A serious post ...

I know many people don't want to hear it.  They'd rather stick their heads in the sand and say things like, "Well, I'm not positive whether or not God exists, so I'm just gonna live my life in a GOOD way, be nice to people, and that way all my bases are covered".  I'm here to tell ya, you are NOT covered, and you will NOT be ascending to Heaven when you die if you adopt this attitude.  Stop reading right now if you don't care to be Saved.  If you're unsure about whether you'd go to Heaven when you die and you want to know ... keep reading.  If you're SURE you won't go to Heaven when you die ... keep reading!  You CAN be on your way there today :)

Christians have the Bible to tell us for sure whether or not we're going to Heaven.  It tells us in Romans 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.

ALL have sinned.  We ALL come short of God's glory.  Without Him, we ALL go to Hell.  Think your sin is less than someone else's?  Continue reading.

Romans 6:23 says For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

In Revelation 20:14. 15 it defines the word "death":  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.  This is the second death. (15) And whoseover was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

"But, I'm a GOOD person!  I've never murdered anyone, and I don't cheat on my taxes, therefore I'm not going to Hell, right?"

Revelation lists the people that will go to Hell in 21:8  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone:  which is the second death.

Unbelieving?  Gee, if you don't think God exists, you're unbelieving.  Fearful, abominable, murders, whoremongers, sorcerers, idolaters?  Hmmm, you haven't killed anybody!  And you're definitely not a sorcerer or abomidable.  But are you a liar?  White lies count.  Lies of omission count.  If you've lied you're going to Hell.  We don't get to pick and choose which sins are better or worse.  A sin is a sin is a sin, and the punishment is death by being cast into the lake of fire.

Sadly, the Bible tells us in James 2:10:  For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
That means if we've sinned ONCE in our whole lives, we are as guilty as if we'd committed every sin and abominaton in the Bible.

Keep on reading ... here is the GOOD news!  Ephesians 2:8 says this:  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of youselves; it is the gift of God (9) Not of works, lest any man should boast.

For by GRACE.  What is grace?  Grace is something you don't deserve, something given to you for free.  Faith, faith is BELIEF on the lord Jesus Christ, it's belief that:
1.  Jesus died for our sins
2.  Jesus was born of a virgin
3.  Jesus was God in the flesh
4. Jesus never sinned and was therefore perfect and did NOT deserve to die
5. He died for US, for our sins; he was perfect and had NO sin, therefore he died for all of OUR sins, so that we may be able to live life in eternity.

Romans 5:8 states this:  But God commandeth his love towards us, it that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

So now we've explained faith, what about Ephesians 2:9?  NOT of WORKS, lest any man should boast.  What does that mean?  Let's say I give you a birthday gift.  If I give it to you, is it a gift?  How about if I tell you to pay me $15 and I'll give it to you?  Is it a gift then?  How about if I tell you to wash my car, then we'll call it even and I'll give you the gift?  Is it a gift?  NO!!  If you have to pay for or do work for an item, it is NOT a gift, it's something you worked for.  It's a wage, not a gift.  John 3:16 is one of the most famous passages in the Bible:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believith in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  That passage is preceeded by this one:  John 3:15  That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Do these passages mention anything about working for eternal life?  And does eternity ever end?  So if we become Saved and then kill someone, does our eternal life all of a sudden become revoked?  If someone is saved, and he decides to live a homosexual lifestyle, does he lose his eternal life?  And if someone kills himself, does he lose his eternal life?  The bible tells us no, we CANNOT lose our salvation.

Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.

Our hope for eternal life is that God cannot lie to us.  Once we're promised eternity, we cannot lose our salvation because of any ACTIONS we do here on earth.  Just like our actions cannot SAVE us (being nice, reading our Bible, giving to charity, recycling, installing solar panels, BEING BAPTIZED, tithing, etc), neither can our actions cause us to lose our salvation and go to Hell.  Pretty awesome, powerful stuff, huh?  Not gonna lie, I didn't know I could go to Heaven and not be baptized, and I thought I could do something horrible enough to warrant losing my salvation.  Turns out, God is much greater than I am, and my piddly little actions here on earth do NOT trump belief and faith.

If you've read this far, and your heart has been changed and you want to make sure you're on your way to Heaven, the Bible tells us in Romans 10:9:

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Simple.  Do you believe you're a sinner?  Do you believe that the punishment for being a sinner is death in Hell?  Do you believe that Jesus Christ was killed, buried, and rose up from the grave for your sins?  Do you believe God has promised us eternal life and He will NOT take it away?  It's time for you to pray, and pray and believe with your WHOLE heart and WHOLE soul:

"Dear Jesus, I know I'm a sinner and deserve to go to Hell, but I believe you died on the cross, was buried, and rose again to pay for my sins.  I ask you to save me, forgive me of my sin, and take me to Heaven when I die.  Thank you for giving me eternal life.  Amen".

And FINALLY ... a piece of the puzzle falls into place!

The Nutty Buddy's first day of school.  Tomorrow he gets another first day of school!

One of the reasons we moved to CA is because we wanted Kody to fit in even better than he already does.  He's one of those kids loved by adults and even older kids, but the kids his own age regarded him as an oddity; one to be picked on.  He loved his hand full of friends he had in GA, but we strongly felt like the move xc was the right one.

Fast forward to internet searches trying to find out school systems.  HOLY MOLY.  CA is nothing like GA when it comes to schools.  Every little "town" has about 10 schools, and I'm NOT exaggerating.  The districts are such that the homes in radius of the school are close enough to walk/bike to, so there's virtually NO bus service.  You know those mile long lines of the big yellow busses?  Yeah, NOT in CA.  There are also a plethora of charter schools.  Sadly, the charter schools are the best ones because they're strongly supported by the parents; involvement, money, etc.  They are tuition free, but require volunteer hours in order to enroll.  OK, no problem!  Well, NONE of the charter schools, or even the GOOD schools have openings.  The best you can hope for is to either go on a wait list, or enter into the lottery drawing system and hope for the best.  I found the Natomas Charter School online in the area of our apartment complex:  www.natomascharter.org   Looked PERFECT!  Just what Kody needed to go to.  An academically strong school with an emphasis on the performing arts.  Dang, I would have LOVED this school when I was a kid; ballet and music classes??  Heck yeah!  We were hoping our move would place Kody in an environment where he was around other kids "like" him.  Ones that were artistically inclined and focused on their own development.  Yeah, no.

Last year was a pretty big disappointment, school wise.  FIRST thing upon arrival in CA, we drove straight up the street to enroll in PFAA as it's known.  Haha, 60 kids already on the list for 6th grade.  THAT wasn't happening.  So he went to Natomas Park, and that was a year I'd prefer to just forget.  He got suspended for the first time for fighting.  FIGHTING, DAKOTA BISHOP.  He's definitely a make peace, not war kind of kid.  And his grades were just barely squeaking by at "average".  No A, B, C, F grade system there; no, it was 1 (below grade level) to 4 (above grade level) with a 3 being described as 'meets the grade standards'.  He got STRAIGHT 3's, all year long.  Eh, could have been worse I suppose, but definitely could have been better.  This time, we got our registration in early (Jan), got him to the audition for the PFAA in March, and found out in May he was in the top 15% of the audition criteria, AND he lives within district, so he was given top priority in the lottery drawings; 5th on the list.  Woo Hoo!  I was pretty happy with that!  What's crazy is not ONE single 7th grader was accepted.  None.  The rising 6th graders occupied every available spot.  We tried to remain optimistic, but y'all know anything may or may not happen.

First day of school was today.  Sadly, Kody was forced to attend Natomas Middle School which has DISMAL, and I do mean DISMAL test scores.  The student hand book has 3 long paragraphs on what kinds of clothing not to wear since it portrays gang symbolism.  Ugh.  I SEVERELY stereo-typed what kinds of kids live in CA; let me tell ya, they're NOTHING like how I thought they'd be.  Living as close as we do to Sac, the term, "gang banger" isn't an incorrect description when it comes to the average middle/high school kid around here :(  I honestly, seriously, genuinely have been contemplating just yanking him out of school and having him do online school, it's that bad.  And THEN ... I got the call.  HE GOT ACCEPTED TO PFAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  OH HAPPY DAY, GOD SAID "YES", and now Kody's life is forever changed.  Just scroll around on that website a little bit.  Multiple academic and artistic awards, teachers that are involved and CARE about the kids, opportunities for performances and learning ... words cannot express how delighted I am that FINALLY, this part of our plan has snapped into place.

David checked Kody out around 12:30 since everything he did the rest of the day was irrelevent anyway, and I took him with me up to the charter school to hand in his paperwork.  EVERY teacher we encountered smiled and acknowledged us, the 7th grade coordinator lady spent about 45 mins w/ us, building his schedule and then giving us a campus tour and introducing him to some of his teachers.  His day will begin tomorrow morning with "Acting", and will include PE every day, AND a "Dance" class.  He has "Acting" all year long, and the "Dance" elective will be swapped out mid way thru the year for something else.  They also have tech based electives like "Video Game Production", which he will try to do next time.  The best part?  Now, he's IN!  Our son will graduate from the PFAA, and I am SO excited he will get a quality education as well as crucial training and exposure in the arts.  Can't wait for the rest of this year!