My weekend was filled. Much took place. I want to share the goodness of God.

Passover/Good Friday/Resurrection Sunday—Easter is and always has been a deeply meaningful and memorable time.

Spring is waking us all up from our snowy cocoons. The house needs a face-lift, a thorough cleaning and the windows need both sides cleansed.

Cold is interspersed with warmth and we all must adjust our hypothalamus whether we are aware or not.

It’s croup season.

Grandma had a set back, catching a bug that is going around. I had a few days of feeling dizzy and a bit off in my throat. It passed, for me, but Grandma is still recovering.

I’ve been so busy teaching that I don’t have time to get sick.

I worked at the hotel on this Easter weekend. It was very quiet. I was happy to see so many stores like Target deciding to pay respect to the Christian holiday and stay closed this Easter.

I am increasingly convicted about God’s command to keep the Sabbath. His laws and commands are never for stupid reasons.

Because I worked late on Saturday night (per usual, in the hotel business) I wasn’t able to attend any Sunday morning breakfast at church. I know they were held at all the churches I connect with.

Mom was going to host Sunday dinner, but because she wasn’t up to it she texted me during work Saturday to say that I would be having it at my house.

Thankfully, I had been cleaning. No, it’s not “ready” yet, because my septic/basement project is still half undone. At least my living room and dining room had space to put people. I ended up setting tables before I got to Easter Sunday service at Wayzata, Westgate.

The pastor there was a suite-mate of my oldest brother at Wheaton years and years ago. He also used to be the pastor at my church, that I attend now.

He had a good message about being dead, then becoming alive spiritually in Christ. It was a baptism service, as well.

For dinner, I had invited my oldest son and his family, my niece, Ed and Cherie, and three international friends. I invited three more of my Bible Study friends at church.

We all packed into Corgi Hollows for a salmon dinner, cheesy potatoes, asparagus, 24-hour fruit salad, Carrot cake muffins with real edible forsythia decorations (my niece made them ;)) and Forgotten Cake with lemon butter and whipped cream.

My daughter-in-law outdid herself bringing home-made sour dough loaves, beautifully decorated, and so delicious!

What a delightful lunch.

After dinner we all hiked out to the back hay field with Yuki and Corwyn. Little did we know we were about to see something big. It was. Really.

My son brought a long his .22, and the Yuki really doesn’t like loud noise. She took off.

We called, and called. No Yuki.

All of us dispersed to the north and the south, to the railroad track, to the east fields and the west. She simply wasn’t there.

We enlisted our neighbors to keep watch, too.

We prayed. As a group, we prayed.

A lovely Sunday had turned sorrowful.

But then—

A big black SUV drove slowly up the road towards us. I wasn’t on the road, but several of us were, and I could hear voices of joy.

Ed received a chagrined Yuki from the front seat of that vehicle. I ran out and shook the man’s hand, thanking him profusely!

Then I heard the story.

He lives south of the very busy, deadly U.S. highway by us. A young couple from Wisconsin stopped to pick up Yuki ON THAT HIGHWAY and brought her to the nearest farm they saw. The gentleman at the farm graciously took Yuki from them, saw that she had our city’s license tags, and chose to try to find her people on his own.

He didn’t call the city, and Yuki didn’t have our information on her collar.

It is just miraculous that he found us! We were about to give up the search because our international students needed to get back to the University campus.

The added activity clued him in that Yuki might belong with us!

God answered prayers, and we all rejoiced and thanked Him.

I am still thanking the Lord!!!

What could have been such a heart-breaking day turned perfect, even with a resurrection of sorts and great joy.

Three of my Chinese friends held Yuki down while we attached an old kitty tag that has our phone number on it. My daughter-in-law proved to be the best dog handler and fixed it in place. Sighs of relief. We didn’t want to remove her collar at all. We were all still jittery. Yuki, too.

We all marveled at God’s answered prayer the way back to the U.

I am still marveling. I am still grateful. I thank God as I hug Yuki even now.

Our students, some believers, some not, saw the amazing answer. I just pray that it shows the power of God and His interest in even “small” details of our “little” lives.

God is so good!

Needless to say, we are keeping our eye on Yukichan. Next time the .22 comes out she’s staying INSIDE!

Btw, Corwyn was afraid, but she wisely chose to return to the house, the front step, and waited there patiently for us to get back! Corgis. 🙂

A memorable Easter Sunday.

There are three eggs in the little nest by the front door. I’m not optimistic about this.

Margaret’s lambs are the cutest things ever! So, so tiny! I plan to get over there to see them up close this week. I see them in little white puddles in the pasture as I drive back from school. They are out with their moms in the afternoon.

Yes, there is a donkey keeping guard there, but those fox and coyotes are truly wily. Pray for these little creatures and their safety!

MARANATHA!

I spent a few hours this week reading an old Moody Press book called “Queen of the Dark Chamber” by Christiana Tsai (Cai), an autobiography.

First of all, her description of growing up in China mirrored a Chinese TV show I’d watched to help me learn Chinese. It was uncannily alike, and lent much credibility to Chinese entertainment media! They seem to accurately portray some historical and cultural things, all very fascinating.

Christiana’s (her Chinese name seems to be “7th Daughter”) story is leaps and bounds more exciting and even beyond belief than the made-up stories in Chinese TV. It’s really hard to believe, but I do.

I believe in a supernatural God, and He is able to do supernatural things.

Demons, so real in that culture, can only mimic God’s power. They can keep souls in bondage to evil and wickedness. We are all born in sin. Only the Holy Spirit can open our eyes to Christ’s victory over sin and death on the cross. That He rose again is evidence of His supremacy and that He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

He is Lord. The demons must bow to Him.

In our global Post-Modern society the push to downplay supernatural activity is in China, too. Actually China is a perfect example of Metamodernism. The atheism of Communism plus the fast-growing push of economic capitalism there has given rise to the digital age of Metamodernism. Mostly in the high population areas.

There is still fascination and belief in evil and the spirits attached to it, and since China still has a percentage of illiteracy (Chinese is really hard!) the old ways die hard.

Evil is real.

The book I read had a personal story that was amazing, but the reason Cai and her godmother Mary Leaman had significance was their life-work of creating a Chinese phonetic New Testament. This all happened in the 1920’s and 1930’s amidst huge political upheaval.

Leaman demonstrated the remarkable ease of reading the phonetic system for all levels of Chinese society to countless officials. Cai helped her in her work, despite terrible physical ailments. I looked up Chinese phonetics and saw it is really Pinyin, but there must have been some added information by Leaman, and her father, Charles. I didn’t research it deeply, but there was no mention of their contribution in my initial diggings.

But God knows their work, and Christiana Cai’s, too. I will try to look into this a bit more.

I’m reading books that connect ancient Chinese script to the Hebrew Otiot, and this is also fascinating. Chinese scholars get riled about this connection, but sometimes you simply see what is there to be seen!

Shang-ti was alike to El Shaddai in multiple ways! Sacrifices of bulls to Shang-ti continued until the beginning of the 20th century! Spending time trying to read and understand Chinese characters is not for the faint of heart. It’s really hard. Each stroke represents something deep, and putting things together is actually an art form.

Chinese see poetry, art, meaning, and cultural heritage in each character.

Such a world within a language!

Back to humble little Corgi Hollows. I know that Cai’s book is hard to come by now. I looked on various internet sites. It’s expensive. I was able to read a church library copy. I just love missionary biographies. The evidence of supernatural power and commitment to our faith is so inspiring.

Cheri announced that she (and I) can take a course at the University of Minnesota on Chinese Calligraphy next fall. We haven’t registered for it yet, but I’m very tempted. So is she. I think it would be a fun thing to do together, and very fascinating.

Cheri also announced that she will spend the summer on an adventure in Alaska. She really loves Alaska! She found a summer job up there.

I will be moaning and groaning and weeping and toiling without her.

But the summer will pass. Ed may move back and forth from his place frequently to do garden work and other…

So much to do at Corgi Hollows, always.

He is really wanting to put his Japanese garden into reality and planning stages have been explored. The ground must be broken! I will have to film the first shovel-full for posterity.

April 19 is a day I feel connected to and grieving with some of my Asian friends that I’ve gotten to know. The death of one popular young man on this date two years ago has unified many thousands of people in grief and loss. It is a time to pray and hope that the truth and comfort of Jesus will become real to many of them. Some of his closest friends are believers, and I am still hopeful that they were able to quietly share Christ with him before he passed away.

It seems to be an Illuminati-significant day, as well. I still observe these connections. Once you see it you cannot un-see it.

Yes, Jesus is coming soon. When the global order reveals itself as it has been progressively doing, we can look up because our redemption draws nigh. That’s Biblical.

MARANATHA!

Long ago I heard Stanley Tam speak about regular Bible reading and how it applies to each and every day. God Supernaturally guides through a regimented reading plan, and the Scriptures speak to each day, each moment.

I wrote about the little bird outside my front door in my last post.

The verse in my daily bible reading is the one that was playing in my mind when I saw that nest, and here it turns up in my reading today!

No coincidences in this Universe.

Once Brian and I went to a lecture by a one of his former professors at Wheaton. This professor gave the lecture at Wooddale Church, Eden Prairie, about 15 years ago, now.

It was a lecture about Chaos Theory.

I have thought about this lecture so many times since.

The gist of the lecture was that there really is no chaos. Each step backward and outward reveals an intricate and massive design and plan, mathematically and physically. My mind struggles to comprehend this, but I can grasp at the principle of God’s control.

This comforts.

A few weeks ago I was having dinner with my international friends and the subject of Bible Story Books came up. I mentioned a prized heirloom Bible Story Book (Hurlbut’s Story of the Bible) that I had lost. I was using it up at the jail ministry with the inmates. A fellow ministry partner rebound books and noticed that my 1930’s copy was sorely in need of a new binding. He took it and before I could get it back he passed away.

Alas, I do not remember his name, nor where he lived. The book has an inscription on the inside of the front cover: to Nita Jean and Billy, from Bob Palmer. It was a gift from the editor of the Beacon Magazine to my mom and my uncle when they were little.

If someone finds that book it really belongs to Corgi Hollows, and I will gladly redeem it!

Back to the Bible Story Book discussion. I mentioned that the inmates in jail loved hearing these stories, written for young and old, at the jail on Sunday nights. I read through several Bible story books to my kids while homeschooling them.

I see great value in a Bible Story book, as it summarizes stories, puts them in chronological order, distills important truths, and in Catherine Vos’s “Children’s Story Bible,” answers pertinent questions that often arise in young minds, answering them discreetly and age-appropriately.

I recommend her story book in particular, and I did to my international friends.

I re-read the first story in her book today, about God and earth’s beginning. These truths are so foundational to life. I love the way she speaks of our minds understanding God as a cup trying to empty an ocean.

I think of Jordan Peterson and his attempt to define and understand God.

Just give up, Jordan.

Confess the pride of the human heart and rest in the comfort of knowing GOD is in control!

My little house finch is trusting the God of the universe it its little way.

Have you ever read “Birdlife in Wington?”

Find it. Read it. You can thank me later.

This year I chose to read five chapters of the Bible each day. I am currently in the middle of the Psalms, and I am amazed at how fast I plowed through the first half of the Bible. It’s only the middle of April!!

Today my reading was Psalms 76 to 86, as some of these chapters are pretty brief.

It was Psalm 77 that spoke to me in a deep way. It is a word of grief, of outcry to God. It is a cry of being overwhelmed.

Yesterday I was able to attend a wedding shower for my beautiful niece, Brian’s brother’s daughter. She was an Iowa State Fair Queen several years back, and now she is a gorgeous red haired nurse, successful, sweet and marrying a fine young soldier!

They love Jesus.

I don’t know why, but I was so blue driving the three hours home from the shower. I guess it was the end of another era. I still have one niece on that side that isn’t married yet, but she has been in a relationship for many years, and since her boyfriend is from an African culture the rules and customs are somewhat different for them. I’m not sure when their wedding will happen, but she has been a couple with him for quite some time already.

They all grow and establish their own lives.

Getting married and having a family, kids, is more important than ever. I saw an article in the current World Magazine about demography. The birth rate is abysmal. Some countries are in serious decline, the USA included. Japan, China, and Korea are in big trouble.

Young folk just aren’t into getting married anymore.

Perhaps this era of tech saturation has filled the yen to marry and have human relationship. I know that I often turn to my social media to assuage the loneliness of being single. I do have a legitimate ministry with “influencers” and I keep abreast of their comings and goings. I have the time to do that, and to pray for them. I need to be careful to avoid replacing real relationships with my work and calling.

Isn’t that true for everyone? Once I had a coworker that was so engrossed in his work that he neglected his family. It became almost an obsession. This was a huge warning given to me, and I remember it well. Workaholic was a well known word. Now it might be “techaholic.”

We need to guard against this.

We need to seek out relationships, and like the dad in the classic old movie “Big Fat Greek Wedding” said, “GET MARRIED!” —-have kids!!!

Stop wasting time looking for that perfect person. You may have guidelines (like I have!) but be flexible and forgiving. God can bless even the most difficult relationships.

So, yesterday, when I was feeling blue, and even somewhat overwhelmed, I went out to the hay field with Corwyn and Yukichan and enjoyed the late sunset, praised God for everything I could think of, including my own three married children and their families.

I thank God for Ed and Cheri and their futures. I thank God that He is letting them be in my life right now.

I called Margaret and we chatted about the shower and upcoming things.

My spirit was comforted.

Today I read Psalm 77 and was in awe of God’s own personal word to me: I felt this psalm was a cry from my own heart. Even a blue sorrow and grief the size of an ocean cannot compare to the power and grace of God, our Father in heaven!

Sometimes our depression can seem incredibly powerful. Overwhelming. At times like this we need to cry out to God for His grace and mercy. Yes, do all the physical things that battle depression. That is the way God made us: we need sunshine, exercise, healthy food, and an attitude of praise! PRAISE GOD! Count your blessings!

As the ocean of depression or grief seems to be all around you, seek the Lord. He understands that depression! I bet David, the writer of so many psalms, understood it too. CRY OUT! God understands.

As His children He gives us special spiritual power to fight the forces of darkness. Humbling ourselves before Him and seeking His healing power is the most effective way to access spiritual healing.

Mental health problems are as real as cancer. Our brains and minds are part of our fallen bodies, and we struggle with disease. Thank the Lord for good medical treatments, but also for His supernatural power to address these things.

The complication with mental health issues is that it is so wholly spiritual and physical.

Both must be treated.

I recommend the Psalms to treat the blues, the darkness, the depression. It’s part of the cure.

I chose to stay home from teaching today. The porch is open and cleaned for coffee. (Julie and Mary Kaye, Becky, Carol, Anne, Claudia, Caroline, ,,, and all of my regular coffee buddies, get out here! 🙂 YOU TOO, my dear reader! ) I wrenched my back while cleaning the other day and I admit to being a bit in pain today. The plan is to swim later today.

Temps were in the 60’s and 70’s over the weekend, but today it feels like 24 degrees. (It’s 50) The wind is making it cold. I will attempt to get some more stuff done around the house with my back pain.

It is “Holy Week” and I want to make some plans for Resurrection Sunday, too. Two of my Chinese friends are planning to join us Corgi Hollows People for dinner.

Some meal prep will be in order. Lemon curd is always on the menu, and it’s tricky for me to make. So delicious, though.

Ed turned over the soil in one of the raised beds Saturday. He’s promised to come back and continue working on the Kitchen Garden this week. It’s too early to plant seeds or plants. It has been a really cold spring.

Just very little snow, little moisture. I always love seeing the fields being readied for planting across southwestern Minnesota this time of year. Green is starting to appear, and the views are spectacular because the land is bare. The trees are also still bare. Many, many farmers were busy tilling yesterday.

The cranes and the geese are here at Corgi Hollows, the ducks and the frogs are noisy.

I have a little bird, a house finch, that has built a nest in my fake forsythia, right outside the front door! (The real forsythia behind the garage is in full bloom today.)

Now, we will have to see fake forsythia as decoration for some time because of this little bird. It is such a cute nest, but in such a bad place. Cats, dogs, humans constantly passing by !

This bird is not wise. The container she built in often blows down in a strong wind.

Nature will take its course, of course.

There’s the report from Corgi Hollows. Let me encourage you to plow through Scripture five chapters a day from Resurrection Sunday, on. You will definitely finish the whole Bible by Christmas!

What a blessing!

MARANATHA

It is true that the Lord gives guidance, but sometimes there is a waiting period involved.

I need to report on His faithfulness. I need to do this for my own sake, as well as writing testimony of His goodness.

Over the last few weeks I have asked the Lord for wisdom and guidance regarding my septic system. I was at a place where I had no idea how to go about fixing my system.

The Lord gradually sorted out the options in my mind, and I formed a plan in my head to deal with it all. It is, of course, costly, and it will take much time this year, but I need to face the battle and get things in order.

One day at a time!

After my amazing, genius, wonderful husband unexpectedly passed away I was adrift for quite some time. He did it all for me.

I was spoiled. Rotten.

There are a lot of emotions in grief and loss, and experiencing traumatic loss is a whole different level. I know. I’ve done some research.

Part of being a widow in her fifties is the possibility of remarriage. It’s a fact.

My brother’s first wife died of a brain tumor, tragically, to our monumental loss as a family.

Six years later he found a nice gal who made him happy and they married. They both tragically died in a horrific accident five years ago, now.

I think that was in the back of my mind during these past years of grief and loss.

Speculation about the future is part of grief. It is just there.

My loss was profound. I couldn’t get beyond my loss for a time.

God offers guidance in the darkest moments, though, and it was only afterward that I saw it for what it was.

I may be a human with problems and issues, communication and relationship failures, sin, and general messes, but I am still lovable.

God has given me my five children and their families to support me and help me, to focus on. With that I am content.

Still, there were several potential romances that arrived at my door, even in my grief.

God gave me guidance, though, standards, that helped me navigate these possibilities.

In a relationship I had these six guidelines:

1. Christian
2. No living former spouses
3. Financially stable
4. Reasonably attractive
5. Reasonably intelligent
6. Interested in Asia, perhaps even bilingual

I’m pretty sure this person doesn’t exist, so I am content to go my merry widow way. It is very freeing to have such clear guidance from the Lord!

I don’t know if I will ever go back to the mission field. The idea always hovers at the edges of my brain. Perhaps a limited time abroad may be just the thing for me with my current obligations. As I become an empty-nester my life changes once more.

I have a clear path these days with house repair, taking care of things at Corgi Hollows and those that abide here, my two part-time jobs, and striving to be healthy!

Add to that my time devoted to music and art, writing and knitting, learning Chinese and yardwork, yardwork, yardwork….

I love my church and helping with worship occasionally. I love my international/Chinese Bible Study.

I love my friends and friendships, literally hundreds of these over the past years. I am so blessed.

It’s a beautiful sunny day here in Minnesota. I’ve already run out in the hay field with the dogs and set the Sandhill Cranes off. They’ve been here two weeks already now.

This morning I’ve taken down all the decor left by spiders over the winter. The start of Spring Cleaning at Corgi Hollows. It’s still below freezing this morning, so I won’t attempt to wash the windows yet.

I am thankful for another day to get things done at home, and to help Grandma, too. Vacuuming, dusting, laundry and filing are all on my list. It’s spring. Lists are just inevitable. Cherie is seeing the end of the semester in sight. I will be busy the rest of the week with teaching.

My heart is so grateful for God’s guidance this morning. I’m thankful for His leading, gentle prodding, and boundaries.

The time of the singing of birds has come! The winter is past and the rains have begun! Come away! Come away!

MARANATHA!

This past weekend I was honored to host a group that attended a local conference which is held here every year.

It is a pagan conference, and my friends go to discover information and also to meet with people there, get to know them some, and perhaps give a word of truth if possible.

Truth = Jesus

The stories they tell are compelling and interesting. The people that are attending the conference are all extremely needy. Many are the outcasts of our society. Most are formerly “Christian.”

There are witches and druids, pagans and a few Satanists. (Satanists don’t really fit in either, though.) Luciferians are all present. Lots of trans people, obese people, and mentally struggling people.

They have found community and acceptance from the pagan world.

What a terrible thing to realize and learn of, for someone (like me) who follows Jesus. Christ followers should have embraced and loved these dear people FIRST!

Sadly, many had horrible stories of rejection by churches claiming to be Christian.

Minneapolis has become a real capital of paganism. There are thousands of pagans that have moved here, multiple covens call this home. This is a mission field.

May Christ be preached to the pagan, the heathen, the lost.

Let’s go!

MARANATHA!

I am reading Psalm 71 every day this year. Last Easter we were honored to host house guests who are missionaries to Japan. The husband/dad had gone to high school with Brian 40 years ago. He married a Japanese woman. They have two children.

Ministry in Japan is difficult. My assessment of the church in Japan is this; Japanese are a very proud and self reliant people. They are efficient and capable. They really don’t need answers to life’s problems. Their way has worked for centuries.

I lived in Germany for two years. Germans are similar: talented, hardworking, clean, efficient, gifted, self-reliant. I got the same vibe in Japan. The society works well. There is a very strong mindset which is hard to divert from.

Mavericks aren’t welcome.

For anyone to choose Christ in Japan is a cultural death sentence. There are about 1 million Christians in Japan, out of 130 million. This number grows slowly. There is definitely growth. People are recognizing their need for the truth of the Gospel.

To become a believer is courageous. Those who do are very strong believers. They have made a huge choice. Often they lose family and friends for Jesus. Faith choice comes at great cost. Japan is mostly atheistic in belief systems, but there is still a huge faction paying respect to the dead and to the ancient religions, Buddhism and Taoism, the teachings of Confucius, and various other religions. Christianity is the marked minority belief.

So, my friends, who are missionaries to Japan, understand difficult ministry.

I was blessed to get to know these friends over the holiday weekend that they visited. Before they left they gave me Psalm 71 as a word of encouragement for me. I read it several times over the rest of the year, but decided to read it daily in 2025.

What a blessing this Psalm is!

It encourages and strengthens. I plan to share a verse every day over the next 24 days (24 verses) on social media.

I think it’s a good plan. We need to encourage each other in this dark spiritual climate. Things may look chaotic, perhaps to some the world looks brighter, but to many things are spinning out of control.

We await our King, but the world awaits theirs. That beast system is coming, even as Scripture has prophesied. There will be a ruler, a Christ figure, who is the antithesis of our Lord and Savior. This person will set up a hopeful kingdom but it will ultimately fail.

According to the symbolic plan that the Lord gives us in the array of feasts ordained from the time of Moses we believers will not see that kingdom. We will be feasting with our bridegroom in glory.

We will be celebrating God’s Kingdom with Him, the marriage supper of the Lamb.

This is the plan.

Looks like it will happen soon, too.

MARANATHA!

I was down with a cold over the weekend. Sneezing, sore throat, etc.

But sickness has a benefit of quieting the mind at times. I thought about politics, health, family, friends, goals, dreams, bills, and Jesus.

My Bible reading was helpful. I have found over the many decades of “quiet time” that the consistent and sequential plan of Bible reading is most beneficial to my spiritual walk. God always speaks to me in the plan.

I’m currently reading five chapters a day in my Henry Morris Study Bible. I also read (KJV) the corresponding day of the month/chapter in Proverbs. (Today is the 17th, Proverbs 17) and I also read Psalm 71 every day.

Add to that “Daily Light on the Daily Path” and Institute of Creation Research “Days of Praise” and I get a sweet diet of spiritual counsel. It takes me about 45 minutes every morning.

It was a few years ago that Jude 23 hit me in a different light. I developed a list that I prayed for daily, a “Snatch List” that covers everyone I want to be in eternity with, that I plea for before the Lord to snatch them from the fire.

Maybe it’s like praying a Rosary, or something, but here, on this St. Patrick’s Day, I avow that I am just a plain Christ-follower, a Christian. I love Jesus and I believe the Holy Bible.

I am a believer in the power of prayer.

I went to funeral last Saturday. The man was born to a German Roman Catholic family. His parents and an older sibling had emigrated from Germany in the 1920’s. It was a good funeral. The gospel was preached, and the testimony of the man’s faith was pretty solid.

The service, in a Free Church, was a nice respectful blend of Protestant and Catholic for his mostly Catholic family.

Traditions are fine if the life of the Holy Spirit is in them. Dead traditions are worthless.

I affirm faith in Scripture, faith in Christ.

I liked what the pastor said about “belief” and the strong, willful meaning of it regarding faith. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.”

He chose to use this English word in the sense of putting absolute trust and faith in someone. Jesus.

This belief will change a life, fill a heart, heal a spirit, give joy and peace. This is the truth of faith in Christ.

So I pray for my Snatch List, that each and every person on it will seek that type of “Belief.”

I am praying in accordance to God’s will, as He is not willing that any perish.

Each person must willingly make a decision to follow Christ, but the Holy Spirit must open the eyes of the spiritually blind. This transaction is what I am praying for.

You may be on my snatch list.

I am resting in the confidence of answered prayer in Jesus’ name. I will find out the results when I am with the Lord, and at that time I can trust Him to be everything to me, all of my desires and dreams.

I will pray for these loved/listed ones until that day.

Start a Snatch List. Let’s pray these loved ones into the kingdom of heaven.

We are called to be light. We are not to hide it under a bushel, as Jesus preached in his Sermon on the Mount. We need to be constantly interacting, sowing seeds, speaking the truth and the Gospel to everyone that we can!

Prayer is the basis for that action.

Lately I have been under severe spiritual attack. Warfare. I can almost feel the presence of evil beings as they put thoughts of failure and inadequacy in my mind. I’ve even listened to those voices! I’ve agreed with them.

Several of my friends are also being attacked with the same lies.

The battle is real. We need to be in the Word, we need to be in prayer. We need to be confessing our thoughts and sin before the Lord—-

In the morning, when I rise, give me Jesus.

His mercies are new every morning.

Each day is a brand new start.

Remember Anne of Green Gables? That wonderful quote she had? Each day is a brand new day with no mistakes in it! (It was something like that.)

We need to walk spiritually like that. Too often we are mired in the mistakes and sins of the day before, week before, years before—

Start fresh. Pray. Get a snatch list. Be light.

Jesus is coming again soon.

Are you ready?

PERHAPS TODAY!

MARANATHA!!!

Choices must be made.

Today I choose to be grateful! I choose to do what I don’t want to do; exercise, listen to music, breathe in the fresh spring air, stare at the sky.

So many of us are affected by depression. The dark panic that closes in at times can be suffocating, frightening. This gray time of year is a surprise pitfall for us. The beauty and expectancy of spring is marred by lack of color and whimsical weather.

As believers in Christ we know the truth and have a foundation for blessings and praise. I can choose to praise God in my darkness.

Inevitably that will help me.

I took my B vitamins, D and C. I ate my handful of cashews.

But the road is hard! Spiritual battles are happening all around us. I am burdened with other’s burdens, not to mention the ones I’m carrying.

And yet I tell myself that God knows the end game. He isn’t going to leave me hopeless. I will adopt the attitude of gratefulness and expectancy.

I will put my trust in Him, the Ruler of Creation.

It’s the waiting game.

Pray for us who struggle with depression.

It’s all in the attitude.

And Jesus knows.

Come Lord Jesus. Come soon. We are waiting for Your glorious appearing.

MARANATHA!

Well, we made it!

The deep cold is over, the sun is out and almost all our snow is melted. I am accepting practically every subbing job coming my way, even if I struggle with a particular age group or subject. God provides.

I get to visit the laundromat now, which is always interesting to me. What a slice of society I meet.

My friends are praying for me, for solutions to my house repairs, for wisdom and guidance. I need wise counsel because I have NOT A CLUE about mound systems/septic systems.

I know God sees. He provides. He will help.

In my international Bible Study (Chinese) there is a gentleman who has had contacts with construction folk and he indicated he would try to link me with reputable help. See? God is working. We will see what is next.

I just don’t want to be “taken to the cleaners.”

Though I do visit the laundromat willingly 😉

Cherie and I did lose Gandalf last week. He went downhill pretty fast last Thursday, and we were (thankfully) able to get an appointment in Buffalo to have him put down. He was sweet to the last minute.

We wept our way home. Burial will follow, as the ground is still frozen. He will join Lacey, Blackberry, Misty, and Kiwi. My heart aches as I think of these precious pets! I like to think of them playing with Brian, Sera, and Jean up in heaven.

Sera and Jean are our two little ones that didn’t make it.

I fully expect to meet them in heaven.

But here on earth we wait. I never pray for patience. You know what happens when you do? Lessons are learned. I’m waiting for enough already.

I pray for strength and wisdom and help for each day.

I chose to take a day off to get some errands and financial stuff done today. I’m thankful, because I woke up feeling under the weather. Stress, probably.

I’ll try to zip around town and get everything done— tomorrow I’m doing a double job subbing; Second Grade in the morning and Middle School art in the afternoon.

This is my colorful and varied life.

I wouldn’t trade it!

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It took five years to feel confident about living alone and facing life single.

I never dreamed I’d be alone in my senior years. I always pictured us growing old together, having a blast camping and traveling, enjoying our music and our reading, discussing politics and theology.

It took five years to become rather selfish and content with living life alone! I don’t feel the need to remarry anymore. I felt so incompetent for so long. I hadn’t done so many things for 30 years! Finances, bills, repairs, car stuff, house stuff, —-all that hadn’t been my thing. Brian did it all.

Now it’s mine. With fear and trembling I took it all on again, and now, five years later I survived.

How selfish of me! I make my own decisions (with prayer, of course!) and live life by myself. Being single is really a selfish thing.

I am more and more of an advocate of early marriage as I see trends around me and in myself.

Being married is an incubator for selflessness.

It’s really difficult for people who are set in their ways to submit wholeheartedly to someone else.

The benefits of marriage seem pretty slim to anyone selfish.

Having been married for 30 years, and single now for awhile I stand in some authority to have an opinion!

Marriage is a wonderful thing! Children are glorious gifts from God!

Marriage is hard, though, and one MUST surrender wholly to its demands. It is the perfect lesson in submission.

I am so glad I was married, for quite some time. I know the demands and the benefits and I actually miss being married!

I see my selfish decisions these days and I am embarrassed! It’s weird to just decide what I want and do it.

Like I said, I’m getting used to it after five years, and it would be hard to go back to being selfless in many ways.

Our pastor has spent two weeks talking about marriage. He used Ephesians 4:31-32 as his text. Kindness and forgiveness must characterize a marriage.

When those two things are the constant a marriage will be blissful.

When malice is absent in marriage it will be the easiest relationship to maintain.

We are fallen humans, though, so forgiveness must be practiced. Constantly.

Boundaries in marriage, accountability to God, consequences of organic problems are all realities. Kindness and forgiveness can only be positive forces in this most important covenant relationship on earth. It was an excellent series. Short and truly sweet.

Widowhood has its deep sorrow, difficulties, darkness, and pain. But selfishness is also a part of it.

Because I recognized this pitfall especially this past year I chose “service, purpose, and faith” as my words to characterize 2025. I want to be of service. I want to have God’s purposes in my life. I want my spiritual antennae to grow again after trauma took them out. Faith must characterize my life.

I will die if Jesus isn’t my central focus. I must live for Him. This must cancel out my selfishness.

Yet I still make decisions, little and big.

What a responsibility!

So today I do stuff. Stuff we all do. I am drinking coffee by the fire this morning as I write. Yukichan is at my feet. Corwyn is grunting at squirrel activity outside the front window.

This morning I heard the chickadee singing a spring call. I expect robins will turn up soon. It’s still a gray world out there. No green. Sunshine is plentiful and gentle air encourages the creatures to begin anew.

I am also encouraged.

MARANATHA!