Saturday, November 10, 2012

To Drink or Not to Drink


First of all, this is a discussion in which I hardly ever participate. But I am glad to have the chance to think through and write down some thoughts about it. I have really prayed over this, and sought God’s wisdom about it. These are convictions that He has given me.
I agree that drinking in itself is not a sin. I know the Bible clearly says that drunkenness is the sin, not drinking.
I agree that Christians have every right and freedom to partake. It is whether or not they should exercise that right that I question.
There are a few reasons why I will not drink alcohol. The first two are not as important, but are still part of my decision.
#1. My grandfather was an alcoholic. My granddad held a gun to my dad’s head when he was five years old while he was drunk. My dad spent some time in bars before he was saved. 
Because of his background, my daddy gave up drinking when he became a Christian. He would never let us sit too close to the bar in a restaurant. My father in law would not even go IN a restaurant that sold alcohol! 
Therefore, if I was to partake of alcohol, I would be disappointing and dishonoring my father and my father in law. As you can see, this is a personal decision for me. However, how many people have relatives that have a similar background, and still choose to go ahead and drink? Have they thought of how this makes others feel in their family? Is it really worth upsetting their older relatives?
#2. There are many alcoholics in my dad’s family, my mom’s family, and my father in law’s family. I have no idea if alcoholism “runs in the family,” but I know that some people have more addictive tendencies than others. How am I to know if one of my children could develop an addiction to alcohol? Wouldn’t there be less chance of that if I never introduced it to them? Now I know what some may say; “Your kids could develop an addiction to tv, video games, sweets, Dr. Pepper or any number of things that could be bad if overdone.” But I have to think that those things don’t have the devastating consequences that alcohol abuse has; be it drunk driving, abusing behavior, financial ruin, etc….So again I ask, is it really worth it? Why open that door?
#3. The last reason I will not drink, is taken from Romans 14, referenced in an article I read concerning drinking in the Bible. That author states that wine in the Bible was indeed “strong drink”, because why else would God warn that drinking it could be a “stumbling block” to a “weaker brother”. This interpretation cannot be doubted. God did not prohibit drinking in the Bible. In the biblical culture, I suppose that most everyone drank wine. (There weren’t all that many options back then). But even in a culture where wine was accepted and perhaps even encouraged by God, He still warns his followers to be careful, lest the drinking be a “stumbling block” , or cause others to stumble. So since this is true….I would like to focus on the culture in which we live. In Alabama, and especially in dry counties like Blount County, there is a certain stigma about those that drink. It is thought by many to be something that one “gives up” when they become converted to Christ. My family has lived here for generation after generation, and that is the way it is for most of the people. (I know there are always exceptions.) I also realize it is not that way in other parts of the country, or other countries. Over in the Northwest or Northeast United States, it may be different. I know my good friend lives in France, and drinking is totally accepted there. People might even be MORE likely to listen to you share the Gospel there if you have a drink in your hand. But here in Alabama, it is different.
What if there was someone that God would have me to witness to, but that person is put off because I have a drink in my hand? What if they think, “well, I am not going to listen to them cause they are no different than me?”
Or what if I am unknowingly speaking to a recovering alcoholic while I have a drink in my hand, and this stunts his recovery?
I just want to be sure that I don’t do anything that would ever turn anyone off to the message that I bring as a Christian. 
And those are the reasons I don’t drink. I don’t question other Believer’s motives for doing so. I just simply ask that THEY question them. Pray about it. Don’t do it just to prove you have the freedom to. 
“Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles. The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.” (Romans 14:20-22)

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Our Summer!!!!


We saw quite a few bears

 We started the summer by a trip to Townsend, TN with some friends:

We were able to bring a friend along







By an ancient prison in the middle of a creek
Me and my friend and her babies near her house

 My sister and I went to France to visit our best friend and her family!



Aren't they cuties?


 
I have lost track of how many summers we have gone to CBM camps to speak! This summer we went to Polk City, FL to Camp Gilead

On our way

We went to the Lego store in Downtown Disney on our off day.


I think the sand (dirt) was their favorite?!


Met new friends....


Was able to do what we love!

Summer is over......School has started!

Everybody is hard at work

There is so much more that we did this summer. Lots of swimming and spending time with friends and family. THANK YOU LORD :)

Wednesday, July 18, 2012


 Loving Alabama....
If you live in Alabama, have you thought about how blessed you are? I was driving down Sweeney Hollow Road today and passed a church sign that read, "Is your worship more than a song?" I have passed the sign several times the past week or so, and it has made me pray that my worship WOULD be more than a song. What does this have to do with being blessed to live in Alabama, you ask? Well, as I passed the sign today, I thought, "Where else in the world would you be able to drive down the road and just look to your right and be reminded of a truth from the Bible?" I mean, at any given place around here, you pass various churches with scripture on them. We even have a local mechanic that puts scripture on his sign; a new one every week. Now, there are the cheesy church signs. The ones that say stuff like: "Do you like ice cream? If so, then come try our Sundaes!" Or......"Eternity: Smoking or non-smoking? YOUR CHOICE." I absolutely hate those.
But seriously, I began to think today of different things I love about Alabama. It is such a blessing to live in a place where there is soooo much access to materials to encourage spiritual growth. Just turn on the radio, or go to the Christian bookstore, or look at a church sign. It makes me feel so bad about the way I take it for granted. In other places in the world, they are just aching to have the scriptures in their own language.
Other blessings of Alabama in random order as they come to mind:
Less than five hours from mountains.
Less than five hours from beaches.
Many Bible teaching churches.
Wonderful people.
Plenty of empty land to farm.
No casinos!! (Ok, Luke says I am technically wrong about that. But at least there is no lottery and there are no big huge casino resorts like there are in Mississippi!)

Of course, I know I am biased :) But today I praise the LORD for where He has let me live. I don't want to take His blessings for granted.

Naomi

L enjoying Alabama!!
J doing what you do in the summer in Alabama!
There is so much bounty to be thankful for in Alabama!!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Kids working in the kitchen

Last Saturday my friend and I went to the "Living a Legacy" conference for ladies. I learned so much and had such a great time! Click here and here for more information about the ladies who put that together. They had a lot of practical insight into running our "mission base" (home) and reaching others for Christ.
One session I really loved was focused on teaching your child a good work ethic. This is something that we are constantly trying to develop in our kids. One way is to let them take turns cooking dinner. We also try to have a special dinner one night a week with a little bit more of an "upscale" menu. They plan the menu and do most of the preparation.
Maryland crab cakes

Oven baked "fried pickles"

Lemon cheesecake with yogurt and only 1/4 cup sugar!
We have thoroughly enjoyed this routine and the kids are turning into great cooks!! These are pictures of what Ethan just fixed us (with a bit of help from me :)) last night. It was delish!!!!

If you want these recipes, you can go to my pinterest page and get them.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Save Our Planet: Environmentalism as a religion


We were created to worship God from the very beginning. Did you know that worship requires not just our praise but also our obedience? When Adam and Eve chose to disobey God they chose not to worship Him. To worship God means to obey, honor, reverence, respect, praise, and give Him all the glory. God demands worship because He and He alone is worthy. He requests that we acknowledge His greatness, His power and His glory. John tells us in Revelation 4:11, “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”

Genesis 1:28 says, “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’” This verse only talks about mankind having dominion over “every living thing that moves on the earth.” The author ends his thought, and begins talking about how the plants were created for mankind and the animals to eat. We were only given dominion over animals!  
All of this boils down to a heart condition. Because we were created to worship God nothing else we do in life will fill that void. Since Lucifer fell from heaven, he has been solely focused on turning the minds and hearts of mankind against the ways of God.   

First, let’s define a religion. A religion is a collected set of beliefs where the leader(s) promote this set of beliefs among the followers. The followers are urged to make contributions in finances and time. They are also urged to make a change in their lifestyle based on the collected set of beliefs. The religious beliefs give them a total view of the world in terms of how the world is structured between what is right and wrong.

My argument is that environmentalism is in fact a religion that Christians need to steer away from. Consider some of the ways in which environmental behaviors echo religious behaviors:

• There is a holy day—Earth Day. There is also an ever growing EcoWeek. It is a week that is set aside to give consideration to saving our planet.
• There are food taboos. Environmentalists now eat organic foods and many are moving towards eating only locally grown foods.
• Environmentalism – A word ending that indicates beliefs or prejudice. 
• There is no prayer, but there are self-sacrificing rituals such as recycling. Recycling paper to save trees, for example, makes no sense since. Most paper is made from trees that are owned by private companies. The hope is to reduce the number of trees planted in the long run, Maine's Renewable Energy and Life Sciences sectors are using wood products for biofuel, bioplastics, and composites. If saving trees is so important, then why is Maine, the largest paper making state in America, praised for making "renewable" energy from trees? I am not saying that it is a sin to recycle. You do need to ask yourself, “What end goal am I seeking through recycling?”
• Belief systems are embraced with no logical basis. For example, environmentalists almost universally believe in the dangers of global warming but also reject the best solution to the problem, which is nuclear power. This type of  thinking is a worldview based on faith, not reason.
• There are no temples, but there are sacred structures. I am continually confronted with recycling bins, and instead of one trash can I am faced with several color-coded bins for different sorts of trash. While people have worshipped many things, we may be the first to build shrines to garbage.

• They do not necessarily believe in salvation, but they only seek one type of energy. All physics classes teach that energy is neither created nor destroyed. It simply changes from one form to another. Renewable energy is an oxymoron.
• Environmentalism is a proselytizing religion. Skeptics are not merely people unconvinced by the evidence: They are treated as evil sinners.  

Everyone who knows me knows that I love creation and conservation. However, I am not willing to put creation above the Creator. The earth is not ours to save, so let's focus our attention on telling others about the cross of Christ.

By Luke Milam

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Spring Harvest and Near Death Experiences...



 Ok, maybe it wasn't SUPER close to death. My wonderful mother-in-law gave me a "sweet basil" plant. I put a hefty helping of the leaves in my made from scratch vegetable soup tonight. After most of us had eaten at least 2 servings, Luke informed me that his mom had just told him on the phone that "Naomi might want to put something else in that pot, cause it wasn't basil. Just some weed." Our kids were joking that we were all going to die and they were telling how they were about to go write up their last will and testament. Thankfully, we were able to identify it as a ground cover plant called "baby tears" or some other one I couldn't pronounce. But they were both edible. My soup tasted good anyway! I could have sworn it smelled like basil before I put it in! I guess I need to know my herbs better. 
 Anyhow...I have been pretty pleased with all the things my tiny farm produced this spring. It was the first time that I had planned a garden and planted it all (Ethan and I, that is) without Luke's help. I was sure that nothing would come up, but it did! Ethan did a good job on his part, too. Here are a few pictures: 






I had to show my pretty $10 petunias first!


Turnips


After three years, we finally have asparagus! It takes that long to produce.
I had to pick the broccoli before it was done to make room for summer vegetables, but I at least got the leaves. 


Ethan grew some nice radishes in his row. We paid him what we thought we would have paid at the store. We thought this would give him a chance to earn some money and be responsible. He is growing carrots, too.
We finally got two brood hens, and we ended up with 14 chicks!

Perhaps the strangest mushroom I have ever seen. It is called a chicken mushroom, and yes, Luke and Ethan ate some. It is totally edible and has the exact texture of chicken!

I have had lots of yummy spring salads
Thank you, hens, for fresh eggs everyday
The collard greens did well

Sunday, April 8, 2012

My Favorite Holiday

I decided today that Easter is FOR SURE my favorite holiday. I think a lot of it has to do with music....there is no music more EXCITING than Easter music!! It is something that I want to celebrate EVERY day of my life, not just on Easter. Jesus is alive! And as I was reminded this morning, His Death and Resurrection were the only events that we are commanded to remember. I wonder why we only spend one day a year celebrating it?

Here are a couple of my all time favorites that help me praise my Jesus on Easter and throughout the year:



There are so many more songs that are such an inspiration to me in celebrating Jesus being alive. Here are a few pics of the blessings that God has given us:




All my precious babies, nieces and nephews!




Happy Easter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love,
The Milams

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Chicken and Dumplins

My family loves my chicken and dumplins. I tried it with whole wheat flour dumplins, and I can't really recommend that. It might be ok with 1/2 wheat and 1/2 regular flour. But today I finally took the time to measure and write down a recipe. I will actually "write" it in my trusty recipe book that I am making for the kids.

Whole Chicken with stock
32 oz. stock
4 cups flour
1/2 cup shortening
1 3/4 cup milk


Boil a whole chicken, let it cool and pull the meat off. Save the stock and add another 32 oz carton of chicken stock. Meanwhile, make the dumplins. Take 4 cups flour and cut in half a cup of shortening with a pastry blender. (I like the hydrogenated-free kind they sell at Whole Foods). Add 1 and 3/4 and mix well. Dust a surface with flour and roll out to about 1/2 inch think. Cut into strips about 1 by 4 inches. Let these sit out on the counter for at least one hour. (The longer it sits, the better. I usually let them sit all day).


After the dumplins are nice and stale, add the chicken to the stock and bring it to a boil. Drop the dumplins in quickly and continue boiling for about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  

THINK WE NEED A BIGGER TABLE??

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Why in the World Would I Celebrate Saint Patrick's Day?

"Why in the world would I want to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day!?"
This is what was going through my mind last year when my girls asked if they could perform their Irish dancing in the Saint Patrick's Day Parade downtown. I mean, I am not even IRISH! (At least, not that I know of!)
Well, here is some things that I have learned about Saint Patrick since I agreed to the girls' participation in Irish Dancing. First of all, he was a missionary. I think I knew that before, but we studied missions in Sunday school and I was reminded about that. But it wasn't until I caught bits and pieces of Justus' Veggietales video as I was walking through the room that I learned a bit more about him. Apparently, he was taken as a slave from England to Ireland and worked for years there. He was able to leave eventually, but felt called to go back as a missionary there later and tell them the gospel. Of course, I know there was a lot more to the story than that, and I would be very interested to learn more about him. (Thanks to Veggietales for helping us learn something about Saint Patrick).
I wish that every person that drinks themselves silly on this day and parties like crazy actually knew a little bit about what it means to surrender your life to God's service and forgive those who have persecuted you, like Patrick did. I think that next year, we should think of ways to tell them about it!!
So I am really ok with celebrating Saint Patrick's Day now. But I still don't get what a shamrock is.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

ANOTHER baby

We needed another baby in the house. Two is not enough!!! Just kidding. But we do love babies. So we got Sam. He is half Australian Shepherd and I think he is super cute. The problem is, I have never successfully house broken a dog. He is doing well with the crate training, but continues to have lots of accidents in the house. Any advice would be welcome!!
Now, some of you may know that around here we haven't had such a wonderful track record with long-lived pets. But I am determined that this dog is going to be a successful part of the family (LORD WILLING :))