Hope not Fear

Today Obama is sworn in as president of the USA. I am pretty excited to see some change under his leadership. His speach was very encouraging. I particularly liked his comment about the people of the USA choosing hope rather than fear.

I think about that as a parent and how I want my children to be full of hope and not fear. I don't want my daughters making decisions based on fear. Fear drives people's decisions each day. I really need to evaluate some of my decisions to see what the motivation is behind them.

I also think of the fear tactics Christians have used in order to "win souls". "Do you know where you are going when you die?" God is a loving God. He is a good God. He is full of grace! Fear of the afterlive doesn't equate faith! I know many people who have not cared to hear more once they get the "speach". It's out of God's love that people will respond to His invitation.

I want to be a love bearer, not only to my daughters, family and friends but to my global community. But where to start? My good friend has challenged me to take action. It's something I always think about and seek out but don't act on...at least not with full force! I think I want to particularly focus on children. When I look at my girls, the smiles on their faces, my heart melts. They are so precious. Knowing that children around the world are suffering, hungry, and unloved is unsettling. My hope is that through this blog (although not many people know about it) people would be encouraged to love their kids. Sharing frustrations and ideas.