To Our Former Readers…

Prolonged silence on a blog connotes life change–positive or disastrous–or simply loss of interest in maintaining a presence.  I (GBL) implied, in my last couple of posts, and further explained in comments, that my husband and I were in the midst of crisis. My brother, JTR, happened to experience a huge (and wonderful) job change at around the same time.

Just to update you:  our granddaughter, about whom I have written several times, is back with us. There are still tensions and uncertainties, about which I cannot write here. If you are a pray-er, we would appreciate prayers. But we are overjoyed to have our girl back where she belongs.

Meanwhile, JTR is busily loving his job and his wife and his sons…and not in that particular order, I’m sure!  Will we ever get back to this blog? I honestly don’t know. But we wanted to at least say, “Hi! Happy New Year! We’re not dead.”

For what it’s worth!

How have YOU all been?

Can We Barter with God?

Most of us a familiar with the “five stages of grief,” as outlined by Elizabeth Kübler-Ross. One step is ‘bargaining’–an understandable though illogical attempt to control the situation by cutting a last-minute deal, usually with God.

Peter Jones, over at Kuyperian Commentary, explores the way our prayer and other devotional acts at all times, not just at a time of grief, are intertwined with God’s blessings. Is there actually a cause and effect? If so, can we manipulate God by our actions?

ALWAYS: A good word for hard times

Friends:  It’s been a rough week. I won’t go into details here, but if you’re a praying person, I would appreciate your prayers, especially for our Lucy. In the midst of everything, I don’t have many helpful words. But I happened to sign up for iDisciple last week, and this morning I read a really solid piece of writing from Stasi Eldredge.  (She and husband John are both wonderful writers. Look them up!)

Here is her devotional post entitled “Always”.  I’d just link to it, but I’m not sure you can get to it since it’s subscriber content. I couldn’t find it on her blog, as it is obviously not brand new. But since this past week was also the 9/11 anniversary, this piece seems especially appropriate.

I stopped getting the newspaper years ago because my heart couldn’t take it.  I would open it up and weep.  I didn’t know my tears were intercession, but they were.  They were then and they are now.

It’s been a week.  2:50pm a week ago today the first bomb went off, exploding our sense of safety and so much more.  I find myself today so very sad.  How are you doing?  My prayer is that my tears and yours join in the intercession for the many to aid in their healing and to bring the presence of Jesus.

Update on Ministry to Abortion Clinic Workers…

We last updated you on And Then There Were None, the organization founded by former Planned Parenthood worker Abby Johnson, in June of last year. To read that article, you can click here.

The banner statement of this pro-life ministry is simple:  “No abortion clinic workers, no abortion clinics, no abortions. It all starts with the workers.”  Since leaving the abortion industry in 2009, and forming this ministry to reach out to other workers, Abby Johnson and her team have helped over 100 people leave their jobs in abortion clinics and start over in a new career. In her August 7 email update, she writes:

“In the past two weeks, we have had five more workers contact us. That brings our total up to 121 workers! While we praise God for this wonderful news, we are also in need of financial help for these workers. A few of these workers are high level employees with Planned Parenthood (yay!) so we are looking at a larger amount of money to help them transition into a new job.”

ATTWN holds periodic healing retreats for these workers (mostly women), who have deep guilt and regret over their part in facilitating the deaths of the unborn. All expenses (about $600 a piece, including travel) are paid for each attendee. This year’s retreat, September 19 through 21, will minister to ten women. They would appreciate your prayers.

“If you can help us help these courageous FORMER workers, please visit www.attwn.org/donate. You can also mail a check to:

And Then There Were None
PO Box 2571
Round Rock, TX 78680

Remember that all donations are tax deductible! We can’t thank you enough for your continued generosity.”

 

 

 

Andrew Klavan to write screenplay for the Gosnell movie

Back in April, we wrote here about a trio of brave and persistent film-makers who were attempting to raise $2.1 million to make a movie about the convicted mass-murdering abortionist Kermit Gosnell. Since Kickstarter was unwilling to allow them to use that crowd-funding source, Ann McElhinny, Phelim McAleer and Magdalena Segieda went to Indiegogo, and they were wildly successful, raising a record $2.24 million, the most ever raised for a film via Indiegogo!

Yesterday, they announced some very exciting news, and readers of ‘Two Heads…‘ will be especially pleased, I’m sure:

Andrew Klavan has been signed to write the screenplay for the movie.

From Lifenews.com:

“Help Christians in Iraq”

It’s been a long week, folks, and tonight it seems self-evident that there is nothing I could possibly say here that is more important than what was said on Kuyperian Commentary last week:  

“A thousand friends are too few; one enemy is one too many.”

“As the hostile situation in the Middle East continues to escalate, our Christian brothers and sisters are being killed for taking the name of our Lord. Each day we read reports of violent deaths, beheadings, and the desolation of Christian communities throughout Iraq. In the northern region of Kurdistan, home to the Kurdish people, our Christians brothers and sisters have become refugees sheltering in besieged villages and towns.

“Kurdistan, very nearly the last sanctuary for Christians in the Muslim Middle East, is now under siege by the Ji’hadi terrorist forces of ISIS. Tens of thousands of refugees from the rest of Iraq and Syria are now threatened–along with the dynamic Kurdish Christian communities.

“The Nuun Fund has been established to speed urgently needed gifts to our friends at the Classical School of the Medes in the cities of Erbil, Dohuk, and Sulaymaniyah. Thanks to the work of the Nuun Fund relief supplies are starting to make their way to our brothers and sisters and the refugees they are caring for in Kurdistan.

Will you be a friend to the Christians in Iraq? Will you commit to prayer and to giving? Click here to give today!“

To read the rest of this post, dated August 13, 2014, including a plea from Pastor George Grant, click here. 

And thanks for praying, and giving. 

Self-Discipline: As a Little Child?

I attended a parenting class last week. Self-conscious as I was going into it, I was not the oldest person in the room. There was a fair amount of graying hair–various educators, as well as other grandparents, were in attendance. We were drawn to the free two-hour session by its title:  “Say Yes to No: Teaching Kids Self-Discipline.”  (It was based on the book to the right, which you can learn more about here.)

Our Lucy, bright and funny and energetic, is still a typical three-year-old: willful, testing her limits, testing our limits, asserting her own will. I know we need to get a handle on that, but instead I have found myself having PTSD (preschool temper & sassing days) flashbacks, along with the feeling that I never did know quite how to handle this stage.

My epiphany–although I couldn’t articulate it until just now–has been the realization that while self-discipline and self-control are largely the same, disciplining a child is not at all the same thing as controlling her.

And therein lay my greatest parenting failures.

Déja vu: How NOT to write a Devotional Blog post (in 10 easy steps)

When I wrote this post, almost a year and a half ago, our granddaughter was two. But I find it still rings true, although the exact details have changed. I could write a new post to reflect the perils of trying to write something substantive while parenting a three-and-a-half year old…(substitute “Go, Diego, Go” for “Kipper the Dog” and chocolate protein bars for goldfish)…but I’ve been soothing nightmare fears since 4:30 AM, and now it’s nearly 6:00 and I haven’t made my coffee yet (see steps 1 and 2, below).

So while I continue to ponder self-discipline, and the parallels between our relationships with our children and with Our Father, I think I’ll just let you read this. 

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FIRST PUBLISHED ON APRIL 17, 2013:

Step 1: Set your clock for a bit earlier than usual, so that you can write your first draft before the two-year-old wakes up.  Then hit snooze until the German Shepherd sticks his cold nose in your face and wills you to let-him-out-for-pete’s-sake-what’s-wrong-with-you.

Step 2: Brew a large cup of coffee and decide to check your email while the coffee is brewing. 30 minutes later …when you’ve answered three emails, deleted 12 others, caught up on Facebook (including taking your turn in Words with Friends) and checked the weather… your coffee is cold, and the toddler is stirring.