Hello to you. Hope this finds you well today. I found out it’s World Water Day – water is life! There are simple things each of us can do to help conserve our most precious of resources. Stuff as simple as turning off the tap when your brushing your teeth. Taking shorter showers. Not rinsing your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. I found this National Geographic video that is short but shows some good examples of places where efforts are being made to preserve waterways- so many lives, not just human, depend on them:
The night before Chris died I had a disturbing dream of being pulled through my bedroom ceiling. Finding out he had strangled himself really hit me hard. His music was some of the first music my husband shared with me. In particular I Am the Highway. Songs like Be Yourself have comforted me through so many difficult times. His struggles and manner of death really bothered me. With my own journey with alcohol dependency for a time hearing of his battles really touched my heart. Addiction is a disease that so many lose the battle with….Chris was one such casualty. I’m glad his family got some peace with their law suite: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/chris-cornell-family-settlement-doctor-1166269/amp/
Messages from A Woman’s Spirit:
When we are all wrapped up in ourselves, we present a very small package to others. – Georgette Vickstrom
Today I can put aside my tendency to look at every circumstance in relationship to myself. With God’s help, I can put my attention on others.
Yesterday evening Link and I took a walk and I remembered to take my phone. As I am getting more at home here I am spending more time getting to know the neighborhood trees.
Backyard tree Evening sun through branches Same tree with sunlight Walking with my dear friend Link Many in one treeAnother one of the Willow trees in our neighborhood Some pine
Some uplifting words. I want to fill myself with positive spirit food today. I knew I could count on Jesus for that! A light in so much darkness that surrounds us these days. I encourage you to temper all the bad news with uplifting things! Be conscious of who and what you are allowing to feed your soul.
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.(B) 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.(C) 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.(D) 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.(E) 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.(F) 8 Blessed are the pure in heart,(G) for they will see God.(H) 9 Blessed are the peacemakers,(I) for they will be called children of God.(J) 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,(K) for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.(L)
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you,(M)persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.(N)12 Rejoice and be glad,(O) because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.(P)
Willow tree I just love in our neighborhood She has a huge trunk I think it’s so prettyAnother beauty in our neighborhood Drawing that came to me today
Hello to you. How are you? It’s Saturday and overcast. The sun is peaking out a little bit. Yesterday was nice. I went to breakfast at the Sunrise Cafe and was blessed – a couple that were in there with me paid for my breakfast! I was really touched by that. I got a couple walks in with Link. It was during the evening walk I snapped the pictures of this Willow tree down the street. I just love it! This neighborhood has some lovely mature trees.
The message in A Woman’s Spirit is really good. It reminds us that we can’t control or change the past or future. What we can control about ourselves is right now. We are not powerless in our present moment.
A Woman’s Spirit message for today:
With one foot in the past and the other in the future, how can we possibly know what new path we might follow today? -Jan Pishok
Now is all there is. But how often, really, are our minds in the present? Honestly, aren’t we much more focused on what just happened or what we fear will happen in the next hour or day or year? Being here, now, means giving up the past absolutely. It also means relinquishing all thoughts about the future. Occupying our minds with the experience of this instant only seems hard to do. We’re far more used to greater chaos than what we experience solely in the here as now.
We have a direction that’s right for us. Unfortunately, we miss the road signs because we are still looking over our shoulder at what we passed yesterday. The destiny we need, needs us too. Quietly focusing on our lives , one moment at a time, can assure us of fulfilling it.
Letting go of the noise I carry in my mind changes my life. I can feel and acknowledge what’s here when my mind is open.
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It’s important to remember that we can’t change the past. We can learn from the past but we can’t change it. Working on staying mindful in our present can leave a better past behind us.
Todays message from A Woman’s Spirit is so good I am going to share all of it:
We are who we are, shaped and molded by the times, by the events, and by the persons we encounter on our way, and no one ever changes very much or escapes entirely from that mold. – Ruth Casey
Everything we experience today is woven with all that has gone before. We are a tapestry in progress. We grow and change, heightening some of our patterns, successfully diminishing others, and maintaining still others. We need feel more shame for this person we’ve become; we’ve done our best. From this point forward, with the help of the program, our Higher Power , and the wonderful friendships that sustain us, we will add many new colors and stronger threads to the tapestry that continues to be us.
Even though there is often much we want to change in ourselves, there is much that will and should stay the same. Let’s trust God will guide our efforts in changing those traits that deserve our attention now, leaving the rest for another time. We have been loved, guided, and protected even though we are not perfect. That will be true always.
All that has gone before will help me handle whatever today offers. I am in Gods keeping now and forever.
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The skies yesterday
Today this Psalm 103 resonated. I was looking for a Psalm to read for my Twitch video and I came across this one with lots of it highlighted! May be there is something within it that will resonate with you too:
Psalm 103New International Version
Psalm 103
Of David.
1 Praise the Lord,(A) my soul;(B) all my inmost being, praise his holy name.(C) 2 Praise the Lord,(D) my soul, and forget not(E) all his benefits— 3 who forgives all your sins(F) and heals(G) all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life(H) from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,(I) 5 who satisfies(J) your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed(K) like the eagle’s.(L)
6 The Lord works righteousness(M) and justice for all the oppressed.(N)
7 He made known(O) his ways(P) to Moses, his deeds(Q) to the people of Israel: 8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,(R) slow to anger, abounding in love. 9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;(S) 10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve(T) or repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love(U) for those who fear him;(V) 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions(W) from us.
13 As a father has compassion(X) on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; 14 for he knows how we are formed,(Y) he remembers that we are dust.(Z) 15 The life of mortals is like grass,(AA) they flourish like a flower(AB) of the field; 16 the wind blows(AC) over it and it is gone, and its place(AD) remembers it no more. 17 But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children(AE)— 18 with those who keep his covenant(AF) and remember(AG) to obey his precepts.(AH)
19 The Lord has established his throne(AI)in heaven, and his kingdom rules(AJ) over all.
20 Praise the Lord,(AK) you his angels,(AL) you mighty ones(AM) who do his bidding,(AN) who obey his word. 21 Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,(AO) you his servants(AP) who do his will. 22 Praise the Lord, all his works(AQ) everywhere in his dominion.
(For some reason I got interrupted mid-stream so it’s in two parts)
Hello to you. How are you today? I’ll start with the message from A Woman’s Spirit. It was really good. It was about how when we remove addicting substances or other obstructions we are able to get to know ourselves better.
“We don’t necessarily like every aspect of who we are now. And most of us loathe who we used to be. But having the tools to peel away the layers of denial about the past and having the willingness to face our feelings are paramount to becoming who we’d rather be. What we’re getting to, what’s deep in our soul, is the person God has hoped would emerge all along. Having the chance to know our soul is a profoundly important gift. Let’s gently unwrap it.”
On my Twitch Stream today my focus was on the crisis I see with our global water supply. Why does it seem like clouds don’t form on their own anymore? I lived in a state that heavily relied on cloud seeding to keep up with increased demands for water and it’s seeming to be the same here in Idaho. I think the water that comes isn’t natural water and I wonder if it’s contributing to why we have so many forest fires . I wonder if the water that falls from these manufactured clouds isn’t making vegetation more flammable. I remember seeing silver droplets on the leaves of my trees back in Texas after cloud seeding flights. I believe it’s all connected. We rely on water for just about everything we use just day to day. To think our planet can’t seem to generate “natural” water like it once did is very concerning to me.
The other thing I touched on is the potential train wreck I’m seeing ahead with the conversion to electric vehicles. I think the cart has been put in front of the horse about this. Can the current power grid support the massive increase of demand that will come with billions of electric vehicles without bankrupting most consumers with high electric bills? The smart thing to do would be to make sure we have sustainable power generation modalities to keep up with the increased demand. The back up to most alternative power generating modalities is usually gas. Nuclear power with proper safety procedures in place and proper facility maintenance is probably the near term answer. If the US would recycle fuel cells that would be good too. I just am seeing things moving really fast to get people into electric cars but the infrastructure needed to support it doesn’t seem to exist right now. I think ultimately consumers are really going to be footing a big expense. Seems to be that way no matter what we do doesn’t it?!!
Anyhew….I hope some visionaries are thinking about these things. It seems like so many people that control what makes our world go are using crisis management. Doing things and asking for forgiveness later.
Hello to you. How is your where and when as you visit me here? Hard to believe it’s Thursday already. The week has gone by fast.
This gift rock from my dear friend “T” brightens each day
Todays message from A Woman’s Spirit has to do with quieting the mind and meditation. Both of these things have been a challenge for me! I have always had a monkey mind and or chatter brain. However, when I was living in Texas I used to lay on my back for hours just connecting with the passing clouds or sit on the band stand we had and connect with the trees, flowers and insects. I guess it was like meditating! I do better outside when it comes to trying to still my body and mind. Inside there are so many distractions!
This morning I did something that I need to do more often and that is get quiet inside and focus my thoughts. It’s really hard for me to “hold a thought.” In particular my sinuses were kind of blocked up so I focused my thoughts to my sinus and told them to open up and or to clear…..it worked! I was able to breathe freely again. I then proceeded to focus on different parts of my body that have been hurting and was able to get relief there too. Then before my feet hit the ground to get up I just asked God to be with me today….”Hey God would you hang out with me today?”
Anyhew lol what I’m talking about here is a challenge in the kind of world we live in. I really struggle myself with this! If we are in a relationship of some kind, have kids, pets, a job, hobbies….things that keep us busy and distracted all day long, it can be really difficult to find time to just stop not only our bodies but our busy minds. Stop long enough to connect with our inner selves and our Higher Power. Be still…..some of us in this world are choosing and in many cases out of survival are having to stay busy every waking minute. We have to rest our bodies and our minds —- make space and time for our spiritual selves to exist. Like I said on my stream today if you are having trouble with having quiet time inside – why? What is keeping you from it and what can you do about it? If it’s a lot of things and you are overwhelmed what is one thing you can do to get peace inside? I have to do this myself – not focus on all the stuff I can’t change but focus on what I can. Kind of like what The Serenity Prayer talks about:
The Serenity Prayer is a prayer written by the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr. It is commonly quoted as: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.
Messages from A Woman’s Spirit today:
“Today I will stop brooding – and start meditation.” – Nancy T
“I can figure out my next best move today if I quiet my mind long enough to receive God’s message.”
Hello to you! How are you doing today? It’s cloudy here this morning. I hope we get some rain we really need it. We are having a drought here in Idaho.
Todays message in A Woman’s Spirit talks about letting other people learn their own lessons. I have always been the kind of person that has trouble just staying on my own side of the street and not trying to go over and clean another persons. For example I used to have a problem with feeling like I had to pick up trash. It was a very strong compulsion until it really sunk in that by picking up after people I was just enabling their behavior. There is so much we do in this world that we think is helping to solve a problem but really is just enabling undesirable behaviors. I saw it with the Animal Shelter back in Alvarado. People would dump their dogs and cats. The shelter would pick them up and the shelter would get full. The shelter would then have to take extreme measures to try and get the animals adopted, get emptied out and the whole cycle would start all over. People just kept getting away with being irresponsible. I see so much of that in its various forms. If there is no consequences people just keep doing things that are not ok. The other day I saw this article about Boyan Slats Ocean Cleanup operation: https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/down-to-earth/22949475/ocean-plastic-pollution-cleanup and it was an interesting perspective about what operations like Boyans do. More needs to be done to make companies and people responsible for the mess they are making. There are so many flaws with the creation of plastics and other things that end up in landfills and our waterways. It’s like no one thinks about the life cycle of their products – environmental impact- before they make things. I started doing that and I don’t make things like I used to….and it’s ok.
A Woman’s Spirit message:
“Change comes about when we stop trying to shape up the other person and begin to observe patterns and find new options for our own behavior.” – Harriet Lerner
“Accepting that we can’t change someone else affects every detail of our lives. Many of us have spent years frustrated, even frantic at times, trying to control the actions and opinions of others.”
This psalm 46 really resonated – a power ballad of words for what’s going on these days:
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth.[b] A song.
1 God is our refuge(A) and strength,(B) an ever-present(C) help(D) in trouble.(E) 2 Therefore we will not fear,(F) though the earth give way(G) and the mountains fall(H) into the heart of the sea,(I) 3 though its waters roar(J) and foam(K) and the mountains quake(L) with their surging.[c]
4 There is a river(M) whose streams(N)make glad the city of God,(O) the holy place where the Most High(P)dwells.(Q) 5 God is within her,(R) she will not fall;(S) God will help(T) her at break of day. 6 Nations(U) are in uproar,(V) kingdoms(W)fall; he lifts his voice,(X) the earth melts.(Y)
7 The Lord Almighty(Z) is with us;(AA) the God of Jacob(AB) is our fortress.(AC)
8 Come and see what the Lord has done,(AD) the desolations(AE) he has brought on the earth. 9 He makes wars(AF) cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow(AG) and shatters the spear; he burns the shields[d] with fire.(AH) 10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;(AI) I will be exalted(AJ) among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob(AK) is our fortress.(AL)
Todays Twitch stream was good. We talked about a lot of stuff today! Addiction, the choice to have pets, psalm 26, different cultures living together, world peace, technology and responsible creation. One of my viewers asked if I feel like technology has brought people together and my answer was yes but it’s also a bit of an illusion. With technology I’m able to communicate with people all over the world – something without technology I wouldn’t be able to do. Without technology my life would be very lonely….but I have to remind myself that technology isn’t a replacement for one to one contact. Technology can’t replace what happens between people having face to face contact.
I wish there were more visionaries in the world of creation. So much of our worlds operations is based on short sightedness. How much money will this make me? Not how will this be a benefit to mankind. Follow from creation and through the entire life cycle of what is being created – where is what I want to create going to end up? Taking responsibility for our creations. When I really started thinking about my crafts and hobbies I ended up stopping a lot of what I was doing! I liked to paint but realized the environmental impact of my enjoying it – the paint in the water for example. One area of late that I am concerned about with this is robotics. I would like to see more vigilance….more regulation but it’s already kind of too late! Anyways, talked about a lot today.
“Focus on how we are the same not how we are different.” – me
My thoughts and prayers are with the people of the Ukraine and Russia – any part of our shared world that is in conflict of any kind. We must learn to focus as a world on what we have in common not how we are different – what separates us. It’s like taking out your mental gratitude list. Once you think of one thing a whole bunch of others come to your mind! I just hope everything is going to be alright with all of this.
I highly recommend this video – we are all responsible for the “stuff” that gets manifested in this world: https://youtu.be/9GorqroigqM
Yesterday when I was streaming on Twitch I got to talking about there being a reason for everything. Even if at the time it doesn’t make sense. So many times seemingly senseless things have happened and the first question was “WHY?!!” Then you look at the whole picture and oftentimes you get an “aha!” moment.
When I was spending a lot of time in my backyard in Texas I learned so much from the trees, flowers and insects….from simple blades of grass and dried leaves. I can remember sitting on the bandstand we had and pointing at a blade of grass or dandelion and just thinking to God “what do you want to do with that?” Something would always happen. The wind would blow. Sometimes an insect would show up. I felt like God was showing me that every single “piece” was accounted for. There was a plan for even a humble blade of grass. This got me thinking about the entirety of existence…..countless pieces of this existence all having a purpose. The intelligence I felt of God was everywhere and in everything. I was shown battles even in the seemingly gentle plant kingdom. There would be a prickly weed gradually surrounded by the “softer” plants. Kind of like a neighborhood ganging up together against a bully! All of this going on in my little backyard. I miss my nature friends. I feel like in the moments I had there was a glimpse into the why of things.
Even those things we perceive as having no purpose do indeed have one…..I asked!
Some may say it was just a coincidence what I experienced but it happened over and over again- no coincidence. I miss those moments of feeling so plugged into God….into existence. Every place that I’ve lived I have found an outside “church.” I miss Alvarado but have faith that I’m where I am right now for a reason and a new natural place of worship will present itself. The “why” of my being here will reveal itself.
It’s kind of hard to see it but it’s supposed to be a snow Angel! Boy is it harder to get down and get back up !
Hello to you. How has your day been? Today for me was mostly about rearranging snow. We sure got a lot of it. I decided to play a bit and made a snow Angel lol.
Your never too old to play in the snow!
“Who is my family? Who are my friends? Who knows where the road begins….where it ends. This life makes wanderers…..explorers of us all. Starting and returning to a shape very small…curved hand in mouth to a suckling ball.”
To be 