I'm so excited to have discovered yet another talented artist who draws angels and princesses. Tia, the lovely young woman who created the above picture, actually works in a building adjacent to my office. I just love how God sets up divine meetings. She had been struggling with the idea of putting a halt on her drawing business. However, when I was able to encourage her and remind her of her awesome talent, she got excited all over again. I will be featuring a number of her pictures on my blogs. You can link to her website at www.whimsicalart.com. Go ahead ... take a peek.

Anyway, what has got me all riled up -- the article on AOL about what would happen if/when we have another Pandemic flu outbreak.

Apparently, a whole bunch of big wig doctors got together in some big room and decided the fate of millions. I'm still wondering how we choose who gets to make life and death decisions for us, anyway. The answer they came up with is: goodbye elderly individuals, anyone with a life-threatening injury/condition, or those suffering with some types of cognitive diseases (loss of memory etc.)

I guess in a nation where many of our countrymen/women don't blink an eye at abortion or assisted suicide, and where many believe in survival of the fittest, this latest headline makes the most sense. After all, only the strong survive. Why waste medication on anyone but politicians, millionaires, the super healthy, famous ... I think you get the picture. I can't help but imagine that enough money would by treatment.

Bottom line, does anyone have the right to play God? Who determines whose life is more valuable? Let's keep the surgeon, the plumber has to go ... flush him away. Wow! These so-called doctors (aren't they suppossed to be defenders of life) said this was indeed a difficult discussion, but they must be prepared for the inevitable.

What if instead of making killing plans, our nation, as a whole, fell to its knees and cried out to God for mercy?

What if we sought His face and the forgiveness for our collective sins? What if we pled for His mercy and favor upon our land as we determine to turn from our wicked ways and trust in Him. What if ... ?

Oh, sure. Someone out there will think I'm crazy. What can God do, right? What if there is no God to pray to? Maybe we need (as a nation) to stop relying on our own reason, reason that has taken us down paths better left untraveled. What if we opened our bibles and learned what worked for our ancestors, and what didn't? There's some really good stuff in the Bible.

I'm sorry. I know. I'm having a major soap box moment. But do you ever just look around and watch other people as they wonder why all this "bad stuff" is happening? Do you ever want to just shout, "Get a grip, folks! Of course, this 'stuff' is happening. We have turned from our Creator and spit in His face. Yet, we expect the 'good life' to keep on coming. Without a reliance on God and an acceptance of His Son as our Savior, THIS is what we get!"

Now granted, don't get me wrong. Bad things happen because this is a fallen world and bad things, well, they happen. However, there have been seasons in time when the world was a much better place to reside. Times were simpler. God and family were at the forefront of our minds.

Okay, deep breath. Thank goodness for journaling. I'm more than mad. I'm sad. I'm sad that someday there is a good chance that a situation will arise that requires someone to make decisions about who lives and dies.

I'm sad that more people aren't on their faces praying for God's mercy and for Him to thwart the plague or any other malady that threatens our land. I'm sad that as a nation we've killed millions and millions of babies. Maybe one of those babies had the cure for cancer, or would have prepared us with the right medications for an future pandemics. I guess will never know.

Friends, as followers of Christ, we are living in a very unique time in the history of our world. I truly believe that in the not so far future life may get much harder. I have no clue when "The End" is coming, but I can't help but believe that our world is hurling toward that moment in time at a frightening speed.

I don't want anyone to miss out on the one thing, the One Person, the Only God that can lead to salvation: Jesus Christ. In Him we can rest assured that our eternal future is secure. No matter what plague, catastrophe, or disaster faces us, we can place our hope in what is eternal.

I pray that that committee of doctors never has to implement "the plan" of life or death. For that desision belongs in the hands of God alone.