Voice for the Voiceless- Part 4

"It's estimated that there are more than 5,000 brothels disguised as massage parlors nationwide." - Polaris Project

"Sin causes a madness which makes sick souls dream that Fifty shades of... No Waythey are in sound health." - Charles Spurgeon

"50% of all Christian Men and 20% of all Christian women are addicted to pornography." -ChristiaNet Poll, 2006

I start off with these quotes from the 31 Days of Freedom Bible study because I want to talk about how our social media and our culture have fooled us into believing forms of Human Trafficking are okay. 

First, let's think about what clothes look like these days. As a young Christian woman I feel that every summer shorts are getting shorter and shorter and tops are getting lower and lower. There is also the whole legging issue. Now, I am a fan of leggings. They keep you warm when you wear a dress during the cold months. They also come in different patterns and colors that pants don't. However, leggings are NOT pants and when I see a girl who wears leggings as pants, I honestly think it just looks trashy. You can see underwear lines when you wear leggings and they leave nothing to the imagination. No wonder when we see a young girl on the street corner in a short, almost see through dress we just turn the other way! It's what we girls would put on or have seen our friends wear! Wake up people! We are making it harder to tell the difference between a girl in prostitution to a girl who is just out shopping!

Now for media. I have seen previews for a new TV show called Satisfaction. The preview shows that a man comes home one day to catch his wife cheating on him. He hunts the guy his wife was with down and learns that the wife has been paying, yes you read right PAYING, this man to sleep with her. So the husband, trying to save his marriage, starts selling himself for sex so it will keep their marriage interesting! Where do I even start on how wrong this show sounds and looks?! People are practically paying their TV bills to watch male prostitution! No wonder more brothels are popping up around the world and more people are disappearing into the life of prostitution!

Finally, let's talk about "50 Shades of Grey", the book and the movie. Now I have not read the book and I never will read the book. But, I did watch the movie trailer and right away a person can tell it is just going to be about sex and different things you can try. This has to do with Human Trafficking because in the documentary Whore's Glory that I watched the men would honestly admit the reason they would pay for a woman was because they would do and try anything they wanted. Sounds like what the book "50 Shades of Grey" is about to me.

"We can only end slavery by partnering together. It's too big of a problem for any one organization to handle alone." -Stacia Freeman, Abolition International

Meet Mr. Grey, NO WAY! Fifty shades of... No way

Other Women of the Bible- part 1

 

Okay, so I've been doing a "Proverbs 31 Women of the Bible" series. I started thinking we could learn something from all of the women in the Bible. So here is another branch in the "Proverbs 31 Women in the Bible" series called "Other Women of the Bible". We will be looking at all the other women who I didn't put as a Proverbs 31 Woman. Some of these women are good role models and others are not, but we can learn something from them all.

Eve: She was first woman. God made her from the dirt and with one of Adam's ribs. She got to enjoy the Garden of Eden and talking to God. She got to see a time when there was nothing but peace in the world. She made a mistake and sinned by eating fruit from a tree God told her not to eat from. As a result, she and Adam had to leave the garden and live a hard life. She knew how perfect the world was before sin and she had to watch the world become a sinful place. Nonetheless, she was a big part of history! (Genesis chapter two.)

 Lot's Disobedient Wife: Lot and his wife traveled with Abraham and Sarah. Lot picked the land of Sodom and Gomorrah to live because it was the best land. But this land was filled with a lot of sin. God spared Lot and his family. But Lot's wife loved the place where she lived, a place filled with sin, so much that she disobeyed God and turned into a pillar of salt. Lot's wife loved the world more than God.

Keturah: She was the second wife of Abraham and she had six sons with him. At times Keturah probably felt like she could never be good enough. She did have some big shoes to fill after Sarah. But Abraham loved her too.

Leah: She was Rachel's older sister. She obeyed her father and married Jacob. What was her reward for this? She lived her whole life knowing that her husband loved her younger sister more than her. I can't imagine how that felt! God blessed her though by giving her children. Out of her children came the Israelites line of Priests and the family tree of Jesus Christ.  It's quite obvious God showed Leach how much He loved her!

Rachel: She found her true love in Jacob. But she had to watch as her sister married him first. When she finally married Jacob, she had to split her time with him with her sister for the rest of her life. Then Rachel found out that she could not have children, but her sister could. It had to be hard on Rachel to watch her husband with another woman and seeing her sister's children when she couldn't have any herself. But instead of relying on God she got competitive and caused more fighting with her sister. She played a big role in history and was blessed with two sons of her own.

Bilhah and Zilpah: These two women were the servants of Leah and Rachel. I can not imagine how these women felt when they were giving to Jacob as "wives" just to produce babies! Yes, they were taking care of but it was still probably very hard on them knowing that their children, in the eyes of society, belonged to someone else. I do admire them for willingly doing what Leah and Rachel told them to do and having hearts like a servant. God rewarded them by allowing their children to be a part of Israel's heritage.

Dinah: She was Jacob's daughter. Leah was her mother. Not much is said about her. But the Bible does tell us that she was raped by the prince of the town her family was staying in. The result of this was that her brothers killed all the men in the town. Dinah had to live with what happened to her and probably would not find a husband because of this. I wonder what Dinah was thinking going out by herself. Had she grown up a tomb-boy because of her twelve brothers? Did she think she could take care of herself because, maybe, her brothers had taught her a little self-defense? Ether way, Dinah became a silent victim.

Tamar: She was Judah's daughter-in-law. Her husband sinned and died. Keeping to the law, her brother-in-law married her. But he sins and died. Now Judah did not want to give his other son in marriage for fear of death. But he wouldn't help Tamar by arranging for her to marry someone else. Tamar didn't rely on God and took matters into her own hands and tricked Judah. She kept the family line alive, but we can learn that if God has a plan HE will see it finished. We just need to have faith and not try to fix it ourselves.

Potiphar's Wife: This woman probably had everything money could buy. After all, her husband worked for Pharaoh in a very high position. But maybe she didn't feel loved and cherished. Maybe her marriage was having problems. Potiphar could have been working long hours and not being there for his wife like he should have been. Ether way, what Potiphar's Wife did was not the way to handle things! She found Joseph attractive and she tried to get him to sleep with her. Had she tried this before with other servants? We don't know. But the Bible does tell us that Joesph said no. I believe the lesson we can learn is that no marriage will have a chance of truly being happy without God in the center of it.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

    "My gifts are better than gold, even the purest gold. My wages better than sterling silver." ~Proverbs 8:19 (NIV)

   First of all let me say HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! I hope everyone has had a great day and remembered to wear green! Now have you ever wondered why St. Patrick's day was started? I know I have! So I did a little research and here is what I found out.
  St. Patrick was from Britain and he grew up in a religious family but had no religion of his own. He was taken by Irish pirates when he was sixteen. He was forced to herd sheep for six years and during that time he really started talking to God and growing in a personal relationship with God. One night he fled from his owner and 250 miles away from where he was a salve he found a ship. It took awhile, but he convinced the owner of the ship to let him travel with them.
  They traveled on foot for twenty something days and St. Patrick worked as a preacher in their small group and it is said that all the people with him became Christians. He finally returned to his family in his early twenties and continued to grow in his relationship with God. He later went back to Ireland and was a missionary there in a time where the place was filled with Druids and Pagans. There are legends that he drove all the snakes out of Ireland, because there are no snakes to this day. He used the shamrock to explain the Trinity to people when he was witnessing to them.
  So years later we celebrate St. Patrick's day on the day of St. Patrick's death. No one knows for sure how he died , but of course there are a couple of tales. The Irish also celebrate their heritage on this day (maybe that's why we wear green). Many church's celebrate St. Patrick's day because it is a milestone in Christian history. The main places that celebrate it though are places in Europe.
  So there are my findings about St. Patrick's day.

Unfading beauty

"When they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." ~ 1 Peter 3:2-4 (NIV)
    Okay, so lets continue our talk about modest prom dresses for this year. Also, I know this verse is very long. So, lets break it down verse by verse.
    "When they see the purity and reverence of your lives."(V2) So this verse is telling us that what should draw people to us is our purity and reverence. Pretty much our love for God and how we respect ourselves.
    "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes."(V3) Remember, outward beauty will fade, but inner beauty will last forever. Think of the most beautiful older lady that you know and think about what makes her beautiful. For me it is how she always has a smile on her face even when she is having a hard time. She has this smile because she trusts in God fully. So don't base all your beauty on clothes, jewelry, and hair. Base it on your relationship with God.
  "Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."(V4) Wow! Lets just take a minute and let this verse soak in. A gentle and quiet spirit is of GREAT worth in GOD'S sight! Wow! The Creator of the whole world and galaxies thinks YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! How could you not think you are beautiful with modest clothes on when the King of kings says His Princess is beautiful in modest clothing!
  Now with that being said, here are some more modest prom dresses:

This is beautiful and very elegant. 

Sweetheart with a beautiful lace covering!

Simple with some sparkle.

The defamer ion of a princess ball-gown with a jacket cover up.

This dress was made for the girl who wants modesty and has glitter running through her veins!

Elegant, pink, and slight sparkle.

The Gift of Giving

   So today my two cousins and I packed Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. This is what Operation Christmas Child, or OCC, is: it is an organization where you pack a shoe box, or clear food storage box full of things for kids in third world countries who might not get a Christmas gift. This box can be filled with a number of things such as: washcloth, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, socks, pencils, sharpeners, erasers, pens, notebooks, coloring books, crayons, hair bows, combs, socks, shirts, hats, hard candy, gum, sunglasses, a personal letter from you, and of course toys.
  Some toys can be Slinky's, yoyos, cars, jump-ropes, stuffed animals, anything girls would like to play with, and anything boys would like to play with that will fit into a box. Just no toy swords, knifes, fake guns, or army men because these boxes could be going over to war areas. The ages for the children are 2-4, 5-9, 10-14. After you pack your shoe box you drop it off at a drop off location during National Drop Off Week. From there the boxes go to the OCC headquarters closes to you. At the headquarters volunteers go through all the boxes collected to make sure everything can go overseas. Then the boxes are taken to their destinations.
   As the boxes are being handed out volunteers teach sort of like a vacation Bible school to the kids and they learn about God. Some of these kids have never heard about God until they get a shoe box! There is still time to do a shoe box if you want to. Here is the link with all the information in it. http://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/

  This year my cousins and I did eight boxes. Now I have done a box since I was in first grade (I went to a privet school my whole life.) but for my nine-year-old and three-year-old cousins this was their first time doing a box. They loved it and I do believe we have started a new family tradition. What a blessing today was. Here are some pictures:

Have you packed a shoe box? Leave a comment and let me know.
THANKFUL NOVEMBER CONTINUED:
Day 15: I am thankful for Christian Bookstores
Day 16: I am thankful for OCC and my cousins wanting to help with boxes.

The meaning of the Blog.

Hey I'm Brandi and I've been wanting to start a blog for a long time (It might take me awhile to get everything set up and learns how everything works). I love to write but more importantly I love my Savior Jesus Christ and I want to be a light for Him. I got saved in February of 2007 and I am so thankful God is with me always. I know I couldn't have made it through half the things I have without Him!
Well, I'm a full time college student. I'm a Freshman in college. I go to a community college, but I'm going to transfer by my Junior year. I know I want to major in something that has to do with writing, I just don't know what the title of that would be yet. I went to a Christian High School.
I love the idea of traveling. I always have and I don't understand why really. Like even packing for a trip and arranging it is adventures and fun to me. So I decided to name this blog "The Traveler's Thoughts" because that is what I am.
I am a traveler on a journey to becoming who God wants me to be. To growing closer to Him. Finally, traveling for Him and telling people about Him.
I am going to try and post a new blog every Friday or Saturday. The posts will just be about everyday things and I hope I don't bore you too much.
Well, that's about it. Thanks for reading what I write!
"For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11