An “Open Letter” Update & I Do: Part 2 {Worship}

  Proverbs 14:26 “He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge.”

Thank you all for your loving support yesterday!  Dale and I were once again, blown away by the outpouring of emails, phone calls, messages and comments.  There were some rude commentors, some harsh words, but there always are…..most of you made us feel so understood. So loved and supported.  And let me tell you, we saw your prayers at work. 

  Yesterday, I got a personal phone call from the Detective who had my case file come across his desk.  {Yes, for those that asked, I immediately called the police and within 5 minutes had 2 officers in my home office.}  He saw it come across his desk,  and decided to follow-up on it.  With all your prayers going up, I believe with my whole heart that the Lord prompted him to stop and look more closely at our report.  To take action, and that is exactly what occurred.   I got an email from him that included his correspondence with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.  They were able to trace the stolen photo back to a blogger who has child porn on his site, we didn’t find any of Destiny on there, but there were other children.  I filed a complaint with Blogspot as well. 

  Listen up, the pictures I saw on those sites that day…the ones that were bringing traffic to my blog….were regular advertisements for little girls dresses, like you’d see in a JC Penny’s ad, or on Etsy or Pinterest.  There were pictures of kids with soccer balls and back packs.  Yes, some of them were disturbing, but honestly, a lot of them were “normal pictures” of normal every day activities!  The people who view them, are so deep into a mind perverting addiction, so real becomes fantasy, and regular ordinary things, become exciting. Anyone is a target.  Anyone.  This isn’t about me and my blog.  This isn’t about me and my facebook settings.  This is about a very sick and fallen world we live in until Jesus comes back.

  A dear friend of mine wrote me and said:

“Our first reaction as mothers is to become Momma Bear. Defend and attack, right? It’s a God-given instinct to protect our babies.
And then it came to me that we live in an age where your child is exposed no matter where he/she is. Jaycee Dugard’s captor used to have his wife film him at a park so he could capture the children behind him on video. With everyone having easy access to cameras these days, our children can be photographed when they use a public restroom or are at the park or hanging out at a church event even.
It is disgusting. It is sickening and it truly hurts my heart when I even think about it.

But what can you do?

Well, you can control the message. You may not be able to control all those other things. But you can control the message. You can send an open letter to all those would be child pornographers that they need help. They need God and they too can be redeemed.
The Good Lord has put a lot on your plate Tonya. You must be a very strong woman indeed that He has seen fit to do His work through you.
Please know my heart is with yours. And if you need time and a safe place to talk about all this – I’m here for you!”

  Do you see now? You naysayers that shook your fingers at me yesterday……

  We are ALL in danger of this happening.  Every single one of us.  But, when you live in a “glass house”, it’s just easier for people to throw stones.  Some of you threw stones at my glass house yesterday, just because I post photos and stories of my children on the blog.    I know it makes you uncomfortable that I am talking about this subject of child pornography.  Heck, it makes ME uncomfortable to talk about this.  It would be easy to just shut this site down and walk away.  Trust me, I have asked the Lord all day every day since this happened, if I could just QUIT. Please? It’s not fun anymore.  This is hard stuff, couldn’t I just pretend it didn’t happen and move on?  My blog readers would never have to know, right?! 

  Would that stop child predators and pornography from happening? Of course not.  So what then do you suggest, act like it’s not happening?  To quietly accept this attack and slink around in fear from it?  And what of this other extreme, being attacked because I am choosing to talk about it? 

 I have said this once, and I will say it again:

SATAN DWELLS IN THE DARK AND HIDDEN, SECRET PLACES. 

He likes it when we keep these taboo subjects in the dark, because that is where he rules and reigns king.  As soon as we call him out, as soon as we shine light on the darkness, he flees.  He HAS to.  For Darkess cannot dwell inside of The Light.

{stepping off soap box}

 Thank you again for the amazing love you have shown our family. Please pray without ceasing!

 Now, on to our regularly scheduled blogging, and happier topics:

 Like our I Do: Part 2 Beauty from Ashes ceremony! 

For those of you new to our site, get caught up here: Surviving Infidelity: Shattered Hearts, Broken Promises.    God is always bigger than anything satan throws our way.  We CAN fight, we WILL win. The battle has already been won on our behalf by the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!

  I am going to go ahead and post 2 today, to catch up from the skipped post yesterday.

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  It was the day before our Vow Renewal, and we were hard at work setting up the barn and making preparations for our big day…..

  I had finally found the “vintage” napkins I wanted. (nothing like waiting until the last-minute) 

  I had lists in my head a mile long.  This whole “Planning a ceremony while still being a Mom” thing is hard work!  I was SO SO ready to join my life with my husband again, so ready for a standing covenant with Christ.  Beautiful and untarnished.

 

Our friend, Shelby and mentor, Harold were coming out that evening to have praise practice in the barn. They suggested we all worship together, to invite the presence of the Lord to that place.  We jumped at the chance.

It was beautiful.  It was humbling.  It was breathtaking. 

   Harold said it best when he said:

“Stop those lists running through your head, stop thinking about what needs to still be done…..The Lord is bringing the feast. Our job tonight, is to simply set the table.”

And so we worshiped with abandon.  Tears streaming down our cheeks as we invited our Heavenly Father into this barn.

This place where we’d celebrate a God who makes all things NEW.

Table set.

Bring the feast…..thank you, Father.

~T