Thankful for an Invitation
I’m glad President Trump made derogatory comments about Haiti, El Salvador and African countries. His comments are a line in the sand that forces Christians to take a stand. God is clear about is command to love all people. When he made man and woman, he said that he “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” All people – from all countries – are made in God’s image. When we chose to denigrate God’s people, we are choosing to denigrate God.
Growing Up in Saudi Arabia
I was in sixth grade and living in Saudi Arabia when terrorists bombed the Al Khobar Tower there. I felt the blast shake the neighborhood where I was babysitting at the time. When the smoke cleared from the building, where many kids from my elementary school lived, 19 Americans were dead, and nearly 500 people from many countries were injured. I am now living in the U.S., and expecting a baby in just a few weeks. Over the last few months, I’ve watched terrorist attacks unfold in Beirut, Lebanon, in downtown Paris, and in San Bernardino, California. But here’s why I, as a pregnant, pale-skinned, freckled, blue-eyed, American woman who speaks with a Southern accent, am not afraid of Muslims, either for myself or for my husband and our child.
Inspired to Love the Stranger
Sandwiched in time between two catastrophic storms, the debate about undocumented immigrants raised it's head this week. The decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals - referred to commonly as DACA - was announced. DACA allowed children, who were brought to the United States illegally "to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and eligibility for a work permit." This executive order by President Obama allowed 800,000 young people - called dreamers - relief from the fear of being forced to leave their homes.