); (4) her wealth plagues the nations of the earth to the point of insane jealousy (51:17); (5) her space exploits are so utterly fantastic that she tries to mount up to heaven (51:53) and (6) she exists when Israel is back in the land.”  from Revelation Revealed by Jack Van Impe.

I thought about these references a lot and decided to reread a book I had read a few years ago. “The Bablyon Code” by Paul McGuire and Troy Anderson delves into these questions and covers: Mystery Babylon, Geopolitical-Military Babylon, Economic Babylon and Spiritual-Technical Babylon. It is a really interesting book and I would recommend it to anyone interested in this subject.  

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Is America “Babylon the Great?”  I don’t know, but I am convinced more and more that she just might be.

The Facts are not Equal to the Truth

Valerie Cullers 25 Comments
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When you think about your life, do you focus on the negative facts about it? Were you raised in poverty? Did your mother or father leave your family? Have you lost a business, an election or had to declare bankruptcy? Did you not have much of a formal education? Do you suffer from a physical or mental disability? Do you focus on these facts and believe that they are the sum total of who you are?

I just want you to know that the negative things that have happened to you do not define who you are. They are NOT the sum total of who you are. In other words, the facts about your life are not equal to the truth of who you really are. Those negative things are just a part of the story of your life; they are not the totality of who you are. Don’t believe me? Let’s look at a few examples:

This man was born into poverty. He had about eighteen months of formal schooling. He failed at his first business. He lost eight times he ran for public office. He was estranged from his father. He battled depression for most of his adult life. Who was he? Abraham Lincoln. We all know that he was not the sum total of the negative facts about him, and he made one of the greatest contributions to the history of our country.

This man was born into poverty. His parents were on the run from the authorities for the first few years of his life. He lived as an immigrant in a foreign country during those years. He worked as a skilled laborer. The last few years of his life, he lived as a transient. Who was he? Jesus. I don’t need to tell you the contribution he made to the planet.

Just remember one thing: THE FACTS DON’T EQUAL THE TRUTH. 

The truth of who you are is so much greater than any negative facts about you. Everyone has negative things happen to them. It is only part of the story of their lives. The truth about each one of us is far greater than any negative aspect about us. If we want to be productive people, we need to focus on the positive things in our lives and not focus on the negative things that have happened to us. When we do this, we can live our lives knowing that the facts about us don’t equal the truth of who we really are!positive-455580_640image by geralt. courtesy of Pixabay