While You Sit By

I started this poem a couple of years ago when the Lord started telling me to look beyond myself to the world around me. So I put myself into the shoes of those in this world who are lost and hurting, abused and forsaken, persecuted and orphaned. I'm sure I cannot fully comprehend or imagine what it's like to be in those shoes. But as I walk down the narrow path, my heart and eyes have been opened to the hurting around me. And I was convicted... and terrified, angered, and appalled by how many of us sit by while these things happen in our world. We who know the truth... who have hope. And a glorious, beautiful Gospel that is just waiting to be shared. At first I didn't think the format of this poem was working, so I put it aside and didn't open it again until today. Strangely it all came together in about forty minutes - the fastest I've written a poem that's more than a stanza. It's very rough, and may not make much sense to everyone at first. But for what it's worth, please enjoy - no, rather, please think about - While You Sit By.

While You Sit By

Kayla R. Woodhouse

The Lost

Is there anyone one out there

who actually sees me?

You say that you see,

but why are you two-faced?

I ponder life’s meaning

and what I am worth.

Is there a God?

What if I die?

I asked for the answers;

for someone to see me.

I cry out for freedom.

While you sit by.

The Orphaned

Is there anyone out there

who actually cares?

You say that you care,

but why am I alone?

I ponder life’s meaning

and what I am worth.

Could this be the day?

Will they adopt me?

I asked for the answers;

for someone to save me.

But I’m still an orphan.

While you sit by.

The Persecuted

Is there anyone one out there

who actually knows?

You say that you know,

but why are you dormant?

I ponder life’s meaning

and what this is worth.

Why do you speak,

but live contradictions?

I asked for the answers;

for someone to notice.

My life is now ending.

While you sit by.

The Abused

Is there anyone one out there

who actually loves me?

You say that you love,

but why do you hurt me?

I ponder life’s meaning

and what I am worth.

Why do I suffer?

What is the purpose?

I searched for the answers;

for someone to love me.

I hide in the corner.

While you sit by.

The Savior

Is there anyone one out there

who will obey Me?

You say that you know Me,

but why are you lukewarm?

I watch your actions

and how you ignore them.

This world that’s around you…

Why do you slumber?

I search for the faithful,

for someone to hear Me.

I’m calling you child…

Stand up and go.

Life

Today I will pass you …

Will you sit by?

No One Pities the Siren

As a "beforehand tidbit"...
Proverbs 7 says:
²¹ With her many persuasions she entices him;
With her ^[o]flattering lips she seduces him.
²² Suddenly he follows her
As an ox goes to the slaughter,
Or as ^[p]one in fetters to the discipline of a fool,
²³ Until an arrow pierces through his liver;
As a bird hastens to the snare,
So he does not know that it will cost him his life.

²⁴ Now therefore, my sons, listen to me,
And pay attention to the words of my mouth.
²⁵ Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways,
Do not stray into her paths.
²⁶ For many are the ^[q]victims she has cast down,
And numerous are all her slain.
²⁷ Her house is the way to Sheol,
Descending to the chambers of death.

In the past year I have learned about the sex slavery industry. I'll admit, I was a naive, conservative, and very sheltered child. Then I started online college classes at a secular college. And I started noticing things around me... It is appalling and hard to wrap my mind around. 
In the words of Leslie Ludy, today slavery "is higher then it has ever been throughout all of world history... 27 million slaves." (Sacred Singleness) Yet here in America, we sugar coat things. We consider slavery as a thing of the past - something you find in textbooks or rural Africa. But the majority of this slavery is in sex slavery - and yes, it very much happens in America. 
One of the most horrid truths I've come to realize... Christians today often - most often - look down on prostitutes. (Don't believe me? Really think about it. Think about yourself, and the people you know. What are your reactions to people and places that have to do with prostitution? What do you think about a character in a movie or story who is a prostitute? Do you have any stereotypes?) Many women do choose prostitution as a job. Do you think they all enjoy it? Do you think they all want to do that for a living? 
Now step aside from the sex factor. Do these women - and girls - need Jesus? (I'd encourage you to do some research. And reach out to women in this situation. Because... we live in a lost and dying world. Those men and women are eternal beings... headed for one of two destinations.) 
As I've learned about this horrid reality - prostitution, sex slavery, parents selling their children into the sex trade, children and young women being used (yes, sold and used) for pornography - I've felt compelled to help in whatever ways that I can. For awhile, that was a really big struggle for me. Being disabled, it's hard for me to "go and make disciples of all nations" in the literal "go" sense. But for right now, it seems I can at least reach out and make things known in my writing. I am a fantasy writer. Then I heard the legend of the Siren. The following thoughts occurred to me.
(Quick backstory: A Siren was a beautiful mystical creature who sang sensually explicit and lustful songs to lure sailor's ships into the rocks, where they would crash. Then the Siren would drown her victims.) 
It is not my intention to relate all men and women in the "sex industry" as being murderous Sirens. Rather, it is to use an allegorical example which illustrates another version of the Proverbs 7 woman, as well as the lost and hopeless world, to make people think before making judgements and think about sharing the Gospel. 

No One Pities the Siren

Kayla R. Woodhouse

No one pities the Siren.

She sings and woos,

leading men to their death.

Like an ox going to the slaughter,

as the Siren sings,

men fall prey to her spell.

No one pities the Siren.

In the cold, lonely night

she receives her orders.

Like a slave obeying its master,

when the ships come,

she must kill her victims.

No one pities the Siren.

Though she cries for release,

no one comes to free her.

Like the chained prostitute,

trapped in the ocean’s icy cage,

she must obey her master.

No one pities a Siren.

Ps. For some extra reading, check out Francine River's Redeeming Love as well as the book of Hosea in the Old Testament. Most of the inspiration for this poem came from the book of Hosea. 

Pure in Body... A Healthy Body

As I was reading Through Gates of Splendor, (the journey of five missionaries: Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Pete Fleming, Ed McCully and Roger Youderian and “Operation Auca”) by Elizabeth Elliot, something very odd and random stood out to me…
Elisabeth Elliot’s first husband, Jim Elliot, was a genius man loaded with talent and passion. But, confusing to those around him, during his college years he didn’t participate in many extracurricular activities—because he didn’t want to become preoccupied with nonessential things and miss the essential things in life. He was devoted to God’s Word and to prayer, and thus he didn’t want to get distracted from what really mattered to him. Talk about commitment!
Even with all of his opportunities, he signed up for only one activity: wrestling.
He wrote to his parents, “I wrestle solely for the strength and coordination of muscle tone that the body receives while working out, with the ultimate end of presenting a more useful body as a living sacrifice.”
Jim Elliot sacrificed everything: great opportunities for excellent careers, fun activities with friends, marrying right away the woman he loved, living in security and staying in a free country, and ultimately—he sacrificed his life.
All for the purpose of fulfilling God’s call on his life to be a “living sacrifice.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought at a price: therefore, glorify God in your body.”
I believe God’s asking us to take care of our bodies: physically, mentally, sexually, and spiritually. He wants us to give ourselves as “living sacrifices” and prepare for the work that He has for us. That means surrendering. It means taking the initiative to take care of ourselves, and take up the attitude of responsibility. It means saying:
I will take care of my body to be better equipped for the Lord’s calling and path for me. My service to Him depends not only on His direction of calling, but on how I’ve taken care of my body… I will take initiative.
If I know not exercising regularly is not good for my body or may cause my body to falter, I will exercise.
If I know eating too much junky food is bad for my body, I will not eat it.
If I know not brushing my teeth, popping my knuckles, jumping out of a tree, or purposefully harming myself is going to damage my physical service to the Lord, I will not do it.
We never know what the Lord might call us to do in the future.
Maybe we have physical limitations already—either from personal “choices” or they’ve been there since birth.  But the Lord equips those He calls. He knows all about it. And He has a plan.  Either way, God has asked us to take care of our bodies. To surrender personal desires, habits and doubts.
Romans 12:1: “Therefore I urge you brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”
Blessings!
-Kayla R. Woodhouse  :)

Pure Thinking... Jacob and Esau

One of the hardest things for me to do is think about consequences. I always avoid them… or just outright ignore them. It’s a huge battle—one that I’m not very pleased to say I’m horrible at fighting! It’s very easy for me to “give in and give up.”
Strangely enough though, there’s a certain Bible story that’s been helping me consider things before I act, think, or speak. I’ve found that thinking about this story makes it’s easier to resist… even though I know the enemy is waiting for me to fall, fail, and falter! I can consider the consequences, and once doing so, it’s easier to say “no.”
The story is that of Jacob and Esau.
Jacob and Esau were twins, Esau being the oldest. But even before they were born, God told their mother Rebekah that “the older will serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23). Their father, Isaac, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
One day, when Esau came in from a hard day’s work, he was famished (and thus called, “Edom”) and he asked Jacob if he could have a bowl of the soup Jacob was making. Jacob replied, “first, sell me your birthright.” And Esau did.
In the book of Hebrews, the author refers to Esau as an “immoral and godless person” who sold his birthright for a single meal. (See Hebrews 12:15-17).
Think about that for a second.
This story perfectly sums up our humanly desire and nature to want and get things right now; and not think about the consequences.
When reasoning with himself, Esau said, “I am about to die, so what use is the birthright to me?” He failed to think about after he ate the bowl of soup. He failed to think about the penalty of selling his birthright to Jacob. (And the scary thing is, we’re still battling with his poor choice today!)
Because he was so hungry, he traded a very important piece of his life you could say—for one bowl of soup.
But… How often we do this exact thing and trade our purity for fleeting moments of pleasure!
We most often only see what is right in front of us (a bowl of soup or a short minute of delight) and we miss what really matters: our testimonies, our future, our family, lives, jobs, spiritual growth, future spouses, and our fellowship with God and others.
In his book The Purity Principle, Randy Alcorn says this:
“If we would rehearse in advance the devastating consequences of immorality, we would be far less prone to commit it.”

Blessings!
Kayla R. Woodhouse

Welcome!

Hello, everyone! Welcome to my blog. ☺

You may know my name, age, family, story, medical conditions, etc. because of our website or having seen me on TV, so I won’t go into all of those details. (If you’d like to know my family’s full journey/story, you can read our story here or check out my momma’s book, Welcome Home: Our Family’s Journey to Extreme Joy.)

First let me say, thanks for reading my blog! I know that life is busy and things often times get crazy. So, thanks for taking the time to sit and read this. I hope you are as blessed as I am by it!

I’ve always had a strong passion for purity, and—living in a society that considers holiness as a “church thing” and waiting for your future spouse as “stupid, unrealistic and an unreachable goal”—I’ve always wanted to reach out to people on the subject, be it tweens, teens, young adults or adults.

So, as you may have guessed, this blog is the result of those many days/months/years of prayers, conviction and study.

First off, I’ll go ahead and point out that I am far from perfect (and I do mean far) and don’t have all the answers. In my eighteen years, I’ve come to realize that life doesn’t have a Fix It: One, Two, Three pamphlet (though, honestly, I wish there was!). We have God’s Word, but we often fail at following its directions. Life is hard. But God is good. And because life is hard, we can learn and grow.

I’ve actually been putting off starting this blog for some time, thinking that I don’t know enough and might get too opinionated (as I often do.)

But then I realized: no one is perfect. No one has all the answers (except God). Everyone’s gonna mess up at some point. I know I do… quite often!

I love God’s Word, and I love studying it. I believe that God’s Word is our ultimate guidebook, love letter, comfort, example giver and… well, truth. I believe that it is the holy and inspired word of God.

Though I’m stubborn and can be overly opinionated at times, I try to base all of my thoughts/opinions on God’s Word. Granted, I don’t always get things right or get the whole picture right away. I’m young and still just beginning this journey of choices and path of following our Lord and Savior, though I’ve known Jesus as my Lord and Savior for thirteen years; almost all of my life.

So, in short: I’m going to mess up. But, in the long run, I guess that’s good. We can’t have all the answers all at once, right? Can you imagine how overwhelming that would be? I see my journeys/mistakes/lessons as God using a seed; He plants it, then slowly makes it grow so that I can fully see and understand His glory and grace—step by step.

As Henry D. Thoreau said,

“Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been planted, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.”

Thus said, I truly am prepared to expect wonders with this blog. Not because of myself, my opinions or my writing, but because of God’s unwavering truth and grace. It’s because of truth that I can be sure of His great love, it’s because of freedom that I can bask in His love, and it’s because of grace that I can mess up seventy times seven times, and be forgiven for every single one of them—Thus, learning from my mistakes and learning how to escape those temptations the next time around.

I do believe that growth with the Lord requires a lot of hard work, tears, and—yes—days of utter failure. If we could do everything ourselves, then we wouldn’t ever need or learn to rely on the Lord. “Gardening requires a lot of water—most of it in the form of perspiration.” (Lou Erikson)

The truly awesome thing is that God has called us, and He has called me. I wish to answer His calling to “Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16) And I hope you will too. He has “called us with a holy calling” (2 Timothy 1:9). Let’s answer the call!

Well, first off, when someone talks about pure, holiness or purity, most of the time people think: virgin/pure in body. While I am a firm believer purity of body is a very big part of keeping ourselves pure, I also believe that purity of body is not the only facet of purity. I think that purity is like a gem, and that it has a million different facets, meanings, and applications.

This blog will focus on purity in its most specific and broad sense. Not that I’ll start talking about “pure chickens” or “how to keep pure while eating a peanut,” but simply purity in life as Jesus showed us. ☺ For example: purity in speech, pure waiting, purity of mind, pure modesty, purity of clothing, keeping our bodies pure—in both the “sexual sense” and “healthy sense”—purity of attitudes, pure friendships, pure thinking, etc.

Again, I don’t have all the answers. This is going to be a journey for all of us, and I hope that you will bear with me as we travel along!

But don’t just take my word for it. Study for yourself. I’m sharing what the Lord is showing me. What is He showing you? If you have a comment or something/Scripture to share, please do share it!

All that said… let’s turn the next page and start on a new adventure—a new journey. I’m so totally ready to see what the Lord does through this… ☺ Thanks for starting this journey with me. I’m superbly prepared to expect wonders.

“We are all unfinished, a long way from what we ought to be, but if we can look at ourselves and one another from God’s point of view, we’ll know where we ought to be going and in which direction a relationship should move.”

–Elisabeth Elliot, Let Me Be A Woman

“But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.”

–Acts 20:24 (NASB)

Blessings!

Kayla R. Woodhouse ☺