Trump and Nehemiah: Two Wall Builders the World Needed

I was discussing politics with my karate instructor after class one evening. I had sent him my columns about President Trump and Doug Collins, so we’ve had some interesting talks about related matters lately. He asked me if I’ve read Nehemiah, and I confessed that it has been a while. He had been reading it, and he began to explain that many parts of it jumped out at him as parallels to what we are seeing played out in our nation today. I must give credit to Master Haymore for the inspiration for this piece.

A little background is helpful to put the book of Nehemiah into perspective. The Jews had a series of wicked, unfaithful kings through the centuries. God’s people often lived under the thumb of other nations because of their rebellion to God. After the death of Josiah—one of the few good kings—there were several wicked kings who each reigned for short periods of time leading up to the fall of Jerusalem and the Israelites’ exile to Babylon, beginning in 597 B.C.

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon burned the temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem. He killed many of the people of the city and took into exile those who escaped death. God’s people lived in exile in Babylon for 70 years until Cyrus king of Persia was anointed by God to rebuild the temple and send God’s people back to Jerusalem.

Almost 100 years after the exile ended and some of God’s people had returned to their homeland, Nehemiah came on the scene. He had made his way to the top ranks of the Persian empire—as cupbearer to King Artaxerxes I—so he was trusted more than most anyone to be faithful and loyal. When Nehemiah heard that his fellow Israelites in Jerusalem were suffering in part because they had no wall and no protection, his heart was burdened for them. The king noticed that he was troubled, so he asked Nehemiah what was wrong. Nehemiah boldly described his dilemma. The king granted him permission to go to Jerusalem and build the wall. He even sent an escort with Nehemiah and wrote letters on his behalf to smooth the way and provide the assistance and materials he would need. Within a miraculous 52 days, Nehemiah had mobilized the Jewish people, and the wall was completed.

It’s interesting that if we fast forward to modern times, the United States has also suffered greatly because of our lack of an adequate border wall. Our border hasn’t been secure, and thus we have been invaded by millions of foreigners, many of whom do not have the best interests of our country at heart. Countless dangerous gangs, drug dealers, thieves, and murderers are living their “best life” here in the U.S. In addition, our economy is weighed down by the exorbitant costs of illegal immigration—in the Medicaid program, in our schools, in the criminal justice system, and so on. Americans are paying a steep price—literally and figuratively. Those on the left who long for open borders seem to turn a blind eye to these devastating effects, all in the hopes of staying in power by buying votes with “free” amenities. One of President Trump’s campaign promises was that he was going to build a wall and secure our Southern border. Just like Nehemiah, he mobilized the people and the resources and has begun to make good on that promise.

Additionally, in Nehemiah’s time, taxes were out of control, and the people were having difficulty even affording food for their families. Some were taking advantage of others, and the financial conditions were dismal for God’s people. Nehemiah righted these wrongs. Likewise, past presidents have failed to put our country first in trade deals and in domestic matters. High taxes and burdensome regulations forced companies to leave the U.S. and set up shop in other nations. Many of us are still suffering the effects of the previous administration’s disastrous policies. President Trump has done a lot to “Make America Great Again,” but there is still much to be done. We are one administration away from tax hikes, disastrous trade agreements, gun confiscation, nationwide mask mandates, further shutdowns, socialized medicine, and the like, which will cause Americans to suffer and could even mean the end of our great republic as we know it.

Like Nehemiah, President Trump was a political outsider. Neither man seemed to have aspirations to lead their nations, until conditions deteriorated to the point that they felt compelled to step in and help. As is the case with President Trump, not everyone was happy about Nehemiah’s work and leadership in Jerusalem. While Nehemiah was working so diligently to build the wall around Jerusalem, his enemies “mocked and ridiculed” him. Tobiah, Sanballat, and Geshem taunted him and bullied him to try to make him stop. They even accused Nehemiah of trying to become king (chapter 6:6-7). Sound familiar? Enemies of President Trump have spouted the same nonsense about him. The examples seem to go on and on and on. Nehemiah’s retort to his enemies would be just as applicable for Trump’s attackers: “Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head” (Neh. 6:8).

Just like Nehemiah’s enemies tried to defame and discredit him, the mainstream media and the elected officials on the left tirelessly attack President Trump. Nehemiah responded about one such attacker: “He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would commit a sin by doing this, and then they would give me a bad name to discredit me.” (Neh. 6:13). How many thousands of people in this country have been hired to attack and intimidate our president? They work overtime to give him a bad name and discredit him. Yet, he continues to fight for what’s best for this nation, day after day, with no financial compensation, because he loves America that much. I dare say that many of us would have given up by now and left the wicked to their carry out their schemes.

Through the ages, the enemy of God’s people —Satan—hasn’t changed. He is still recycling the same old tricks, and they are still working. When we fail to learn lessons from history, we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes that our ancestors made. Nehemiah was courageous and valiant in the face of his enemies. When they attacked him, He countered that “The God of heaven will give us success” (Neh. 2:20). I see many parallels between Nehemiah and President Trump. May we take comfort in the words that Nehemiah spoke to his people regarding their enemies: “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.” (Neh. 4:14). We are in the fight of our lives for our families and for the very future of this nation today, but unlike those who take to the streets to ravage, burn, and loot, our fight is carried out in large part on our knees and at the ballot box. May we fight powerfully and courageously in the days ahead and encourage our friends and loved ones to do the same. Too much is at stake for our nation and the world to sit this one out. As Nehemiah encouraged his fellow countrymen, “Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh. 8:10). 

(See this column at American Thinker.)

Copyright 2020, Michelle Thomas

Michelle Thomas is a Christ follower, wife to Trevor Thomas, and homeschooling mom of four. Her books include Lord, I Need You, Through Deep Waters, and Debt-Free Living in a Debt-Filled World. Her website is KingdomCrossing.com, and her email is michelle@kingdomcrossing.com.

Welcome to Homeschooling, America!

Here in Georgia, the mass hysteria about the coronavirus has caused the governor to declare a “public health state of emergency.” He has advised public schools and daycare centers to close for two weeks in order to curb the opportunities for the virus to spread. It’s unclear which is causing more panic in the hearts of Georgia citizens—the coronavirus, the toilet paper shortage, or the fact that parents will have to be home with their children nonstop for two weeks straight. Many other states are also closing schools, so millions of our nation’s families are suddenly experiencing a little of what it’s like to homeschool.

My husband and I have been homeschooling since our first child was born. That child is now a senior in high school and will graduate in May. Thanks to Georgia’s “dual enrollment” program (which, unfortunately, has just been drastically slashed by the legislature), he will graduate with an associate’s degree in computer networking, along with completing his k-12 homeschool program. Our second child will follow suit next May, graduating with an associate’s degree also. Our younger two kids will start high school and middle school in the fall, so we trust that they will have similar success in their high school years.

One of the great benefits of living debt free–as we detail in our book, Debt-Free Living in a Debt-Filled World—has been the opportunity to homeschool our children. My last day of full-time, outside-the-home employment was the day before our first baby was born. I worked part time from home off and on for several years after we started having kids, but I’ve brought in almost no income for nearly a decade now.

The only reason we can live on a teacher’s salary and still afford to have me home full time to educate our three teenagers and one pre-teen at this point is because, before we even had children, we started living on only my husband’s salary. We made sacrifices to build our home debt free and we live beneath our means, buying only used cars, couponing, shopping for sales, saving up for large purchases, and so on.

And for anyone who thinks that babies and toddlers are expensive, please brace yourselves and begin saving as early as possible, because it has been a shock to the system to experience how expensive it is to raise teenagers! When our youngest turns 13 next year, we will have four teenagers in our home. As homeschoolers, we must foot the bill for curriculum, extracurricular activities, music lessons, instruments, all meals (and teenagers eat a lot), transportation, computers, and so on. There’s no such thing as “free” anything in the homeschooling world, with the exception of taxpayer-funded dual enrollment college classes here in Georgia.

The blessings of homeschooling, however, far outweigh the sacrifices and financial costs involved. One of the biggest blessings of being a homeschooling family is that our children are growing up to be close friends. Unlike siblings who spend most waking hours away from each other in public school classrooms filled with their peers, there are immeasurable benefits to spending concentrated time truly learning to live with people of different ages and with varying personalities and abilities. This presents a myriad of opportunities to learn how to work out conflicts, celebrate victories with each other, and grow in their faith together.

Another blessing of homeschooling is being able to help guide the kids’ character development because a parent is with them at all hours of the day and night and can see everything that needs to be addressed. It might be possible to mask certain issues such as dishonesty or pride or greed or slothfulness or lack of self-control when kids are away from home most of their waking hours each weekday. Being together for concentrated times allows parents to see more and address problems as they inevitably arise.

A third benefit of homeschooling is the wonderful flexibility that it affords. We can go to music lessons in the mornings, karate at noon, or orthodontist appointments right after lunch, and get our academic work done around our activities. Our oldest son started working at his first real job a few weeks ago, so he works three full days each week and does his school work during the remaining days. The possibilities are literally endless.

So while many people might be dreading the next few weeks, I want to encourage parents to look for the blessings that are available in this opportunity. Enjoy slowing down and spending quality time with your families. So many of us are on the go constantly with various activities and events. It is likely to be a relief not to have to rush around so much for a while. Let’s savor these days of being together. Let’s play board games, watch movies together, cook fun foods, and read good books to our kids. This forced respite from the busyness of life just might turn out to include some of the best memories your children will recall later in life.

I hope that many families who are thrown into the atmosphere of homeschooling during the next few weeks will recognize the myriad of blessings that come with this territory. Our children are in our homes and in our care for such a brief time, in the grand scheme of things. Let’s savor every moment and give them the very best of us, pouring love and attention and wisdom and encouragement into their lives. This coronavirus scare could very well be a sweet blessing in disguise for many American families.

(See this column at American Thinker.)

Michelle Thomas is a Christ follower, wife to Trevor Thomas, and homeschooling mom of four. Her books include Lord, I Need You, Through Deep Waters, and Debt-Free Living in a Debt-Filled World. Her website is KingdomCrossing.com, and her email is michelle@kingdomcrossing.com.

God’s Anointed Leader Isn’t Always Who We Expect

Much has been spoken and written lately regarding the evangelical community’s feelings toward President Trump, especially since the Christianity Today editorial calling for his removal from office was published last month. Many evangelicals continue to support him wholeheartedly because he has proven repeatedly that he can be trusted to keep his campaign promises and to govern faithfully and conservatively. Others vow never to support him because they feel that he “embodies the anti-Christian ethic.”

President Trump certainly has a “colorful” past, and that is the key reason that I did not support him in the republican presidential primary of 2016. I just couldn’t imagine a man of his moral failings representing this nation and becoming the leader of the free world. However, when it ultimately came down to a choice between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on November 8, it was a no-brainer. I would have crawled on my hands and knees to the polls, if necessary, to vote against her. And that’s exactly what my vote was at that time—a vote against Hillary Clinton.

It turns out, however, that millions of us who held our noses and voted for Trump have been quite pleasantly surprised by his ardent support of the values and policies that we hold dear. He has been the most pro-life president in the history of our nation, and he was the first president ever to attend the annual March for Life on Capitol Hill. He has been a true friend to small business owners; he has appointed hundreds of wonderful federal judges; he is defending religious liberty; he is improving our international trade relationships; and among many other accomplishments, he is making our military stronger and our nation safer. Despite all of these successes, many persist in demanding the removal of President Trump because they dislike how he conducts himself.

For many evangelicals, the decision to vote for and to continue to support Donald Trump essentially boils down to this: he operates from the Republican Party platform, which represents life, liberty, and conservative, Judeo-Christian values. Whoever his Democrat opponent turns out to be in November, that person will stand on the Democrat Party platform, which is immoral, anti-Christian, anti-God, anti-life, and anti-freedom. Seems pretty clear and simple.

My church went through a study in 2019 called OT19, in which we read much of the Old Testament together. The very same week that the Christianity Today editorial calling for Trump’s removal was published, our assigned reading included Isaiah chapters 44 and 45. In these chapters, the Israelites were captives in Babylon, and God used a non-Israelite, a Persian king named Cyrus, to free His people from captivity and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.

Speaking to Cyrus, God said,

For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know that there is none besides me (Isaiah 45:4-5) [emphasis mine].

I see some parallels between God’s anointing of the Persian King Cyrus and the election of President Donald Trump. Cyrus clearly was not a follower of God, but God anointed him and gave him a “title of honor.” Donald Trump has not historically been a follower of God either, yet God has also bestowed on him a title of honor and given him the role of shepherding the most influential and powerful nation in the history of the world.

There has been much debate about whether President Trump is truly a Christian and whether he is “morally fit” to lead our nation. He certainly has moral shortcomings, as we all have. It is true that only God can judge the hearts of men, but hundreds of trusted evangelical leaders all over the nation, who have spent time with President Trump and advised him and prayed over him, continue to defend and support him. Regardless of Trump’s true spiritual condition, which none of us can know with certainty, God has shown clearly in His Word that He can and will use both people who honor and serve Him and people who do not in order to accomplish His purposes on this earth. When God anointed the foreign, heathen Persian King Cyrus, He said about him, “He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please” (Isaiah 44:28).

Cyrus was the tool that God used to bring deliverance and restoration to the Jews thousands of years ago. God has continued to use all sorts of flawed and morally deficient people—Moses, Samson, Rahab, and Paul are just a few examples—down through the centuries, because He is God and He knows best.

God doesn’t need our permission or approval to put His choice of shepherd over us to accomplish His purposes. His ways are higher than our ways, and we can’t always understand with our finite minds what He is doing in this world. However, we can see when good and moral fruit is coming from the White House, as it certainly seems to be now. I, for one, am abundantly thankful for the shepherd who has been anointed to watch over our nation. Our responsibility is to continue to pray for our president to make wise decisions. He has the weight of the world on his shoulders, and we, like Aaron and Hur, should help to hold up his hands when he grows weary (Exodus 17:10-13).

(See this column at American Thinker and LifeSiteNews.)

Michelle Thomas is a Christ follower, wife to Trevor Thomas, and homeschooling mom of four. Her books include Lord, I Need You, Through Deep Waters, and Debt-Free Living in a Debt-Filled World. Her website is KingdomCrossing.com, and her email is michelle@kingdomcrossing.com.

Larry Burkett Was Right--About A Lot of Things

If you remember the late, great financial teacher Larry Burkett, your life is likely the better for it. I worked with Larry for several years in his Gainesville, Georgia headquarters of Christian Financial Concepts (and continued to work for the organization from home for many years after my children started coming along). In my mind, he ranks right up there with some of our Founding Fathers in his wisdom, love for this country, and amazing foresight in economic and political issues. He even left this world on the same patriotic day as John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Monroe—on Independence Day, 2003, at the young age of 63. His teachings, which were straight from Scripture, changed my life and bent the twig for my children and hopefully future generations.

The department in which I worked was tasked with answering constituents’ financial questions, so I had to be quite the student of Larry Burkett. In preparation for answering a certain e-mail, I had the opportunity to skim through the pages of Larry’s 1991 best seller, The Coming Economic Earthquake. The book was updated in 1994 to reflect the happenings of the Clinton era, and it’s amazing how accurate Larry was in his foresight of what was coming for our economy and for the nation, in general. He touched on many topics in the book, but some jumped out at me as especially relevant for today.

In light of the battles over the Common Core agenda that was shoved down the nation’s collective throat, Larry said, “Check out the curriculum being taught in your local schools and see if it is anti-free-market. It would shock most Americans to realize that a great deal of the economic information being fed their children in elementary schools, high schools, and especially state universities is blatantly socialistic, if not openly communistic.”

He went on,

The only place that communism still seems to flourish is in the American classroom. It is often labeled ‘socialism’ but, in reality, it is the same doctrine that was taught in the Soviet Union prior to the communism collapse: Government is the protector of the downtrodden; capitalism is inherently evil; people deserve decent incomes, regardless of their desire to work or not; and last, the government is a better purveyor of the nation’s resources than the wage earners are.

Sound familiar? The very issues that Larry saw as major problems 25 years ago have escalated at an alarming rate.

The government takeover of health care that was attempted during the Clinton administration was delayed only a few years until Obama came into power and had the political backing to force it onto the nation. Larry had great wisdom and forethought in this matter: “Let me say that if the federal government is allowed to take control of health care, which represents approximately 14 percent of our total economy, it will be the stake in the heart of our free enterprise system. The government cannot solve our health care problems—it is the problem!”

Larry continued,

Only twelve cents of every government dollar spent on health care now actually reaches a patient. It is a grossly inefficient system. There are two old sayings in Washington that describe what will happen to health care as soon as the political system gains control of that area too: ‘A camel is a horse designed by a government committee,’ and ‘An elephant is a mouse designed to government specifications.’

Wow. If only we had heeded his warning, maybe we wouldn’t be facing the disastrous effects of the government hijacking of our health care system.

Regarding abortion coverage, Larry said, “I rather suspect that, if abortion is accepted as a ‘necessary benefit,’ there would be heavy pressure put on those who oppose abortion to participate or be subjected to financial penalties.” Isn’t this exactly what we’re seeing today? Ministries and faith-based companies (Hobby Lobby and James Dobson’s Family Talk are some of the most recognizable) have been forced to sue the federal government over the abortion mandate in Obamacare. Larry added,

Christians will have to take a stand on this issue, regardless of the consequences. We should have acted with one voice when the Supreme Court decided that somehow an unborn human has no rights. Once abortion is funded through a national health care plan, the number of abortions will likely escalate. God’s people must wake up to this offense now! There is no nation that will survive God’s wrath for long, if and when it decides to kill its young (and old).

When writing The Coming Economic Earthquake, Larry reported that at the current rate of growth, the national debt would swell to $8.7 trillion by the year 2004. Even Larry couldn’t anticipate the rate of reckless spending by the most liberal president in the history of our nation--Barack Obama. Thanks to democrats and republicans alike, I believe Larry would be utterly shocked to know that the national debt is now nearly three times his predicted 2004 level, and it is higher than the Gross Domestic Product of our entire nation.

Writing about the forecasted 2004 national debt of $8.7 trillion, Larry said,

There has never been anything approaching this level of debt funding in the history of mankind in so short a period of time, even on a percentage basis. The effects of this will be felt throughout the U.S. and ultimately the world’s economies…..Either the government will take the necessary steps to control the budget and reduce the deficits drastically, or they will resort to monetizing the debt by printing massive amounts of new currency.

We know which option our leaders chose.

Larry went on to say that,

Logic and common sense seem to play small parts in our present society….The answer [to these and all other issues] is found in God’s Word. All of these things are but symptoms. The real problem is that we have removed God from the decision-making process in America today. When any nation does this, evil will prosper. This is not the fault of the politicians; they are responding to the wishes of the most vocal groups. It is that the unprincipled people around us seem to be more committed to their agenda than the true ‘moral majority’ is to theirs.

Larry urged us to get involved in the political process and the issues of the day so that we could make a difference for the better. I would add that if we want to leave this great nation intact for our children and grandchildren, we have no choice but to hold our leaders accountable for their foolish decisions and force them to make changes that will lead us back to the founding principles that made us exceptional.

Some wise thoughts that Larry left us:

The one certainty is that God is still in control no matter what happens….However, knowing that God is in control does not remove our responsibility to do everything possible to change what is happening or to prepare ourselves for some difficult times. As Proverbs 16:9 says, ‘The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.’ 

We are to witness to those around us that God is sufficient in all things….God desires followers who will serve Him regardless of the costs. Adversity seems to strengthen us, whereas prosperity tends to weaken us. As the Prophet said in Proverbs 30:8-9, ‘Keep deception and lies far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is my portion, lest I be full and deny Thee and say, “Who is the Lord?” or lest I be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God.’

Larry Burkett left this earth entirely too soon. We need his wisdom now more than ever.

Michelle Thomas is a Christ follower, wife to Trevor Thomas, and homeschooling mom of four. Her books include a devotional for moms, Lord, I Need You, a book about her grief journey, Through Deep Waters, and a chronicle of their financial journey, Debt-Free Living in a Debt-Filled World. Her website is KingdomCrossing.com, and her email is michelle@kingdomcrossing.com.

The Bible's Deborah vs. the Democrats' "Squad"

My family and I are participating with our church in reading through the Old Testament this year—a campaign called “OT19.” The last couple of weeks, we’ve been in the book of Judges. It has been a good refresher for me of the destructive pattern the Israelites developed after they wandered in the desert for 40 years and finally settled in the Promised Land. They would repeatedly disobey God, find themselves oppressed by their enemies, repent, and then come back to Him under the leadership of one of His people (a “judge”), serving Him faithfully for a few years. Then the cycle of disobedience would start again.

We are told in Judges 2:18-19,

Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them. But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshipping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

It is in this context that we learn about an unusual leader that God chose during that time. Chapter 4 introduces us to the prophetess and judge, Deborah, wife of Lappidoth. I know that I’ve read the account of Deborah several times in years past, but I was particularly enthralled with her story this time, perhaps because of all of the hullabaloo in the media surrounding “women’s rights” and the “Me Too” movement.

The Israelites had been oppressed for 20 years when Deborah was first mentioned, and the Lord heard their cries for help. From what I understand, Deborah was the leader of the Israelites during that time. These were the days before Israel had a king. She heard disputes between the people and made decisions that affected them, but more impressive was that she was the military commander of the people. I’m amazed by that. It might be an indication of the deficit of leadership qualities among the males in the community at that time, but nevertheless, God raised up a female to lead His people for several decades.

The Israelites were living in bondage to the people of Canaan, and the Lord gave them instructions through Deborah to take 10,000 men and go into battle against their enemies. Deborah went with them into battle, and the Lord gave His people victory under the leadership of a woman. Another cool twist is that the Canaanite king was actually killed by another woman—Jael—a housewife! After this victory, God’s people lived in peace for 40 years. It was only when Deborah died that the people rebelled and became oppressed by their enemies once again.

Now let’s contrast the wise, godly, selfless, servant-leader who “arose as a mother in Israel,” Deborah, with some of our prominent female “leaders” of today. I’m quite baffled by the four freshman congresswomen who call themselves “The Squad.” All four of these women use race-baiting, climate alarmism, and seemingly continuous promises of free stuff to try to win voters to their way of thinking. In addition, Ilhan Omar, AOC, and Rashida Tlaib have regularly demonstrated openly hostile behavior toward Jews and the nation of Israel. Ayanna Pressley seems to believe that the only legitimate black voices are those that come from the political left. They are all pro-abortion, pro-socialism, pro-open borders, anti-gun, anti-Capitalism, anti-marriage, anti-God earth worshippers.

These four are so outside of the mainstream of the nation that I can’t figure out how they have gained the attention that they have. Maybe it’s similar to when someone has a large mole on her face or food between his teeth; you don’t mean to look but just can’t help yourself because you’re embarrassed for the person. That’s kind of how I feel about “The Squad.” As people here in Georgia like to say, “Bless their hearts!”

Matt Mackowiak of The Washington Times called them “a rabid pack of hyperliberal freshmen who are pushing the Democratic conference toward socialism.” Abraham H. Miller said, “The Squad hates this country; their only political motivation is to destroy it. The color of their skin is only important because they choose to hide behind it and make it an issue.” Senator Lindsey Graham said, “We all know that AOC and this crowd are a bunch of communists.” And Mark Levin said,

The evidence is overwhelming that these women are anti-Semite bigots and they don’t hide it. They don’t hide it. The BDS movement, their constant references to Hitler and the Third Reich and concentration camps, they have no knowledge of history. They’ve never visited these sites.

I can’t pretend to understand what makes these women tick, other than the age-old heart disease called sin. What I do know is that their political agenda could not possibly be much further from God’s heart. He values attributes like those that Deborah displayed: courage, integrity, honesty, humility, kindness, wisdom, righteousness, and “the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight” (1 Peter 3:4). “The Squad” would do well to shut their mouths, repent, and endeavor to be more like Deborah.

Michelle Thomas is a Christ follower, wife to and chief editor for Trevor Thomas, and a homeschooling mom to four amazing children. She is the author of the brand new devotional book for moms called Lord, I Need You, a book about her grief journey called Through Deep Waters, and a chronicle of their financial journey called Debt-Free Living in a Debt-Filled World. Her website is KingdomCrossing.com, and she can be reached by email at michelle@kingdomcrossing.com.

Housewives: "Dependent Creatures"! "Parasites"!

In 2013, then U.S. President Barack Hussein Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to liberal “feminist,” Gloria Steinem. This is the highest honor that the U.S. bestows on civilians. Freedom for what, you might ask? Well, I’m not sure, considering that she’s a champion for abortion. Seems a tad oxymoronic (Did I just say “moronic”?!) to be for women’s “rights” while ignoring the rights of all of the unborn women in the process. But I digress.

Steinem had this to say about me and the millions of other women like me: “[Housewives] are dependent creatures who are still children…parasites.” Okay, well, I wasn’t yet born when she said that, but I still find it quite offensive and degrading, especially in today’s culture that’s all about “empowering women.” And this is the woman who was awarded a medal—BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!

Carolyn Graglia is a lawyer who left her law practice to stay home and raise her children. In an article that she wrote for The Weekly Standard, she discussed Betty Friedan, “feminist” writer and activist, who also had a negative view of homemakers. Graglia wrote,

Friedan described the housewife in The Feminine Mystique as a ‘parasite’ who lives without using adult capabilities or intelligence and lacks a real function when devoting herself to children, husband, and home. Decrying the housewife's life as a ‘waste of a human self,’ Friedan likened her and her fellow matrons to ‘male patients with portions of their brain shot away and schizophrenics.’ Housewives are ‘less than fully human,’ she said, for they ‘have never known a commitment to an idea,’ ‘risked an exploration of the unknown,’ or ‘attempted . . . creativity.’ That this could be said of women, who literally create life within their wombs, indicates the degree to which feminism has sought to denature women, to reshape them in man's image.

On housewives/homemakers, noted sociologist and “feminist” “scholar” Jessie Bernard declared,

[The] housewife is a nobody, and [housework] is a dead-end job. It may really have a deteriorating effect on her mind…rendering her incapable of prolonged concentration on any single task. [She] comes to seem dumb as well as dull. [B]eing a housewife makes women sick.

Dumb and dull? Dependent creature? Parasite? Schizophrenic? Sadly, many on the left—especially women on the left—still harbor these hateful feelings toward stay-at-home moms. Being a homemaker, I’m taken aback and highly offended that people would not only think such nonsense but would actually speak or write it for others to read and hear, and there are many more such quotes out there, as you can imagine. I studied these loonies when I was working on my own sociology degree back in the 90s, but even then, as a college kid, I knew they were nuts.

I won’t argue that being a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom is intellectually stimulating at every moment, but it is what we make of it. No doubt, these “champions” of feminism want children to be in the control of the government at the earliest ages possible. They push for taxpayer-funded daycare and preschool, in addition to the massive public K-12 education system so that children can be properly indoctrinated for their entire young lives. I suppose it’s too logical that mothers would raise their own children. Of course, many of these so-called “feminists” think that the earth is overpopulated and that we shouldn’t be having children, anyway.

I will admit that I’m pretty dependent on my husband’s income, and I’m very thankful that he’s a wonderful provider for our family. However, there are two sides to the story. On the one hand, he has much more earning potential than I do because he has two graduate degrees, and he wants to work outside the home. On the other hand, he affirms that I’m much better suited to the day-to-day duties of childrearing, cooking, budgeting, and caring for our home (as I believe most women are).

I love having the freedom (That is what Steinem, Friedan, and Bernard championed, right?) to raise our children, to educate them, to stretch our dollars by couponing, to write books, to volunteer at church, to handle our family’s finances, to feed us and clothe us, to be involved in all of my kids’ activities, to care for our home, and ultimately to “be there” for my family.

I really don’t have to justify myself to anyone except the Lord. To be quite frank, I think He’s pretty pleased with homemakers and moms. After all, this is what He had to say about us many moons ago:

A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life…She is clothed with strength and dignity, she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed, her husband also, and he praises her…Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. (Proverbs 31:10-12, 25-28, 30)

(See this column at American Thinker.)

Michelle Thomas is a Christ follower, wife to and chief editor for Trevor Thomas, and a homeschooling mom to four amazing children. She is the author of the brand new devotional book for moms called Lord, I Need You, a book about her grief journey called Through Deep Waters, and a chronicle of their financial journey called Debt-Free Living in a Debt-Filled World. Her website is KingdomCrossing.com, and she can be reached by email at michelle@kingdomcrossing.com.

“Pride” Goes Before Destruction

My husband Trevor and I recently took our four children to Washington, D.C. for the first (and likely last) time. It was amazing to see the historic monuments and to tour the Capitol building and the museums. It is truly rich with history and tradition and grandeur.

What was not so amazing were the rainbow flags all over the city and the homeless encampments and the ghetto-like areas and the sirens at night and the filth. D.C. is a liberal cesspool, and it shows. I did all of the driving while we were there because Trevor was struggling with a pinched nerve. I wonder if the many, many honks that I received while driving around the city were the result of my “Choose Life” license plate or my driving skills. I’ll never know. But as you might imagine, we had some wonderful opportunities to teach our children about the very visible and tangible differences between our wonderful, conservative Northeast Georgia district versus life in the most liberal area of the country. I don’t think they will forget those lessons any time soon.

I have been sickened lately by all of the commercials and signs and shows touting “Pride” for the LGBT lifestyles. I get a bit confused by all of the initials that they use, and it seems that they keep adding more and more. Maybe when they’re finished we could just sing the “ABCs” to describe all of their various lifestyle “choices.”

I logged onto my AT&T account the other day and saw a rainbow globe as their new logo. A commercial for cosmetics company Sephora that airs multiple times during one of the shows that we watch is filled with men pretending to be women. Various commercials flash scenes of homosexual couples in their ads, seemingly to kowtow to that miniscule, militant portion of our population. Even an email that I received from our local grocery store, Kroger, the other day had a “Pride” section in it, detailing what Kroger is doing to help celebrate sin. And it seems that nearly every show and movie these days—even kids’ shows—have inserted some sort of transvestite character or homosexual or other similar perversity. Big companies and Hollywood are forcing this issue before our eyes in the hopes that we will begin to accept it as “normal.”

I recently read a quote by pastor and author, Francis Chan. He said, “In a postmodern culture obsessed with feelings and political correctness, the Church must stop apologizing for ‘the way that God thinks and acts and what He says is right and wrong.’” Pastor Chan is absolutely right. The rabid LGBTQXYZ movement is trying to browbeat those of us who agree with what God says about their lifestyle, and I’ve had enough. It doesn’t matter how much “pride” they show; their lifestyle choices will remain perverse, wrong, gross, and above (or below) all, sinful.

As parents and grandparents, we must be diligent in teaching our children and grandchildren that what God says is wrong is really wrong. They are being pulled away from the truth on these issues right and left. They are being indoctrinated in our public schools, and they are inundated with messages in the media that celebrate repulsive lifestyles.

When I pray with our children at night before bed, I often pray that God will help us to love what He loves and hate what He hates. We know from His Word that He loves people but hates sin. We need to follow His lead by loving those who are so miserable that they feel the need to look for acceptance and affirmation in perversity. I’ve read stories and watched interviews with people who came out of the evil LGBT lifestyle, and almost without fail, each one who turned to that lifestyle did so because of abusive situations in their childhoods. They felt so damaged and dirty that they turned to those with whom they felt they could be accepted and loved.

Maybe instead of celebrating and defending something that is destructive and harmful and immoral, we as a nation and as states and as communities and as individuals should put more value on counseling these people and praying for them and helping them to find true healing and hope. Some states are going so far as to make it illegal even to provide counseling for people struggling with these issues. What insanity!

Sometimes I feel like we are living in the story of The Emperor’s New Clothes, in which everyone sees that the emperor is really naked, but no one wants to speak up and tell him. Finally, a small child honestly and accurately exclaims, “But he hasn’t got anything on.” Even children know the truth about the LGBT agenda. They know that men and women go together and that men aren’t supposed to wear makeup and dresses. Let’s not be duped by the pressure of the crowd into supporting and believing in wickedness.

God said in Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” The rainbow was God’s idea and a symbol of His mercy for all mankind. Let’s take it back for purposes that are good and noble and pure. When it’s all said and done, I’d much rather stand by God’s side for all of eternity than on the side of political correctness on this earth.

(See this column at American Thinker.)

Copyright 2019, Michelle Fitzpatrick Thomas

Michelle is a Christ follower, wife to and chief editor for Trevor Thomas, and a homeschooling mom to four amazing children. She is the author of the brand new Through Deep Waters: Finding Healing and Hope in Devastating Grief, Debt-Free Living in a Debt-Filled World, and a soon-to-be-released devotional book for moms called Lord, I Need You. Her website is KingdomCrossing.com, and she can be reached by email at michelle@kingdomcrossing.com.