Perfect!

I found this note left behind by Bethany on my birthday!

True Power of Yoga Revealed | Former Yoga Practitioner • LED Live EP223 ...

I liked the point they brought up about the example of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

If it is questionable, I avoid it. My God has done so much for me that giving up something for His glory is easy. It's very easy when you remember that what He tells us to avoid is for our own protection and benefit. I find it helpful to also remember that we are battling flesh and spirit.

Oct 7 Massacre Map

This mapping project of the slaughter of Oct. 7 is a masterpiece.

It is an essential tool for beginning to understand the scale, dimension and expanse of Hamas's slaughter of innocent Jews.

oct7map.com

Amir Tsarfati

with the intensity that only maturity can give

 I counted my years and found that I have less time to live from here on than I have lived up to now.

I feel like that child who won a packet of sweets: he ate the first with pleasure, but when he realized that there were few left, he began to enjoy them intensely.

I no longer have time for endless meetings where statutes, rules, procedures and internal regulations are discussed, knowing that nothing will be achieved.

I no longer have time to support the absurd people who, despite their chronological age, haven't grown up.

My time is too short:

I want the essence,

my soul is in a hurry.

I don't have many sweets

in the package anymore.

I want to live next to human people,

very human,

who know how to laugh at their mistakes,

and who are not inflated by their triumphs,

and who take on their responsibilities.

Thus human dignity is defended and we move towards truth and honesty.

It is the essential that makes life worth living.

I want to surround myself with people who know how to touch hearts, people who have been taught by the hard blows of life to grow with gentle touches of the soul.

Yes, I'm in a hurry, I'm in a hurry to live with the intensity that only maturity can give.

I don't intend to waste any of the leftover sweets.

I am sure they will be delicious, much more than what I have eaten so far.

My goal is to reach the end satisfied

and at peace with my loved ones

and my conscience.

We have two lives.

And the second begins when you realize you only have one.

Credits : Mário Raul de Morais Andrade

(Oct 9, 1893 – Feb 25, 1945)

Brazilian poet, novelist, musicologist, art historian and critic, photographer

55 Years Closer to Meeting Jesus Face to Face!

an October sunrise in Staunton, VA

Some things are worth the effort/sacrifice to see!

The countdown continues: It's my 55th birthday! I am 55 years closer to meeting Jesus face to face!

I am very thankful I can still say I do not take any Rx medicines or wear Rx glasses. I am wearing the same readers I have been wearing for nearly a decade. I do not have any health complaints. I am still able to do whatever it is I want to do. 

This year, I completed one of the steepest, most difficult hikes that most people choose to avoid. It required extreme exertion (to the point blood vessels in both of my eyes burst), but I accomplished my goal. There was an easy way out, but I did not take it. I am proud of myself for taking on the challenge and seeing it through.

I am sharing this portion again this year because so many need to mature their minds. The Bible tells us to be "strong-minded." That takes our effort. If we don't put forth the effort, we are the opposite of strong-minded."

"I could be weak-minded and find many things to be offended over and complain about, but I choose to focus my mind on the just, pure, lovely, of good report, and anything that has virtue. (Philippians 4:8) God's Word has given me a strong mind and following His ways for self-disciplining my mind has carried me through some very challenging situations.

You know, I came to salvation and gave my life to Jesus in my first decade. "Gave my life" means I tried to give up doing what came naturally in the flesh and tried to walk in the spirit according to His Word. I have tried but have not been perfect in that. Even with my imperfect performance, He has seen my efforts and has blessed me with a fantastic life in return. I've lost nothing of value but have gained so very, very much. I give so very little, but God gives so very much! He is honest when He tells us his requirements (burdens) are light."

Lord, help me to live my very best for your glory. That grace that you applied (and continue to apply) so generously to me, help me to apply it generously to others. Help me to love like you love. Help me be better on each tomorrow than I am on each today. Help me to die to the pull of my stubborn flesh and more easily do the things You want me to do. Help me to swallow my pride and example Jesus to this dark world. Please enable me to run this race exceptionally well for your glory. Help me, Lord, to put you first in everything I do. Help me see things here on this earth with an eternal view. Let me grow in praising and worshipping you because you are so much more worthy than what I give. Finally, I ask that you bless each person who sincerely prays this prayer over my life with an abundance of Your love, protection, and provision in their lives. Give them eyes to see and ears to understand. 

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21 

I am not Jesus

I am not Jesus. I am a Jesus follower...AKA a Christian. That means I try to follow the example Jesus has set for us. I am not perfect. I could do better. 

You might call me a hypocrite because I may avoid one thing and then do something that looks similar. 

I am imperfect. I sin. Jesus is perfect. He does not sin. I do which means I will fail you and those failings may hurt you. Jesus will never fail you. 

Please don't look to me. Look to Jesus. Please don't try to example me. Example Jesus. My love to all. -W

Learn to love Judas

I shared a meme that said:

"The true test of Christianity isn't loving Jesus. It's learning to love Judas."

A friend said he did not understand and asked me to explain. Here is my answer in case it helps someone else. 

Jesus forgave all of those who put him on the cross including Judas and even you and me, when He cried out “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

The Judases in our lives, aka our enemies, are the ones who seek to betray us, harm us, take from us, manipulate us, abuse us, etc. Our enemies are those who work and plot against us. Those are the people that are difficult to love. Yet, the Bible tells us to love them.

"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them." Luke 6:32

“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. Luke 6:27-28

While challenging, loving our enemies is where the rubber meets the road for Christians who truly want to be more Christ-like.

Giving Thanks Day

Happy Thanksgiving!

to our family and friends

near and far, old and new

close and estranged

You are loved!

Most of our family is gathering together to give thanks to the Lord, enjoy a feast, play some games together, and watch some movies. (Bethany is in Chicago and is feeling under the weather.)

We also have three "extras" this holiday season.

I hope that wherever you are on this day, you take time to thank the Lord. 

No matter what is going on in the world, there is always something for which we can be thankful. 

My love to all!

The battle is raging.

 Skillet frontman warns Americans are on the ‘Verge of losing this Country,’ Amid ‘Wimpy, Woke’ Culture”

https://endtimeheadlines.org/2023/11/watch-skillet-frontman-warns-americans-are-on-the-verge-of-losing-this-country-amid-wimpy-woke-culture

Cooper said it’s time for people to confront the fact that too many Christians have elevated winsomeness over truth, subjugating the latter to a point that has made some churches ineffective.

“They die the death of a thousand caveats, because we don’t want to hurt people’s feelings,” Cooper said. “And, obviously, we should be gracious and loving towards people but we have to tell people the truth. And, so, we’ve become wimpy, we’ve also become weak.” ...

“As a Christian, you have to go back to the Bible and say, ‘Wait a minute, is this a true category of oppression or is this something that the world is saying that we have to do?’” he said. “And I think the answer to that is kind of quite obvious.”

Caving in and giving up the biblical definitions of things, Cooper said, is what it means to be “wimpy, weak, and woke.” In the end, he believes the war raging against the U.S. and American ideals is really a “war against Christianity.”

Weekend Exploring with Amanda

We just came home from a wonderful and fun weekend exploring with Amanda.

In addition to spelunking and sightseeing, we also did some off-roading.

For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
Psalm 100:5

Mugs and Bethany

hope in a society that lives in despair

The prophetic tasks of the church are to tell the truth in a society that lives in an illusion, grieve in a society that practices denial, and express hope in a society that lives in despair. -Walter Brueggemann

More Changes for the Family Ahead?

 It's kind of looking that way. The transition period may continue. We will see what the Lord does. :-) Please keep us in prayer for wisdom and direction. Please ask God to close the wrong doors and open the right ones. Thank you very much!

Elderly Falls Vitamin D Levels (Mushrooms)

As I was researching mushrooms this morning, I came across this. I am sharing because I have four or five friends who have fallen recently.

Beelman also said that more nutritionists are investigating whether vitamin D can enhance sports performance. Researchers have already demonstrated that vitamin D supplements can improve the mobility of elderly people who, because they are vitamin D deficient, may be more at risk of falling, Beelman said.

https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/ultraviolet-flashes-can-create-vitamin-d-enriched-mushrooms/

FYI for those who like to learn naturally healthy ways: You can expose certain types of mushrooms to approx 14 hours of summertime sunlight to convert ergosterol to ergocalciferol (Vit D2) with a potency of around 46,000 IU. If stored properly, the mushrooms will hold the D2 at near-first preserved levels for at least a year.

Dear Reader, God has been so good to us with all He has provided. Even at 54 years old, I still love to research and learn because it always makes me marvel at His creation and reflect on who He is. I fall in love with Him more and more the more I learn. All His ways are good! My love to all!

For all of my practical ways,

...I guess I am too sentimental to let Marty wear Maggie's old jacket. Instead, I am using it as a pattern to make Marty coats to keep her warm this winter. Marty is 13.5 years old and needs a little extra help in the winter. 

Mind you, in my younger years, I said I'd never dress up a dog. But, here I am. 

Now that I am finished, I am going to put Maggie's old coat in my memory box. I sure do miss my little four-legged buddy. 

A Tweety Scribble

Life became super busy while we were wrapping up the last project, so I didn't make time for drawing and painting for about a year. I am doing a little here and there lately. Once again, I am very thankful to my beautiful and talented four daughters for putting art back into my life.

don't tell me about it because it scares me

When I was pregnant and extremely sick with severe hyperemesis gravidarum, nothing the doctors were doing was helping me. I started using herbs and alternative therapies and there was a noticeable improvement in one to two weeks. My doctor commented on the change and asked what was working. I told him I was using natural and alternative medicine. He immediately drew back from me. "Well, whatever you are doing, it's working. Keep doing it. But, don't tell me about it because it scares me."

He is not the only doctor who had this response. They could see what I was doing was making a difference, but they did not want to know more about what I was doing so they could learn.

Why does a medical degree make doctors afraid of using what is natural and readily available? 

Sharing that, I will also share that I have had a few doctors who were very interested in learning. I was able to share information including scientific research so they could help others. But, those were very few and far between. 

I have two nurses who want me to write a book with them. They have the medical credentials, and I have the herbal knowledge and decades of experience using it. I am contemplating it. 

Video: "Rapture" is encoded in Isaiah 26 - Natzal - Strongs 5337

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtqDNeZqVss&ab_channel=BrotherVictor726

a kingdom that cannot be shaken

near Harrisonburg, VA

"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.'"

Hebrews 12:28-29

Please pray for Katherine

I have mentioned Katherine in the past as needing prayers after mutilating herself in a very horrific manner in front of her parents which necessitated the rescue squad and deputies. Her mother has a long documented history of mental illnesses and is not functioning well. She stood in the way of Katherine getting the treatments the doctors wanted her to have. Her father wanted her to have the treatments and pushed for them. They divorced. In the end, Katherine did not get the recommended treatments. The 40 yo+ mother is currently being taken care of by her parents as she is unable to work or drive. Katherine was doing very well after her father won custody. However, she is now an adult. The stressors of adulthood (schedules, work, bills, etc) are affecting her mentally in a very negative way. She has also experienced and seen some very dark things. Please pray for her and her family. 

we have to dethrone ourselves

Before we can make Jesus our King, we have to dethrone ourselves. 

"Satan disguises submission to himself under the ruse of personal autonomy. He never asks us to become his servants. Never once did the serpent say to Eve, ‘I want to be your master.’ The shift in commitment is never from Christ to evil; it is always from Christ to self. And instead of his will, self-interest now rules and what I want reigns. And that is the essence of sin.“ Dennis Kinlaw

hold all things loosely

“I have learned to hold all things loosely,

so God will not have to pry them out of my hands.”  

Corrie ten Boom

Trip to Mountains with Clint part 2

watering can in Staunton
on the other side of the tracks are two flower pots

We were blessed that this trip to the mountains was gifted to us and nearly free.

Trip to Mountains with Clint 2023 part 1

Sunrise

Meems Bottom Covered Bridge

It's The End of the World As We Know It

The word Rapture is in the Bible, and different garments in Revelation

Church: fine white linen clean and bright (wedding clothes)

Tribulation Saints: white robes

Old Testament Saints: white robes

Would you like to build up/encourage Bethany?

Bethany asked me to mail her swan collection to her. These were dozens of swans we had collected over her childhood years. A few of them were from the 1940s and 50s. Each one of them had the date it was given and a love note from Clint and me written on the bottom. They were a physical representation of the love between us, and she wanted that with her in Chicago.

I personally wrapped and packaged them. I used two entire rolls of bubble wrap and several recycled packaging materials. I was very careful and thorough. 

I think the "FRAGILE" stickers on the boxes triggered a miserable soul because they worked hard to break nearly every swan in the two boxes. 

They weren't just broken. They were shattered into little bits. Even the thick glass and resin ones were destroyed.

Bethany is heartbroken. 

I counseled her to pray for the person who broke her figurines. We will file the insurance claim, but it will not be enough to recreate the collection.

To make lemonade out of the lemons that were thrown at her, we are going to recreate her swan collection. It will look different, but the love will be there. I am inviting you to help us encourage and uplift Bethany.

If you are in a thrift store and see a swan and would like Bethany to have it:

Please find an inconspicuous place to write an encouraging note and put a date. It's the personal sentiments that meant the most to her. Feel free to simply send a card or a note.

You can mail them to:

Swans for Bethany
PO Box 244
Achilles, VA 23001 

and I will get them to her. 

Another Step Forward

would liberate millions of precious souls

 “Oh that believers would become eternity-conscious! If we could live every moment of every day under the eye of God, if we did every act in the light of the judgment seat, if we sold every article in the light of the judgment seat, if we prayed every prayer in the light of the judgment seat, if we tithed all our possessions in the light of the judgment seat, if we preachers prepared every sermon with one eye on damned humanity and the other on the judgment seat—then we would have a Holy Ghost revival that would shake this earth and that, in no time at all, would liberate millions of precious souls.” Leonard Ravenhill, Why Revival Tarries

We were hit by a bulldozer...

Clint arrived home and asked me if I wanted to go to the mountains with him. We packed and left within about 20 minutes.

The Blue Ridge was congested with leaf peepers, so we slipped away to an off-road for a more restful pace. It was so pretty and peaceful! I have pictures from that, but I had to tell this story first.

As we left the off-road area, we saw two Jeeps needing repairs. This guy was able to make the repairs he needed...

but this guy needed a new brake line and brake fluid before he descended the mountain. We offered to go get those for him. He was very grateful. So off we went.

Right here is a good place for this quote: "No good deed goes unpunished." 

As we made our way down the mountain, we met the forestry service coming up the mountain. The road was narrow, so both vehicles moved as far over as they possibly could. We were on the side with the long steep drop.… 

It appeared we were clear, but then it sounded like an explosion! The sound scared me because it was so much louder than I would have ever imagined especially for as slow as the big truck was moving. The mirror was hit. It busted on both sides, flexed forward, and then vibrated some and snapped back into position. The missing part was flung over the truck and off the side of the mountain. No recovering that!

Clint would have pulled the mirror in, but the forestry truck never stopped. We met suddenly on a sharp, narrow curve. There was no time to roll the window down and pull in the mirror safely. Clint was not going to risk a serious injury to his hand over a mirror.

However, we all thought all was clear until the impact. Clint and I had no idea...

that the blade was hanging over. This picture does not show how much it was hanging over. I also think the fact we were passing on a curve kept us from seeing it hanging off.

We had to go back to where the Jeeps were broken down because that was the only place we could park and exchange info. I told the Jeep guy with the brake issues we were not able to get the parts due to the accident, but someone else then went for them. I offered him water and snacks while he waited. He was pretty upset about his Jeep.

The driver of the big load apologized and was relieved we weren't angry. He said on the way up the mountain road, the load shifted. A chain broke and then the dozer slid on the trailer. There was nowhere to unload and reload the dozer to reposition it, so they had to keep going.

We told him it was no big deal. No one was hurt. The brand spanking new 2024 Dodge Ram 1500's mirror needs replacing but it's just a thing. Things aren't what are really important.

When we got back up to where the Jeeps were broken down, there were a lot of forestry guys looking at their fire truck which had just broken down. Those guys figured out what happened and wanted to see the damage, so they and I started talking and joking with each other while Clint and the driver of the big truck were working out the details.

We somehow started talking about my single and very capable 28-year-old daughter. I told them about all of the things she has achieved and her skill set. They were impressed.

THEN,  LOL with that mischievous twinkle in my eye, I told them my girl likes guys who can keep their cars on the road. I pointed to their broken firetruck and said, "She wouldn't be broken down on the side of the road because she can fix her own cars." They laughed so hard at that! Clint, who had been observing and listening in, busted out laughing.

FYI, the forestry department is self-insured which really speeds up the process for repairs.

My eyes are twinkling mischievously again... Single young ladies, the picture above is JD. He is 23, single, very good-natured, and has steady employment. He is the newbie to the crew. Just so ya know, he is not the guy who hit us. Despite the broken-down fire truck, he seems pretty capable. :-D All joking aside, he is a very nice young man.

*****

Dear Reader, In case you are wondering, I am feeling a lot better. I am sorry for the things I have canceled. I appreciate those who have checked in on me and are praying for me. My love to all!

Turmeric Chicken Soup

Turmeric is so good for the body. Research shows it lowers blood pressure and blood sugar. It is an anti-inflammatory and can relieve pain and sinus congestion. It is a carminative meaning it can prevent and/or relieve flatulence and can treat colic in babies. It works as a choleretic by increasing the volume of bile from the liver which helps release and remove toxins from the body. Many of my friends with arthritis and chronic pain say it helps them. To make the most of the medicinal properties of turmeric, you need to use a good portion of black pepper.

Daisies from Clint

A Simple Way to Keep Weight on an Old Dog (or other pet)

A vet tech Clint and I interviewed recently told me she has never seen a dog Marty's age with such good body mass. 

Marty has a couple of teeth in the back of her jaw, but that is it. She has to gum her food. 

The vet tech was astonished at how good Marty looked. She kept going on and on about how great her body mass is even though she is elderly and has practically no teeth. She asked me how I managed to keep Marty's weight up. 

Here's my answer:

When I eat, she eats. She eats whatever I am eating if she likes what I am eating. She usually likes something I have on my plate. I am having soup that does not have any chunks of meat or vegetables she will eat, I will scramble her an egg. If it is something that Marty can't "chew" with her gums, I chew it before I give it to her. It's really that simple. No expensive diets are needed, just mindfulness of her needs.

Marty will "sing" when she knows I am eating chicken. It is her favorite meal.