Hello and good evening to you. I tried going to sleep a couple hours ago but my mind just won’t be quiet! I should be used to this by now. So here I am writing to you. Today I went to Thursday prayer at Grace House which is always good. We had a lot to pray about! Pastor Jason’s daughter Harper is really having a hard time. So many people in our church are having health issues. Afterwards I went to the Sunrise. I wasn’t going to go but changed my mind. Going there is like home away from home for me now. I look forward to seeing and hearing Emma and her staff.
As I lay here in the quiet and dark my mind is thinking of the world. What is happening?!! It feels like everything is unraveling. I keep thinking of the children and the world they are inheriting. So many children are dying or are suffering in some way. My nightly prayers are for divine intervention. Our world leaders need to back up their nice words with action!
Dear Jesus I pray for this fragile blue dot we call home. Please be with all the children and most vulnerable – cover them with your love. Please give leaders at all levels of government and influence wisdom in their governance. May the Holy Spirit guide them in all their ways. Please be with those who care for the unhoused, poor and sick. Please protect all those who are in service and who serve others. Amen.
Hello to you. How are you doing in your corner of existence? Another day has passed and I got through it. I got a couple walks in and did a 9 minute Tai Chi exercise instructed by Don Fiore: https://youtu.be/ZxcNBejxlzs?si=Vfdsr0L8dnd-1fJH – 9 min session
Dear Jesus I pray for world peace in the midst of escalating global conflicts. Please guide our world leaders to peace and not war. I pray for the families who lost several school children in Iran. So many innocent souls needlessly taken. I pray for the service men and women who have died because of this conflict. Violence begets violence and you tried to teach us this lesson! I pray for all life on this fragile planet earth. Please be present with us in these dark days. Amen,
Hello to you. I hope there is love and peace in your corner of the world. There is a lot going on in this world that needs our prayers! I am not happy with what is going on. It’s like we don’t even have a Congress! Thank God for my church and blood family!
Today Pastor Jason was in Matthew 18:
Matthew 18:21-35New International Version
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[a]
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[b] was brought to him.25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[c] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
He gave a quote from C. S Lewis that really resonated with me: True humility is not thinking less of self but thinking of yourself less.
The root of forgiveness is love:
1 Corinthians 13:5New International Version
5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
After church I drove over to my Aunt and Uncles to ride with them to Olive Garden in Nampa to celebrate my cousins wife’s birthday. It was very busy and we waited about 35 minutes but it was worth it. The best part of the meal was us being together to celebrate my beautiful friend! We are the same age but she is the more mature of the two of us. She had good news about her work situation – fewer hours and getting to work from home one day a week. They were going to lose her so they worked out this deal. We are so happy for her!
My Aunt and I had chicken Alfredo and everyone else had soup and salad. Our waitress wasn’t the most attentive but it was very busy so we tried to be understanding. Everyone is excited for me and the healing journey I am currently on with giving Tai Chi a try. It means a lot to have their encouragement and support. We are happy that my cousin Heidi is home now. She is on a big healing journey and we are so proud of her! My Uncle John is doing really well from his knee surgery and it was wonderful that he joined us today. He was happy to actually be able to wear regular pants for the first time since his surgery!
Dear Jesus I pray for this world and all the life within it. Please be with the leaders of this world in these trying times – let them seek peace not wars that never end. I ask you to put a hedge of protection around all those who serve. I pray that you would wrap your loving arms around the sick, those trying to heal, the poor and the hungry. Thank you Lord. Amen.
Hello and good evening to you. It’s the end of the day and I figured I would write to you before trying to go to sleep. How was your day? Did your team win the Super Bowl? I only saw part of the game and missed the half time show that got mixed reviews. I was glad to see Trumps feathers got ruffled by the show. I am so sick of him! Way to go Bad Bunny! I don’t get reception for NBC and refuse to pay for Peacock – so no Olympics either.
The subject of my blog is poking fun at myself as I have become such a serious person. I used to have a sense of humor! Every day now there is something going on in the world that ticks me off. There just doesn’t seem to be an end in sight! We are expected to wait out 3 more years of this nightmare fuel?! So the challenge is to not let the headlines get to me without putting my head in the sand and pretend that these goings on are normal. I want to reclaim my middle name – Joy!
This Friday I will be another year older with my cousin Tony. We are going out to eat at a restaurant in Star my Aunt and I stumbled across a couple years ago. It was the Rustic Table and is now The Rare Steakhouse. I’ll celebrate with joy that I even have loved ones to share the day with! I am going to pray that Jesus, through my loved ones, friends and Link, will soften my heart.
Dear Jesus please soften my heart in these trying times. Help me reclaim my inner child. I ask you to put your loving arms around all those who are sick, hungry, in the healing process, those without shelter to include animals. Please shine your love and mercy through each of us that we would be worthy vessels of your will here on earth. Please be with all the leaders of this world – give them wisdom! Amen.
Hello to you. Today has been good. It started by my waking up in time to get to the ladies coffee time at Grace House. It was good to see everyone and get caught up. I took the opportunity to share about my cousin Heidi and we prayed for her and also I asked that we pray for this country and world. Especially Minneapolis and Iran. Also I am very concerned about what Trump is doing with Greenland and our European allies! What he wants isn’t what most Americans want. I feel like he’s acting like a spoiled child! We want affordable housing, food and healthcare! Every day I live in regret for having anything to do with this administration. I let myself be influenced and that won’t be happening come midterms!
Today was Martin Luther King Day – hopefully not our last! My grandparents would be so sad to see what is going on in our country. Both of them fought for civil rights. Here are some of his most famous quotes:
On Love & Hate
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
On Justice & Injustice
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
“The time is always right to do what is right.”
“A right delayed is a right denied.”
On Courage & Action
“Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.”
“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
On Dreams & Reality
“I have a dream that one day little black boys and girls will be holding hands with little white boys and girls.”
“You can kill the dreamer, but you can’t kill the dream.”
On Service & Humanity
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?'”
“We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers.”
Hello to you. It’s late as I write to you. I can’t sleep so figured I would write to you. How was your day? My day was long but uneventful. I got Link out on a walk today. He’s been willing to go lately and I like that!
Yesterday was prayer group day but because of fog and icy roads we did a conference call and were still able to pray together. We have a lot to pray about. My prayer request was for my sweet cousin Heidi who is recovering from a burst brain aneurysm. We also prayed for our dear friend Cheryl Hargan who had surgery today – a double breast mastectomy. We also prayed for Pastor Jason’s daughter Harper. We are a growing church so lots of leadership spaces need filling. Our time praying isn’t just about needs but also giving praise. Local police and fire departments are picking up their bibles and more are coming to Christ. In a time of great turmoil in our country and world there is much comfort to be had in following Jesus.
Dear Jesus please be with our leaders at all levels. Please help them navigate this increasingly violent and confusing world. Let your will be done in all these affairs. Please be with all our friends and family going through health and wellness challenges. Please be with the people of Iran and all parts of this world who are in turmoil and chaos right now. I pray you would help those who give sanctuary to animals. . I pray all this in your name. Amen.
Good evening. It’s from bed that I’m writing to you. I want to acknowledge the murder of Renee Nicole Good by ICE agents – this has to stop! I feel really sad about what is happening in our country. I’ll leave it at that!
This murder should not have happened!
I was sick recently so I didn’t feel up to writing. Thankfully it didn’t last long! I had loving family and friend support. I have an appointment next month to try and do something about the pooling sensation in my ears. I hope something can be done.
Today was a day of praise and worship. Even though I was having the pooling sensation in my ears I went to church this morning and a prayer and praise gathering at Grace House this evening. It did my heart good to see my church fam! The service today was about the prodigal son parable Jesus told out of Luke 15: 11-31 niv:
The Parable of the Lost Son
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing.26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him.29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
Dear Jesus I bring before you this broken world and thank you for the good that is within it. People like Renee should not be murdered! I pray for her wife, kids and dog that are left behind without her.
In the midst of tragedies going on all over the world people are gathering together in your name- singing your praise. Let the light, the good outshine the darkness. Let there be healing for those who need it. I have loved ones who are going through trials – please be with them. Wrap your loving arms around them and assure them that everything is going to be ok.
Hello and good evening. It’s the end of the day as I write to you from here. Today began with a blessing of friendship. My friend Jeannie and I met for breakfast at the Sunrise Cafe here in town. We had a good visit and got caught up on family, church and world affairs. She shared a strange dream she had that I was in. I was the best part of the dream. I wasn’t much help in deciphering it!
Jeannie is one of the only people in my life that I can talk to about political matters. We both are pretty disillusioned about the cluster of a mess Trump has made! The only good thing I can see about what he’s done is people buying less cheap plastic things that end up in the landfills.
I have been recovering from a cold since before Christmas so I stayed away from everyone. My cousins wife showed her friendship and brought me chicken soup, juice and losenges and my Aunt brought some food by on Christmas Day. All I wanted to do was sleep! There has been a super flu going around and even as isolated as I am I still caught some of it! I am not feeling 100% but will stay positive! I am so blessed to have family and friends that are looking out for me.
Mark 9:23New International Version
23 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
Hello to you. It is evening as I write to you. My thoughts are winding down and soon it will be time for bed. I’m trying to do what my therapist and I talked about on Tuesday. I told her about my troubles falling asleep and her suggestion was that I go to bed when I’m sleepy not just tired. Her advice really resonated with me. I had never really thought of going to sleep that way. When you’re sleepy you will feel it whereas when you are tired it’s more of a cerebral thing. For example I start going to bed at 9 pm and won’t fall asleep til 1-2 am! I usually have to have a nighttime meditation from YouTube on. The one I listen to the most is from the Relax For Awhile Channel with Joanne: https://youtu.be/204EcI6-9Vo?si=_NM2VlXI8PvdFgWZ
I wanted to mention that I am deeply disappointed about what is being done to the east wing of the White House. He’s acting like it’s his own house and can just do whatever he wants to it without permission. It’s our house! Very sad!
John 1:5New International Version
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.
Hello to you this sunny Saturday morning. Today, all over the world, no kings rallies and marches are going on. People are gathering together in numbers to voice their discontent over what is manifesting all around the world. Our ancestors here in the states left Great Britain and came to America to escape tyranny and religious persecution. We wanted a life of freedom and were willing to fight and die for it. We are now having to rise up again and hopefully our elected representatives will take notice. It can’t be just for a day!
There are some who are saying if things keep going the way they are, there won’t even be an election in 2028! With everything that has happened already that rumor isn’t too far fetched. They are finding ways, plotting ways, to make it more difficult to vote. Finding ways to stop certain voters. The upcoming primaries will be very important and will have an impact on what happens in the future.
The upheaval that is happening all around the globe is a warning sign for those in positions of power. We the people put you there and we the people can remove you!
Matthew 24:6-8New International Version
6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
To be 