Saturday, April 5, 2025

A Prayer for a Child Who Is Struggling with Friendship By Laura Bailey Bible Reading: “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.” - Proverbs 13:20 NIV

 

A Prayer for a Child Who Is Struggling with Friendship - Your Daily Prayer - April 5 

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A Prayer for a Child Who Is Struggling with Friendship
By Laura Bailey

Bible Reading:

“Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.” - Proverbs 13:20 NIV

Read or Listen Below:

I spotted my daughter coming down the walkway at school, her slumped shoulders telling the story of her day. Still, as she slinked into the car, arms crossed, scowl fixed, I gently inquired, “How was your day?” Thinking that perhaps she didn’t hear me, I asked again. “FINE!” she growled back. Knowing she would eventually share about her day, I gave her some space and quietly rode home. As she unpacked her book bag, I saw a tear fall from her face.

I approached her and held out a plate of cookies as a peace offering. I asked, “ Are you ready to talk about it now?” Through muffled sobs, she shared about being excluded from the group project, forgotten at the lunch table, and ignored during recess. Unfortunately,  this wasn’t the first time I’d had this conversation with my daughter. The girls at school were best friends one day, writing sweet notes, making room at the table, and cheering each other on, then pretending like they didn’t exist the next. This year seemed marked by fickle friendships.

As I held my daughter, her hurt eventually turned into frustration. “Why would they do that? I am not going to be friends with them anymore!” she announced. Relationships are generally complicated, but tween girls, whew, it is exhausting.

I remember the rollercoaster of relationships from my adolescence. Especially at a time when hormones are raging,  people are trying to figure themselves out, and life is constantly changing,  learning to navigate relationships is difficult. While I knew that likely tomorrow, everything would go back to normal, transgressions quickly forgotten; this wouldn’t be the last time my daughter struggled in her friendships.

Proverbs 13:20 says, “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm. " Simply put, be careful of the company you keep. In my daughter’s case, most friendship angst resulted from immaturity. However, learning when to walk away from a situation because it will ultimately cause you harm is a lesson I desire her to learn early. Friends have a powerful influence over us. Therefore, we must choose our friends wisely.

All relationships will experience ups and downs, and just because someone hurts our feelings, says an unkind word, or neglects to invite us to an event doesn’t mean they are “foolish” and should be cut out of our lives. Instead, one of the best tools we can teach our children is discernment. Scripture says we should be quick to forgive (Ephesians 4:31-32), granting grace,  but it doesn’t say we must be friends with everyone. We must understand when letting the offense go versus a friendship is appropriate.

In my daughter's case, we discussed ways she could have handled the situation better, as she wasn’t without fault in the girl drama of the day. We spoke about forgiveness and choosing to show Christ’s love. I shared with her the importance of choosing our friends wisely and how she can be a good friend to others. Relationships are messy; unfortunately, the older we get, the more complicated they can be–but the struggle is worth it, as two are better than one (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12).

Let’s Pray:

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of friendship. From the beginning of creation, you saw that it was not good for man to be alone and made him a companion. Lord, you created relationships to bring joy to your children, but yet, in a fallen world, they experience the effects of sin. And so, there are times when we are hurt by people we love, trust, admire, and respect. In all circumstances, give us the strength to forgive “our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” (Matthew 6:12). Lord, grant us discernment in dealing with others. Help us know when to walk away from a situation or a person. Help us as we seek peace, extend grace, and show love to others. Friendship is a true blessing; may we treat it as such. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Photo Credit ©Getty Images/Lacheev

Laura Bailey author headshotLaura Bailey is an author and Bible teacher who encourages women to understand what they believe, why it matters, and how to apply biblical truths to their lives. Her recent book, Embracing Eternity in the Here and Now, explores how the timeless truths of Ecclesiastes help us live more peaceful, purposeful, and plentiful lives today.

She lives in Upstate South Carolina with her husband and three young girls, where she serves as director of women's ministries at her church. Her passion is teaching the Bible to women, equipping them to live with an eternal perspective. Invite Laura to speak at your next event or learn more: www.LauraRBailey.com connect on Facebook and Instagram

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Originally published Saturday, 05 April 2025.


Pete Hegseth just sent the feminists into a rage with this one change to the military’s physical standards for combat Apr 2, 2025

 

Pete Hegseth just sent the feminists into a rage with this one change to the military’s physical standards for combat

Apr 2, 2025

Pete Hegseth was a fierce critic of injecting the Left’s woke ideology into the military long before Donald Trump selected him to be his Secretary of Defense. 

Hegseth is removing the woke from the Armed Forces in an effort to once again make the American military the greatest fighting force in the world.

But Pete Hegseth just sent the feminists into a rage with this one change to the military’s physical standards for combat.

Donald Trump selecting former Fox News star Pete Hegseth as his Secretary of Defense sent Democrats and the left-wing media into a fit of rage.

Democrats flew off the rails during Hegseth’s confirmation hearing over his opposition to sending women into combat.

Even though Hegseth only opposes women in combat, the Democrats accused him of wanting to ban women from serving in the military.

Senator Gillibrand (D-NY) ranted and raved about how women could handle combat just as effectively as men.


But this is not true.

According to a study conducted by the Marines, “all-male ground combat teams outperformed their mixed-gender counterparts in nearly every capacity during a recent infantry integration test.”

“Data collected during a monthslong experiment showed Marine teams with female members performed at lower overall levels, completed tasks more slowly and fired weapons with less accuracy than their all-male counterparts,” Marine Times reported. “In addition, female Marines sustained significantly higher injury rates and demonstrated lower levels of physical performance capacity overall.”

Hegseth went to work removing the woke from the military on Day One.

On Sunday, Hegseth signed a memo ordering the return of “sex-neutral standards” for military combat roles.

“We need to have the same standards, male or female, in our combat roles to ensure our men and women who are under our leaders or in those formations, have the best possible leaders and the highest possible standards that are not based at all on your sex,” Hegseth said.

Under Joe Biden’s woke military, physical standards for combat roles were lowered to meet diversity quotas and DEI standards.

This makes the military weaker and harms the troops.

Hegseth ordered the military to “develop comprehensive plans to distinguish combat arms occupations from non-combat arms occupations.”

The plans must “identify which positions require heightened entry-level and sustained physical fitness” for “certain combat arms roles.”

“These roles, which are critical to our military’s mission success, demand exceptional physical capabilities, and the standards for them must reflect that rigor,” Hegseth wrote.

But the biggest change made was Hegseth’s order to follow “sex-neutral standards” in their plans.

“All entry-level and sustained physical fitness requirements within combat arms positions must be sex-neutral, based solely on the operational demands of the occupation and the readiness needed to confront any adversary,” Hegseth wrote. “In establishing those standards, the Secretaries of the Military Departments may not establish standards that would result in any existing Service member being held to a lower standard.”

Hegseth posted a video on X of him signing the order and offered his comments on it.

“For far too long, we have allowed standards to slip,” Hegseth wrote. “We’ve had different standards for men/women serving in combat arms MOS’s and jobs,” he continued. “That’s not acceptable, and it changes right now!”


Donald Trump selected Pete Hegseth to remove the woke from the military and turn America’s Armed Forces into the greatest fighting force in the world.

You Won’t Believe Who El Salvador Wants From the U.S. Now by Mark Megahan April 4, 2025

 

You Won’t Believe Who El Salvador Wants From the U.S. Now


El Salvador is bending over backwards to make President Donald Trump happy. They have a big, beautiful supermax prison complex and plenty of room for more criminals. They’ll be more than happy to take any violent gangsters who’s home nations won’t accept deportees. They also have room for any American criminals we care to get off our hands.

El Salvador welcomes Rubio

When Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in El Salvador, he got a much warmer reception than the one waiting for him in Panama.

The nation’s leader, President Nayib Bukele, is determined to stay on President Trump’s good side. Trump might take him up on his offer.

On Monday, February 3, Secretary Rubio announced the news. “President Nayib Bukele will accept U.S. prisoners of various nationalities” as fast as Trump can mass deport them. El Salvador doesn’t care where they come from, they have a nearly empty prison to fill.

He has offered to house in his jails dangerous American criminals in custody in our country, including those with U.S. citizenship and legal residency,” Rubio informs.

Shocked reporters with liberal U.S. outlets couldn’t believe what they were hearing. Rubio had to say it again in small words to get the point across.

El Salvador will accept deportees of any nationality as well as violent criminals currently incarcerated in the United States.” We’re already setting up tents at Guantanamo Bay to house some of the deportation overflow.

Salvador
El Salvador has a big, beautiful supermax prison complex.

Unprecedented and extraordinary

The president of El Salvador, Rubio exclaims, made a stunning offer, calling the “extraordinary migratory agreement” unprecedented.

Especially the part where he “offered to do the same for dangerous criminals currently in custody and serving their sentence in the United States even though they’re U.S. citizens.

El Salvador is only one of five countries “that Rubio is slated to visit to discuss President Trump’s deportation plans.” He’s been getting great results, so far. Even though the Panamanians were burning him in effigy, along with American flags, he left with valuable concessions.

They’ll be more than happy to take any violent gangsters.

Panamanian officials went into total hysteria over threats to take control of the canal back from them. They also decided not to renew a deal with China to back their Belt and Road initiative. Meanwhile, they ordered an audit of the canal operations looking for ways to improve service to Uncle Sam.

Secretary Rubio will also be making diplomatic visits to Costa Rica, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic.

Not everybody in El Salvador is happy with their president’s decision. Manuel Flores, secretary general of Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, believes “that the move signals that the region is Washington’s backyard to dump the garbage.

DOGE Makes HUGE Slash in Waste [Details] by Patti Krahn-Hamblet April 4, 2025 No comments

 

DOGE Makes HUGE Slash in Waste [Details]


There’s no room for egos when government needs to be slashed. DOGE terminated the lease of the Obama Presidential Library Site. There have been a lot of leases and contracts terminated recently, this joins the list. The library is at the Hoffman Estates in Chicago. It isn’t the same thing as the Obama Presidential Center near Jackson Park which will be completed in 2026. Local news downplayed it.


DOGE probably pushing it

The Chicago Tribune downplayed that Musk was responsible for this, saying the site was already scheduled to be moved elsewhere. You can say it’s being scheduled but then nothing happens and money is quietly diverted elsewhere.

Even though Hoffman Estates and all presidential libraries are run by the National Archives and Records Administration or NARA, the Obama Presidential Center is run by the Obama Foundation.

DOGE supposedly didn’t have impact

The cancellation was waved off as not having a lot of impact, but it saves the taxpayer almost $1.5 million. In terms of government spending it might seem small but it’s a lot of small things that add up to insane amounts.

Critics continue to downplay the heavy handed government cost cutting. Among other things, supposedly a lot of contracts were expiring anyway and whining that amounts are being inflated.

DOGE isn’t that important

Charles Tiefer is a retired University of Baltimore law professor and government contracting expert. He said, “It’s possible (DOGE) has some particular malice toward the real estate holding the archives for the last really popular two-term president. But it’s more likely that it’s fakery about unrealized savings, the same as in hundreds of other contracts.”

There are millions of unclassified documents that are now being digitized as well as a variety of artifacts. DOGE is cutting government spaces down to about half and at the same time shrinking the federal workforce.

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