Stress and the Net

Psalm 124:2-5 (NIV) “If the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us, when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive; the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away.”

Stress… and the net

There’s a little too much stress going around the internet these days, stress I can not tolerate at this time. I really try to put a handle on it, but in the state of this disease that’s ravishing my cells, I need to control what stress I allow in and what stress I contribute to.

I’ve always been intrigued by weather so when Harvey was headed for Galveston Texas, I kept up to date on when it would hit, where exactly it would hit and the damage. I take devastation very seriously and deaths are nothing to joke about. 

After Harvey pummeled Houston, I began to watch a couple more storms snaking their way through the waters. The jokes from people not directly affected by the storms kind of took a sick and twisted turn. I think damaging a soul for the sake of a laugh is not of good character. You might find it funny and humorous that people are losing not only their lives but also many have lost their homes, their livelihoods. I don’t find it humorous, I’m sickened and saddened by the childish acts of supposed adults.

I didn’t retreat from the social media world when I should have because that is where the majority of my friends reside. I like to read and see what everyone is up to and I also like to be informed about the BC group and what is going on in the lives of other newly diagnosed patients trying this here alternative method. I aim to help but I realize that I’m not as well informed as I thought. Well for me, I am as informed as I’m going to get for now. Apparently, my first month of this crud I inundated my system with some great information.

I look to aid others in this quest but more times than not my words and assistance are shot down by those who know more than I know. I think also because I’m not needy, I’m informative and that threatens people sometimes. You see, every crud is different so what works for me might not work for them and vice versa, what works for them might not work for me. If I try to contradict what they’re saying I feel badgered so I pull myself away and into isolation I go. I sit back and listen but then the overload of information gets jumbled. I’m done trying to dissect all the information as it comes into view. I slowly back away.

Then another hurricane, Irma, took aim after devastating the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean then the beast set its sights on the U.S.! Trees and homes were chomped away like fried chicken and taters as the monstrous hurricane chewed its way through not only trees and homes but also lives. Irma was now setting her sights on Florida, another state with friends of mine. I can tell you, they were not the ones making jokes before or after.

After I made sure my friends were all okay, I chose to step back and take a breather. Away from the word cancer, away from people, away from drama, away from the stress drama causes, away from ignorance and hate and just isolate me and build strength in the Word!

While I can’t do much more than pray for the victims of the hurricane's devastation, my prayers will have to be a sufficient enough form of caring for those who’ve lost so much. While it does take the focus off of me, it hurts me to read and listen to the tragedy everyone has had forced upon them. While my heart bleeds for all involved, I feel selfish in caring for myself. I’m battling a deadly disease, these people are battling a tragedy also but at least they’re alive, for now so am I.

And to those who find humor in this devastation, I pray for them and their lost souls. Next thing you know they’ll be joking about cancer, oh no wait, that more than likely has touched their lives so no, they won’t joke about that. Our world is being consumed by its own form of cancer and while I like laughter as much as the next person, death and devastation are not the place and time to find humor.

Hebrews 13:5b, “For God has said, ‘I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.’”(NLT)

Comforting Words

Heb. 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Comfort in Trying Times

I was going to hang my hat up for the rest of the year of blogging but as many of you already know me so well, I do what God calls me to do and last night it was evidently clear that He wanted me to send out some comforting words to you, who need to hear.

As you know, we have all experienced a year of awe-inspiring deaths; deaths that affected the very core of our soul. Yes, I know everyone dies, and every year we have our shocking deaths of the year that just makes our jaw drop open and hang there in wonder. Last year for me was a blur as I had three deaths in the family and it looks like this year my husband might be losing an aunt. She is in the hospital being kept alive by feeding tubes as I write.  

I’m referring to the current year of celebrity deaths that seemed to touch many generations not just my generation as Prince, Glen Frey, George Michael in the music world, but to the older generations as in Garry Marshall, Gloria DeHaven, Arnold Palmer and the space exploring Astronauts John Glenn and Edgar Mitchell to writer Harper Lee. These deaths touched many generations. The list goes on and on and the year isn’t even over yet. This seems to be the year of icon deaths. 

When growing up what is magnified in shaping you is what goes into your mind, body, and spirit. While God may have shaped the early years, the television and radio input has also chiseled little pieces of your psyche. As you travel down memory lane December 31st, remember those icons who shaped who you are today. 

The political arena where people fought like pit bulls tossed into a pit with a bunny running in circles overshadowed this dismal year also. Devastating fires and earthquakes in places that rarely receives any media attention carved the year and the disheartening ending. This was a year for the record books from weather, destruction, deaths, politics, wildfires to entitlement. We the people who feel entitled to everything our fingers and minds can grasp are being put into our place for certain. 

We are not entitled! This is not our world to do what we want, this place is on loan and the sooner people realize how close we are to the end and that it is time to pay our dues maybe people can focus deeper on their soul and the continuance of the spirit that will leave the body, leave the beloved family behind to mourn and leave you to cleave only to your own spirit.

I watch as people succumb to their wants and needs. Even if all of their needs are met they seek more; more meds, more money, bigger house, better car, more materials, want, want, want. Their heads are spinning from the confusion instead of calmly looking around at all they have within their grasp and meditating what is right at their fingertips.

Heb. 13:5-6 “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me."

I have nieces and nephews with small children that have to grow up in this world and this is not the world I want to leave them. I want to leave my mark so that when I go, like the iconic figures that have gone on before me this year, I want to be remembered for my poetic life, the laughter I shared, the smiles I gave, for the joy I bestowed and for the God I loved in life and in death, and His comforting words that I share with you today.

Heb 6:10-12 NIV “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” 

Some of these icons that passed over were either well aged or who had not even begun their life, but take note, they all left their mark on the world. I can only assume that God is ready for His chosen to be lifted and taken to a better place. 

I find comfort in knowing that I have a place to go after this life. While some still struggle to understand the depths of the hereafter, probably because they are too consumed by the here and now and the wants and needs of today, I am comforted in knowing that there IS a hereafter and that this life is a continuum of a path that never really ends for us. 

Heb. 6:17-20 “Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf.”

So as I am saddened by the recent deaths of George Michael, Carrie Fisher and her mother Debbie Reynolds I can rest assure with the fact that the choir of angels amassed in heaven this year alone is going to be its own resounding trumpet. 
To the literalist I say, don’t wait for the brass, to the realist I say see what is real, to the pessimist I say, stop conjuring and to the optimist I say, keep the faith! 

Maybe we should all… be Praying for Time. 

God Bless one and all!

Sick Of It All

Ecc.10:13 “The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.

I’m seeing the devastation all around, not just in my homeland; floods, earthquakes, riots, forest fires, drought etc.  It’s easy to point fingers when it is all happening to someone else but clearly there is nothing to joke about when people are dying! Devastation is NOT a political joke, nor should you feel good about yourself in sharing in the ridicule.

Some will laugh and blame witchcraft and ignorantly blame gays for the Houston, Texas area flooding (even in jest it is NOT FUNNY). But will Florida point the same finger when THEY are hit with devastation? Or California when that big earthquake hits or are they blaming these folks for their drought? We live in a pretty sick world that loves laughing and pointing fingers all the while touting scripture that they pretty much don’t LIVE or TRY to live but they go on in their ignorant fashion laughing and blaming OTHERS!

When will man look in the mirror and blame himself for not doing one daggum thing? Never, that’s when because they’d rather laugh, taunt and mock other people for the devastation hitting the world. It makes them feel good.

Like I said before, I’m not affiliated with any political party and I can see clearly every single day why I don’t affiliate with the moronic conservative crowd that thinks their poop doesn’t stink and it is ALWAYS the other parties fault for EVERYthing. I don’t affiliate with the other party because, well, their not the brightest bunch of apples hanging on the tree either.

People of BOTH parties swim in rude ignorant behavior, they are hate-mongers who bask lovingly in all the hate they spew and actually feel good about themselves? I’d be quite embarrassed if I were them but no, they enjoy the hate; they love wrapping themselves in a satanic type blanket and cover themselves in scripture-chocolate-filled parfait.

A sadistic nation of people who call themselves Christian, whom I turn from on a daily basis and just about delete my facebook account daily too because their sickness will not infect me if I don’t let them.

From Bible Gateway:
Revenge belongs to God. If vengeance is God's, then it is not ours. God has not asked us to settle the score or get even. Ever.
Why? The answer is found in Joseph's statement: "You meant to hurt me, but God turned your evil into good to save the lives of many people, which is being done."
Forgiveness comes easier with a wide-angle lens. Joseph uses one to get the whole picture. He refuses to focus on the betrayal of his brothers without also seeing the loyalty of his God.
It always helps to see the big picture.

So who gives people the right to lash out? To hate? To mock, laugh, taunt and tease? It sure isn’t God! They say they know, they say this, they say that. People who blow breath from their mouths because they read does not make a person KNOW! I’m sick of it all!

Do you realize that people split hairs on the things they claim to know but really know absolutely nothing about, in my book? Because I choose not to hate people, because I choose to forgive, because I choose to live as a Christian has me splitting hairs and not wanting to be anything! I’m sick of it all!

They say they know Muslim but they are lying, they know OF them and judge ALL of them as Islamic haters and killers, and judge them as such. They say they know atheists but they don’t know them, they know OF them, and judge them as people who don’t believe in God so they must be judged. They judge the Buddhists that they claim to know and they even claim to know some Christians. Well let me tell you, some of the so-called Christians I KNOW are no better than ANY of these people listed above; they are in the exact same category that they place on the people they are judging.

What makes them better; because their God is better than the other god or goddesses? I’m just sick of it all. This country is going to hell in a hand-basket and it is those very judgmental freaky know it alls who are to blame! YOU are the very reason this judgment is raining down on us. “Judge not lest you BE judged.”

I want to know whose God died and made man judge and jury over it all? (Spare me the "Jesus died." He died for your SIN not for you to JUDGE)

 It seems the so-called Christians feel THEY have a right, the Islam followers feel THEY have a right, name any religion and they all feel entitled to be judge and jury of their fellow man. Only God the Father has the right to judge! And it is because of MAN that all this devastation is showering down on us. Because of YOU and ME! Not because of THEM (whomever you put in a box.)

The real CHRISTIANS are a separate crowd of people. THEY are the ones sharing love, comfort, compassion and understanding. If THEY sit in judgment, it is NOT publicly or socially, it is behind closed doors in prayer! It is THOSE Christians whose words I listen to and turn to, honor and respect on a daily basis. I will not embrace the hate mongers of society as my fellow Christian just because they say this or that is so! Deceivers and deceived they are.

I need to go pray, a nation of beasts needs my prayer.

Ecc. 10:14 A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?

Assessing the Damage

Acts 1: 7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

After this weekend and the nasty storms, it was time to assess the damage. We had winds I know topping the 70 mile mark and they were sustained winds which meant they did not pause between gusts.

I knew we were crazy to do our planting in May but I was getting antsy. It’s planting season by May right but nothing about this year has been normal weather wise. While some were saying this was a harsh winter here in Nebraska because we had a few nights that dipped down to 20 below, yes, that’s 20 below zero!

I say it WASN’T harsh because I remember a few days in December where Steven was still wearing shorts to work. Then a cold spell would hit then back up to the 70’s. We had no back-to-back blizzards as we had had back in 2009 when we moved up here from Texas. We barely had any snow at all this year.

A harsh winter would have rendered my perennials dead, as in the other years, but not this year. This year my perennials and trees showed signs of life in late February early March. It would dip down in the 30’s and bounce back to the sixties and it did that for a month, so I assumed spring was on the way, the calendar said so, right?

Now anyone who knows me, knows I absolutely LOVE winter, but when springtime surfaces it’s as if a bug has bitten me and infects me with the getting outside and assessing the gardens. But working in the cold and sweating and the wind gusting and blowing your hair all over the place is really no fun. It kind of takes away any springtime planting joy.

I despise summer. Yes, despise! Have you ever baked a potato to an excess and it shrivels? That is what summer is to me, time to bake and shrivel. Not much more enjoyment for me other than sitting in my house and watching the birds and creatures on the farm go about their summer business. I’m relinquished to the house. The heat has a negative affect on my body and some days I can’t even move!

For some reason, people are under the impression summer is the time to walk around half naked and expose their body. I saw one girl walk into WalMart in a bathing suit. It IS WalMart mind you and that is where you can see just about ANYthing and everything, but seriously? A bathing suit?

To the best of my recollection, we have four seasons. In February, people were wearing shorts (in all that eagerness to expose their bodies) and two days later they were wearing their parka!

May 15^th. That is the day I was waiting for. It is supposed to be the date where it is safe to do planting because nighttime temps should be safely above 65 degrees; should be anyway. Here it is June 19^th at 6 in the morning and it is a pleasant 60 degrees. We’ve had a FEW mornings where we were above 65, but a few to me is three. Yeah, that’s about it. Spring never arrived. It was either summer or winter, but never spring.

Anyway, by May 15^th we were ready to plant! We did some tilling, got the soil ready, and planted two rows of tomatoes and two rows of peppers, I went around the outside of the house planting Marigolds and Zinnia’s, my Hosta’s and Hollyhocks had surfaced and we were well on our way, right? Wrong!

We had quite a few cold nights at the end of May (some 40’s and 50’s) and I lost a few marigolds, and the tomatoes were hanging in there along with the peppers. Then the Saturday storm hit and hit pretty hard too.

Assessing the damage. The Hollyhock leaves were shredded with nary part of the leaves clinging to the stems. Marigolds were bent over and the flowers were laying inches away from the mother stem. I had a sunflower growing and all that was left standing was a stem, all the leaves were ripped from the stem.

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday was spent raking out the gardens of all the leaf debris that had fallen from the surrounding trees, and assessing the damage to the tomatoes and peppers and the newly sprouts of the Peach trees.

Survival. Truly I got a taste of what was meant by only the strong survive. A bitter taste but a taste nonetheless. I saw as leaves clung to the branches of my plants. I saw the stems standing strong after being whipped through the winds. I saw trees standing as if laughing saying, “You didn’t get ME.”  I witnessed the birth of a seedling rising out of the moistened soil. I saw life, new life going on and facing the days in the sun.

We’ve had a 95 degree day and 60 degree mornings. We’ve had rain, we’ve had loss and all that I gather from the entire experience is that there IS life after devastation. It may change perspective for you but you tend to see it all differently this thing called life.

As the Salvia sprouts new blossoms, as the Hollyhocks reform new leaves, as the Marigold releases new buds, as flowers form on the tomato and pepper plants, I see new life being shaped and formed by the devastating blows.

Ever the optimist, in assessing the damage, I see new life. I see all my plants going on and becoming stronger. I see anew spirit coming alive in my garden. They are all singing praises and lifting up their flower to the Lord chanting, “We will survive!” Until the next storm that is, when they get to do it all over again.

1 Chron. 29:12 Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.

Do we Remember?

Matt. 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies.
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Today is September 9...we’re building up to the tenth anniversary of a devastating time in the history of our American lives. We can all remember the day of September 11, like it just happened yesterday, but I see so many have moved on into a breeding ground of immorality and took none of the message in the shrapnel to heart.
 

We’ve moved on, and took giant leaps back. We didn’t understand the message, we instead became angry and full of hate and in a sense allowed that hatred to fester and bloom into what we have today, a world full of hate.
 

I watch as Christians, or the ‘so-called’ Christians, stand up in what is supposedly God’s name and place judgment on men and mankind. Who has the right to judge another mans faith and religion? I, personally, don’t feel I am in any position to sling mud at anyone, just because they don’t believe in the same things I do.
 

The news is this year the first responders and clergy are not going to be allowed at the 10th Anniversary of where all the devastation took place.The Mayor says there is no room. Can you imagine the firefighters saying, “We don’t have time to go in and save people?” What a messed up world we live in.
 

I’m not asking Atheist to believe in God, they’ve never encountered the power so why should they? I don’t expect the Islamic community to accept my bible, they’ve never encountered the affection of my God, so why should they? What I do expect is for my religious so-called leaders of this country to stand UP for my God, and preach true Christianity, if they even have the slightest idea of what that is. Love thy neighbor as thyself...turn the other cheek, and all the LOVE that Jesus taught us to carry with us on a daily, not weekly, basis.
 

If you believe in Jesus, or have even heard of Him, you know, He was NOT a man of hate, anger and bitterness. His mission was to bring LOVE into the light of the world, and it is a sad day, when politicians have their own agenda in memorializing one of the most devastating days in American history.
 

September 11, 2001 changed my life forever. The cruel men that committed this act, are either dead or are facing a harsh sentence, or are being sought after to face their final end. The war in Iraq continues. The word terrorism is on the lips of everyone. To hold onto anger, bitterness and the need to retaliate is not what my Christianity is all about. Mine is all about FAITH, LOVE, and HOPE. Have a blessed weekend!