When Someone Close Misuses Their Trust....

I was watching an episode of "In the Heat Of the Night," and the name of the episode was called, "Family Secrets." In it you have a very prominent family with a very prominent patriarch who sat on the boards of various organizations, he was deacon of the church...he was also the type of man who you wouldn't think would sexually abuse his own daughter and granddaugther.

I've had friends who had members of their family violate them inappropriately. I had one friend, whose step-father even offered money to sleep with her. I remembered her calling me crying frantically. She told her mother about it and of course her mother didn't believe her. I'll never forget that on my friend's 17th birthday, I paid for her a one-way ticket out of town via Greyhound.

I had another friend, who revealed to me a plethora of information about her family while we were on a road trip. She told me she was molested by both men and women. I was so hurt for her and sad that she encountered a dysfunctional family growing up.

I always thank God that although I had young uncles and male cousins, none of them wouldn't even think of touching me or my sister or female cousins. It wasn't until I was 21 that a male friend of the family tried. He was always coming by my mom's house to visit. My family has known this guy since he was a baby, his parents lived in the same neighborhood with my grandparents. He was always helpful, he was someone you could trust. When I was much younger, my friends and I would see him in the store and he would buy us candy and drinks. Later in life he would take us out to dinner and pay the tab. I don't know if he felt I owed him something or what...but one night I was complaining about my neck being sore and he offered to give me a massage. He gave me a pretty good massage but what happened next tripped me out. He kissed me on the side of my neck. I immediately jumped up because I was not expecting that. I immediately felt uncomfortable like I had done something wrong.

I remember saying, "That's all right I'm okay now," and I locked myself in the bathroom and I remember scrubbing my neck. Then I remember being pissed. Years later I find out that he raped his own 13 year-old daughter. His wife walked in on her screaming and fighting with him. He got some jail time too and now he's a registered sex offender.

If I see him now the pit of my stomach churns and I give him this look like, "How could you?" It's sick and instead of feeling disgusted I should be praying for him. You have to be a sick-demon possessed individual to do that to another person. That's why I plead the blood of Jesus over my daughter and my niece and over my female cousins on a daily basis. I pray that every perverted, deep-seeded desire that creeps into the minds of those individuals are cast out into depths of hell. Incest, perversion, sexually immorality has no place here, not now, not ever. IN THE PRECIOUS NAME OF JESUS. AMEN!

Hallow-What? I don't think so

About two years ago I was watching the morning news as I was getting ready for work. A reporter was at an elementary school asking kids (ages 6 & 7) what characters are they going to dress up as for Halloween. He asked the first kid, who said he was going as Spider Man. The reporter asked another kid, who said he was going as a wizard. The reporter asked a third kid who just stood there shaking his head. The reporter was puzzled.

He asked, "You're not wearing a costume for Halloween?"

The kid shook his head again. The reporter asked, "Why?"

The kid said, "Because it's not in the Bible."

You should've seen the reporter, he was speechless. I was up shouting yes! Yes! A kid whose mommy and daddy taught him well. Halloween, no matter how much you downplay it, is a day set aside to honor the dead. I'm sorry but the only thing worthy of my honor is Jesus Christ. I take the word of God seriously because as my late aunt always said, "I have my soul to save." Now many people will say that it's harmless, it's tradition, Christians are always taking the fun out of everything. If you knew the truth and history behind Halloween then maybe you would reconsider it. I don't have time to go into details but if you have access to a computer and a library you can definitely check it out for yourself.

My reasons are this: anything that glorifies the dead, anything related to idol worship, or anything with a history that doesn't involve Christ I won't have part in it and neither will my children. What's sad about all this is that there are churches who celebrate Halloween. All I say is read up on it and if you are the type who's into tradition because everyone else is doing it fine. However, when it all boils down to it I only have only myself to give account to when the time comes.