Duck Dynasty

Hey ya'll!
So I know I just wrote a blog a few days ago but I feel like writing another one. So there's a lot of controversy going on with Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson and his recent belief statement. There's a lot of different opinions going around. "Phil doesn't know anything about homosexuals," "A&E is making a business decision," "A&E is making a huge mistake," "Phil shouldn't have said what he said", "Phil was just stating his opinions," etc.
Well, here's the thing, I'm not going to say what I think, just give a few points and leave it at that. So here it goes.
1) What kind of country are we if we aren't able to give our opinion?
     Phil was not trying to offend anyone. He was asked a question and he answered it. There is nothing wrong with saying what we believe. I mean, come on isn't that what the first ammendment is? Giving us freedom of religion and freedom of speech? We live in America, not Iraq. Phil is not the first to disagree with homosexuals. There was a woman(I forgot her name) who spoke against homosexuals and she was cut down just as much as Phil is being cut down. The freedom of speech ammendment wasn't for government only, it was for every American citizen in the nation. If Phil wasn't supposed to say what he said then what was he supposed to say? A few months ago or so Phil spoke on abortion and it was an amazing message, but no one thought it was that big of a deal. He answers a simple question on sin, he chooses to make homosexuals and example and the nation has exploded. I mean, how are we to speak about things we believe if we're going to get attacked for it?
2) What is so wrong about how he said it?
     Think about this, he's Phil Robertson. How do you expect him to say it. If you watch the show or know anything about the Robertsons, you'll know that they are very outspoken Christians and aren't shy about their beliefs. There are not a lot of TV stars that say they're Christians but don't live it out and let the world know. You can't expect a Robertson man to sit back and not openly speak about their Christian values and beliefs. I'm honestly not shocked that he said something. If he's bold enough to speak on abortion and all his other Christian beliefs then he's certainly not afraid to speak on homosexuality regardless of the outcome. Is he supposed to leave out one of his beliefs? Would you leave out something that you believe in or would you be afraid to speak your opinion?
3) Is A&E making a business decision or moral decision?
    My pastor spoke on homosexuality a while ago and a statement that he made is, "Homosexuality is not a political issue, it's a theological issue." Yes A&E has to make business decisions that are going to keep them in business. If they feel like it's going to hurt their business then they have to do something. Trust me, my dad is a business man, and he's had to let a few people go based on business. But there's also a moral side to it. A&E was saying they were "disappointed" in Phil, and that they support gays and lesbians. Does that sound like a business issue or a moral issue to you? Yes they have to make a business decision so that they can continue to be in business and i know they're a secular business which is why I'm not shocked that they suspended Phil. We can't be shocked that a secular business suspended him because of belief issues. They're secualy, they don't know any better. Am I a little mad and upset? Sure, Duck Dynasty is my favorite show in the world. It's a family show, and Phil is part of the family. It won't be the same with out Phil. But i'm not that shocked. I probably would have been shocked if A&E was a Christian network system and they did that. But they're not and we have to deal with it. But at the same time as Christians, we have to look at it as a moral issue and think, do we really think this is just a business issue, or is there a moral issue behind it too?
4) Do we really go through life as Christians thinking we're not going to get persecuted?
     Phil Robertson in a video said, "When we are living for Christ we will get persecuted." Christ said it himself as he walked on this earth. He himself was persecuted on the cross for what he stood for. It costs us to follow Christ and to live as He did. Phil probably had a feeling that some people probably wouldn't be to pleased with what he said. If he says it himself, then he's not expecting people to just sit back and be okay with it. Just because we live in America does not mean we won't be persecuted for living for Christ. What we have to decide for ourselves is even when we get persecuted, will we still follow Christ? Is he worth dying for? It's easy to answer those questions now, but what happens when we actually get to the point of deciding whether to please man or God? What will we decide? That's what every godly Christian, following Christ whole-heartedly has had to ask themselves and we have to ask ourselves that as well.

Anyways, there's my deal on the whole Phil Robertson deal. Will I stop watching Duck Dynasty? Heck no! There's nothing better than watching a new episode of Duck Dynasty every week with my family! So with that I hope ya'll have a Redneck Christmas!! :)

Anna Klein

Christmas Candy Cane

Hey y'all! 

I hope y'all are doing fantastic and that y'all's school semester has gone great! I know finals are stressful and I hope y'all are getting through them! Remember trust God no matter the outcome!

Anyways, other than finals I know everyone is pumped for Christmas in just a few weeks! I can't believe how fast this year has gone by! It seems like it was just yesterday that we were celebrating the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ! Christmas is my all time favorite holiday and I anticipate every year the decorations, the Christmas trees, the hot cocoa, celebrating Jesus' birth etc. there are SO many things that I love about Chtistmas and I could go on and on! 

And the food is especially delicious around Christmas!! :) The hot chocolate, Chick-Fil-a's peppermint milkshake(my favorite thing in the world) and my favorite candy, the Candy Cane! :) the candy cane has such an addicting taste to it and the peppermint that they put in them is so satisfying! The history of the candy cane is such a unique story to! The man who introduced the candy cane to the world was a believer and his intentions were to hopefully share the true meaning of Christmas! You can really see the symbolic meaning behind it if you really think about it. First is the "hardness of the candy." The hard candy reminds us the Jesus is like a rock, strong and dependable. We can always depend on Jesus to be our solid rock whenever we need help to stand firm on faith. Psalm 31:3 says "For you are my rock and my fortress for your names sake you will lead me and guide me."

The second symbolism is the peppermint flavor which is like the gift of spices from the wise men! When the wise men came to visit Jesus they brought with them three gifts of gold, frankencense and myrrh! 

The third symbolism is the white candy which stands for Jesus as the holy, sinless Son of God. Jesus was the perfect lamb who came down to earth in the form of man to pay the punishment for our sin. 1 John 1:7 says "but if we walk in the Light as he himself is in tag Light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin."

The fourth symbol is the cane which is like the staff used by shepherds when caring for the sheep. Jesus is our Good Shepherd caring and watching over us with his staff.

The fifth symbol is the letter J. When you turn the candy came upside down it's like a J for the name Jesus. 

Last but not least is the color red and the stripes! The red is for Gods love that sent Jesus and for Jesus showing his love on the cross! Without his sacrifice we wouldn't have the opportunity to have a relationship with Him and to live eternally in heaven. And the stripes remind us of Jesus' suffering on the cross! 

So as we celebrate Christmas and eat lots of candy canes lets not forget who started it all! The most incredible and mysterious thing for me is that God have up his royal throne to come down in the form of man, born in a lowly stable so that we could live with him in heaven and have a relationship with him! 

I hope y'all have a very merry Christmas!!

Anna Klein!

Football and Thanksgiving

Hey y'all! 

It's your friendly Houston, Texas blogger again!! It's been a couple weeks since I wrote last and I hope y'all are doing great! Can y'all believe we have just 3 more weeks left of school? It's exciting and stressful at the same time! It's been extremely busy this semester and I've been anxious for this semester to end! But praise The Lord for a good semester at the same time!! 

Anyways I'm sure y'all have all been watching the football games this semester while y'all do homework! It's been a great season of football and I'm excited about some teams and bummed about other teams but I guess that's football! Haha! I absolutely LOVE to watch football and it's one of the many reasons why I love this country!! It's so exciting to watch football players play an incredible game whether your favorite team wins or loses! You know football is kind of like life in a way! Your headed for the touch down of your life and in between that you have things try to stop you from reaching that touchdown! And as you breakthrough those tribulations and finally get to your goal you feel relieved and excited! It's so cool the way sports and life kind of come together! You can learn so much in life from sports! 

Well it's Thanksgiving this week and I'm pumped! Who else is pumped about this week? There's gonna be amazing turkey and to die for pies!!! I always love getting with family and saying what were thankful for and just spending time together. As Mrs. Kay from Duck Dynasty would say " It warms my heart." So as we prepare for Thanksgiving let's remember to be thankful for the things that God has given us this past year! But let's also not make this week the only week we give thanks but as a reminder that we should give thanks every day for every day is a new day that God had given us!! :) also what is one thing your are thankful for? And also if you need prayer send me a message and I'd be happy to pray for you!! 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!! :)

Anna Klein

First Blog

Hey ya'll!
Here's your friendly blogger from Houston, Texas! Technically Cypress, but it's all in Houston right? haha! So I got this blog because I LOVE to write! Infact writing is one of my hobbies I do! I know, typical homeschool nerd right? Not alot of people like to write but I absolutely love to write! Except when i have to write for a school assignment then that can get boring! But for fun sometimes I'll sit down and try to come up with ideas for fiction stories! Of course it never gets finsihed, i'll start a story and then never finish it! It's the difficulty of writing! One moment you've got ideas and you write and write and then there comes a moment when you've got writer's block and you don't know where to go next! It's the most difficult thing to go throw for any type of writer! Mainly because your trying to get it done and your excited about it and then you get to a stopping point and you have no other ideas but it's not finished! It's kind of like life! Your keep on writing your story(not literally) and your excited about the outcome and then you come to a stopping point and you don't know where to go afterwards! Sometimes God puts those stopping points in our lives so that we can grow and come closer to Him! He only wants whats best, and once He's got us closer to Him, then He'll allow us to continue on and in the end, something beautiful comes out of it! One of the lines in the song, "Something Beautiful," by Need To Breathe says, "In your ocean I'm ankle deep I feel the waves crashin on my feet it's like I know where I need to be, but I can't figure out."

Anyways, there's a good side and a bad side of writing fiction stories! The good side is you get to imagine whatever is in your mind! Imagining things can be a wonderful thing! It can allow you to want to try the things that you imagine. However, imaginng can prevent you from doing things you were meant to do. Like, all through middle school and high school I used to dream of being a singe. I absolutely love music, in fact, you'll probably see me post quotes from alot of songs that I hear, because music has been my life for forever (Other than horses). I don't know how I could get through life with out music! And the one thing that i would ever want to do with music is be a singer, and I would imagine standing on stage and entertaining people! The only thing is i'm not talented! I don't have a voice, I have stage fright, and even though I would love to be a singer some day i know it's not what God's plan is for me. And if I keep imagining about something that's never going to happen then God can never use me where He really wants me and I'll never know what His plan for me really is.. Do i know what that is? No, not yet but I won't find it by pursueing things that are not God's plan for me. God wants to use each and every one of us for his great kingdom and He will not be done with us until the end of life.

Anyways, there's my first blog! I'll probably write about once a month or so! I can't write too much with school and work and everything else that goes along with the business of life! So hope ya'll are all doing great and I'll keep ya'll posted!! :)

Anna Klein