I have plenty of blog-post-fodder from the past few months...y'all get on to me if you don't see it soon...

One thing just crossed my eyes this morning.  It was really heartbreaking...

so I live in the Bible belt, right?  I don't usually like that term, because Louisiana especially has such a cultural mix that it's really oversimplifying to lump it into "The Bible Belt," but for about the 100-mile radius from where I live now, it's pretty applicable.  Anyway, I check our local paper's headlines every day (actually it's not my town's paper, it's more like the nearest "city's" paper...I doubt I'd ever see this headline in our local paper)...and just under a pretty big story, there's a big headline saying " ' Life with AIDS is rough...' "

I had to blink a couple of times.

But it was there - our paper addressing this topic.  And it's one thing for it to address it on a global scale, like lamenting poverty in Africa and the thousands who die of AIDS-related complications every day there, it's another to print a 5"x7" color picture of a local guy, call him by name, and discuss his difficulties living with AIDS right here in our community.  Homeboy has GUTS.

And I read this line:  "I want to go to church, but I don't because I'm gay," he said. "There are times I feel church would help, but I feel like everyone's judging me. It makes you paranoid."

I want to cry for this guy.  And I take this personally, too, because I feel like I'm on both fronts. I have deep empathy for him, knowing you feel like you stick out like a sore thumb, and that people likely do not understand you, and you're vulnerable to rejection and pain - they think you just woke up one morning and thought, "Hmmm...I think I want to buck everything and just be gay."  But I have empathy - or understanding, rather, for those who might be wary in a church if a guy shows up with his same-sex partner at a conservative church. 

I guess it comes down to knowing who our Judge is.  He certainly has spoken in His word, but he also says, "I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion." (Rom 9:15).   At times, with the Spirit's moving and nudging, we should allow the Lord to do just that and have His mercy and us keep our 2 cents to ourselves for a season. We don't and can't know the mind of God - so I'm pretty sure I would err on the side of grace, and welcome both to worship and explore the gospel of Christ presented in the Scriptures, if they were so open.  Qualifications to darken the threshold of a church are not full conformity unto God's law - otherwise we'd all be asked to stay away.  Come - find grace in these walls, and feel Christ's transforming love.

If anyone's interested in the article, here it is.

...expecting Offspring #3 late September/early October.  Phew!!  Came as quite a surprise!

"Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward.  Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth.  Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;  they shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate."  Psalm 127: 3-5

Well, we have the "...of one's youth" thing down, I think.  We had some plans for the next few years that having a third child will sort of raise the stakes for, but regardless of where we thought we'd go on this adventure, the one thing we knew we wanted was a fantastic heritage through children.  We'll claim those promises God gives us for His covenant, thank you very much!  To each his own, you know, but every time we announce we're having a baby, we'll have some {shaking heads} or, "do y'all know how that happens?" or some "gosh, y'all are like rabbits!" or "kids are SO exPENsive!"  Good grief.  It makes me want to hide it until the baby arrives.  It's not me to just say, "None of your damn business," but maybe it should be (I have, though, taken to replying "Yeah, and we like it very much!" to the dumbass question "Do y'all know how that happens?"  That's been fun.). 

Nevertheless, it was a shock for me, this go-around...I've absorbed it and I'm going through my daddy-in-waiting rituals already.  YAY!  Another itty-bitty!!