Dear Friend,



Welcome to the Friday Five! Every Friday we share our top five articles, stories, and quotes for you to read and share with your friends and church families.



We would be very grateful if you could make a donation of $100, $50, $25, or $10 today towards our work producing these Friday Fives and fighting for your values on the public square! <[link removed]>







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1. NC VALUES: Who will we have to choose from?



Earlier this week marked the start of an important period that will determine the shape of our state’s political future. Over the course of the next two weeks federal, state, legislative, and local candidates will file their intent to run for political office in 2024.



The races to be determined are numerous and important: the governor’s race, the attorney general’s race, 1 NC Supreme Court seat, 3 NC Court of Appeals seats, 8 statewide offices, all 170 state House and Senate seats, and a number of important local races.



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2. FOX NEWS: North Carolina Sen. Krawiec and Rep. Gill will not seek reelection in 2024



"North Carolina state Sen. Joyce Krawiec, who has successfully pushed to overhaul Medicaid, streamline health care access and further restrict abortion while in the General Assembly, announced on Monday that she won't seek reelection next year. Krawiec, a Forsyth County Republican, made the announcement just before candidate filing for the 2024 elections began at noon."



This is a great loss for North Carolina. Sen. Krawiec has always been one of our greatest allies. Her presence at the legislature will be missed. We appreciate her service very much.



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3. CAROLINA JOURNAL: Lawsuit challenging NC abortion law could head to trial May 6



"A lawsuit challenging portions of North Carolina’s new abortion law could head to trial as early as May 6. A federal judge’s injunction in late September has blocked two pieces of the law from taking effect."



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4. DAILY SIGNAL: Lawmakers Are Checking on School Libraries. Here’s What Parents Need to Know.



"Researchers at The Heritage Foundation have found that books depicting sex acts and promoting the ambiguous ideas of 'gender' are, in fact, landing in school libraries."



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5. WECT6:NHCBoardofEducationvotestodissolveEquity,Diversity,andInclusioncommittee



"The New Hanover County School board voted 4-2 to dissolve the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Committee at Tuesday’s meeting after Melissa Mason, who chaired the board, motioned for its abandonment."



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Weekly Prayer: Family



LORD, we cry out to you as Father. You are a model of the love, mercy, and authority of the perfect parent. We thank you for modeling for us what every parent should strive for, and for creating this wonderful institution called family. 



LORD, we thank you for creating us with a basic nature designed to not be alone. You made us to desire the intimacy of relationships, and it is here where we experience joys indescribable: the joys of marriage, the joys of having children; the joys of seeing our children have children. What a blessing and mercy you gave us in the family! In it we find our first teachers, our first guardians, and our first authorities. 



LORD, we recognize how deeply you love your children, and how deeply it pains you when they go astray. Alongside our adoration and thanksgiving, we pray in confession—as individuals and as members of larger communities—over any sins we may have committed that undermine your beloved institution. Forgive us when we endanger your institution through selfishness and arrogance. Forgive our communities and nation for attempting to redefine some of the most basic and deepest parts of being human—being made male and female, having lifelong marriage vows and responsibilities, and having parental rights over educating one's children. 



"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." (Colossians 3:12-17)







Amen













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Sincerely,





Tami & Team

NC Values



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