Author: Corgi Hollows

Ed turns 27 today. Cheri turns 23 tomorrow. My son-in-law turns 40, also tomorrow. My niece celebrates her birthday tomorrow, too, I think 29 years…

It’s birthday season at Corgi Hollows. Another niece has a birthday on the 28th, a nephew on the 27th!

But today is also a new year, (Rosh Hashanah) and a new season!

Welcome, Fall!

What a day. It is so significant. It’s also the Day we do not know the hour…idiomatic Hebrew/Aramaic.

If only it could be today, the day Jesus comes to snatch us out of this woeful earth.

But the beauty here at Corgi Hollows is evidence of God’s great love for us, the mist is coloring the tree lines soft sage.

The leaves have only just begun to turn brilliant. Really, only the sumac and the euonymus have turned red. I see some stressed trees with yellow tips, but overall the world is still green on this first day of fall in the Minneapolis area.

That’s unusual.

The other day I took Corwyn and Yuki out to the hay field and there were dozens and dozens of Monarch butterflies and myriad little pairs of yellow butterflies (they are common but I don’t know their name!) fluttering all over and sampling the clover. It was fairyland.

That’s unusual.

There are unusual things happening.

Good news: there was quite a downpour the other night, hail pelted the roof, BUT no water in the basement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just had to do that.

I’ve been waiting for this for years now….

I am so grateful.

The tile has still not come in at Menard’s, but I think that the floor will all be finished in due time and order restored out of the chaos.

A couple of weeks ago I almost had a tantrum…I am a pretty even-keeled person…but I just had this moment of despair about the stacks and stacks of books everywhere.

I did bring a whole truckload to the thrift store, and that was wonderful. I will be purging more as we set the room in order after the tile floor is done.

I am staying home from school for the most part. As my health situation progresses I am being careful. I know only part of the whole scenario, and I am being patient.

I am a patient.

Being quiet at this lovely time of year is actually a gift.

I’m trusting God for all my needs, and I know, that as this widow’s husband, He will provide for me.
I have worked hard these past years, as it has been a productive way to grieve and grow. Just sitting around and crying gives me headaches. It is better to be distracted by productive work.

My departure from the hotel is bittersweet. Many, many thoughts about that after 8 years there. I was unable to work my last weekend due to my health.

I will miss it!

Let me reminisce one story (and there are so many!). A few years back a Japanese man was staying at the hotel, and he carried a guitar. He seemed so sweet, and he was, of course, polite.

About a year later I saw from my social media algorithm that a Japanese guitarist was playing a concert in the Twin Cities. We had been to Japan by then, and I was interested. I went to the concert, played by Hiroya Tsukamoto.

I loved the concert, the Sunday afternoon peacefulness, October golden day, the quiet guitar.

It wasn’t long before I drew the connection; Mr. Tsukamoto had been the artist that played at a local venue and stayed at my hotel the previous year, the kind, polite musician. I had greeted him and welcomed him to the hotel.

I have been a fan of his work ever since.

Working at a hotel can be pretty interesting.

And I will miss it, but I need more time for my growing number of grandchildren. It will be nice to have weekends freer.

Substitute teaching for a sixty-plus year old is also pretty energy intensive, so I wanted to have more strength for that part of my life.

I also wanted to write and illustrate more. If I don’t do it now, it probably won’t happen.

My health needs more attention, too. Staying healthy takes time.

I remember a sign on our family doctor’s wall that said something like this: a work out a day keeps the doctor away… or to that point.

I should have more time for health.

What are your thoughts on Charlie Kirk lately?

I saw healing, spiritual healing, at his memorial service.

I probably don’t match him theologically. I am seeing all the criticisms of his leanings. I do not deny that he stood for Jesus Christ and was an evangelist in his own way.

I have no right to criticize. He embodied what matters: preach the Good News of Jesus Christ. He lived like the apostle Paul, debating the critics. If only we would all be so proactive!

We do walk a narrow path. There is a strait gate. Study to show thyself approved unto God! To whom much is given, much shall be required! Examine yourself! Test yourself to see if you are in the faith. (2 Corinthians 13:5)

Everyone of us should be careful of how we are growing in Christ.

How many people have made a decision for Jesus in these past days? Are we nurturing and helping people know Jesus? Are we shepherding these new believers? Discipling?

Too many baby believers get side-tracked and discouraged by multiple things, including the failures of those of us more mature Christians. What a responsibility.

We need to be in prayer constantly.

May the Holy Spirit comfort and keep.

Two big prayer requests: Yesterday a prominent Christian minister had a fall and he is paralyzed and in ICU. Pray for Christopher Yuan.

Another family lost their 11 year old son yesterday, rather abruptly, from health issues. He was diagnosed with a type of cancer several years ago as Ed was recovering from leukemia. My heart reached out to the mom, and I have been in contact with them since. Pray for comfort and peace. Devastating. This boy was so sweet and trusted Jesus so dearly. Pray for the Peck family.

We are all looking up!

MARANATHA!

It was an eventful weekend.

I had to leave school mid morning on Friday with severe nausea, but after being sick I slept a few hours and woke up feeling much better. I’ve never had to bail on a subbing job mid-day before. I’ve gotten sick before, and had to cancel before I got to school, but this was a first for me. I had to leave my job and be replaced by school staff. I felt such defeat, but it was a good thing I left. I’ve never had to stop by the side of the road and lose it before, either. I did on the way home from school. (Thankfully I live in the country, and I found a back road to stop on!)

I toyed with the idea of going to urgent care, but wanted to go home more.

Saturday dawned with gorgeous weather, and Cherie and I, in full regalia, went to the Renaissance Festival down in Shakopee. I wondered how the day would go with the sickness of the previous day in mind. I was thinking food poisoning….and that was that…

We had fun walking around. Our state hosts a conference called “Paganicon” and my friend Carl Teichrib tries to attend with a small Christian coalition every year. It’s research for him, but an outreach for his colleagues. I visited the conference once, as well.

Renaissance Festivals are sort of Pagan conferences, too. The occult stuff is everywhere. Martial arts, furries, fairies, —-witches and warlocks…There are also lots of Tolkien aficionados, history buffs, and horse lovers. I fit in the latter group, but I was open to being like Carl and having opportunities to share light and truth when possible. I have had direct demonic confrontation at a previous Ren Fest.

My sweet friend Abby made me a beautiful dress that is actually more medieval than Renaissance. It is brown velvet with gold lining, laces up the back, has a train, and fluttery sleeves. It’s so much fun to wear.

The dress brought me unexpected greetings and toasts from fair goers! Cheri dressed dashingly in a long vest and high boots, sword at her side. She was an appropriate escort for me. We enjoyed the jousting and the horse and knight games, especially.

Alas, my pain returned and we called it a day far before we would have liked.

Sunday morning was filled with normal Sunday obligations: worship team and driving students to the University. Pain returned —-and I ended up at the Emergency Department for the rest of the day.

After a scan and an ultrasound the diagnosis was a large (softball sized) cyst. It will have to be surgically removed. Because it is so large the doctor doubted that laparoscopy will be an option. I am looking at surgery sometime in October, and until then controlling pain and avoiding “torque.”

So my life just got quieter.

I will continue to sub in classes where I do not have to be teaching all day —so not grade level classrooms. I will pick jobs in music, art, and theater. Those are shorter class periods, and have a varying schedule. I hope I can handle the pain.

If the pain spikes I have to go to the ER. I am taking an antibiotic, ibuprofen, and I can use heat. The cyst is causing pressure, so I need to be careful to give it lots of room. It’s like having a baby! (Ha, ha!)

I am still taking my Chinese class at the University. It’s only one evening, and I can park the car very near to the classroom building.

My foray back into academia has been positive! As a senior citizen I need only pay $20 a credit for tuition. I plan to consider finishing my graduate degree in Public Administration after all! The academic department in PA at my former school no longer exists. I would need to transfer in any case. I had given up on finishing the degree, (I really don’t need it!) but I do enjoy the academic culture. It is another mission field.

For now I am studying Chinese. Auditing. Not for credit. The professor is very kind and I am really enjoying the quietness of the class. We are learning Chinese Calligraphy.

Cherie is taking the class, too, so it’s especially fun.

We are all still processing what happened last week in the United States of America. As an unapologetic Believer in Jesus Christ, Biblically based, I feel the “eye of Sauron” on me. I really did support and agree with most of what Charlie Kirk said and did.

I’m a conspiracy theorist, so I always question everything in light of the puppet masters, the powers of this world, and Luciferian Secret Societies. My contact with the Illuminati was brief but real. Those things shape you. I will only be completely convinced of anything in the presence of Jesus.

What I heard from Charlie, pro Jesus, pro family, pro life, pro patriotism, all resonates with me. I am still irritated by those who misquote or distort his message.

But I need to chalk it up to current woke society. I can continue to pray that the veil will be lifted from the eyes of those that wink at sin.

Jesus saves, the Holy Spirit convicts. It’s not my job to do either of those things. I am simply called to TELL!

Go tell it on the mountain! Over the hills and everywhere!

If any wishy-washy churchy pablum eating “Christian” would take a minute to read some of the biographies of 18th and 19th century missionaries there would be deep conviction. We need to stand against sin like Charlie Kirk did.

It’s okay to love your country, too. I have had three soldiers in my immediate family. I was an officer’s wife in charge of a family support group during the Persian Gulf war. I wouldn’t have been in that position if I didn’t believe in defending and supporting my country and keeping it from moral decline to the best of my own capabilities! I believe in freedom of religion, free speech, and the freedom to do what is morally right.

Sin is a given. We are all sinners. I refuse to believe that condoning it and calling moral is ever right. We can allow it, even legalize sin, but it should never be forced down our throats as morally right. We must reserve the right to call sin, sin.

Like Charlie Kirk said—what you do in private is YOUR BUSINESS. Stop making everyone condone YOUR BUSINESS. Immorality is a thing. He rightfully saw the foundation of our country needing a moral foundation, which it had.

Yes, it’s old. It’s history. But, our country will not function without a solid base. We will see decline as the moral code disintegrates.

Which brings me to the hope that we have in Jesus Christ DESPITE this disintegration!

As a prophecy watcher, an enthusiastic waiter for Jesus, I am VERY excited about this upcoming Rosh Hashana! The Feast of Trumpets is next week, on Ed’s birthday, and I, for one, have a heightened sense of anticipation for Christ to fulfill this feast by coming for us!

If He doesn’t come today, or next week, or even until 2065 or 3000—-I will continue to get excited about the snatching of the believers, the harpazo (Aramaic), latin: Rapture.

Those who mock me don’t matter. I’ve written this before. They are also in prophecy. The scoffers are part of the plan. It’s boot camp training for us!

We watchers have a special crown awaiting us! 2 Timothy 4:8

At the very least I will have that crown to cast at the feet of my Savior.

My anticipation of my savior’s coming has convicted me in my walk with Christ, has given me an urgency to pray for the salvation of those I know and care about, influencers and those who have crossed my path.

My spiritual walk has only benefited from my anticipation of Christ’s return for us.

Would I be happily anticipating the Antichrist? Not hardly.

We are not appointed unto wrath. Why in the world would God give us so many signs and hints of the end? He wants us to watch and KNOW the season of Christ’s return.

We’re probably here, folks.

NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM!

So shouted the people of the book. I will gladly cry, “NEXT WEEK WITH JESUS!”

If it happens PRAISE GOD!

If the Great Snatching doesn’t happen today or next week we will continue to WATCH and PRAY.

“Perhaps Today.”

MARANATHA!

An articulate voice was silenced yesterday. Shame on the person who killed him. Shame on the leftist ideology that fueled the action. Shame on the world who has believed that assassination was justified.

Bonhoeffer attempted to kill Hitler, and it is hard to criticize that action, knowing the heinous war crimes and crimes against humanity that Hitler committed.

Yet he was not an authority. He took matters into his own hand. Therein lies the problem.

Back in tribal days, clans rose against clan. Things, the Nordic councils, met and hashed political problems. Kings and chiefs ruled and warred.

I think we are returning to that system.

Perhaps this trend will fuel the acceptance of Mr. Antichrist in our day.

We don’t know the conspiracy angles of what occurred on September 10, 2025 in Utah, but we acknowledge the powers that exist in this world, those driven by Luciferian connections and allegiance. That is simply part of the entire matrix.

Simply and obviously, with no hidden agenda, a young man (one I’ve followed for many, many years, from back in the days when I was addicted to the news, and a conservative activist) was assassinated yesterday.

He stood for my conservative values.

I may not have agreed with everything he represented, particularly his political fervor. He seemed to have his priorities right: God, family, country. He desired truth.

When he spoke I cheered—-because he held BIBLICAL VALUES.

That can get us in trouble, but here in America, a nation founded on Judeo-Christian belief, (get a load of the ten commandments carved into the Capitol rotunda!) we are supposed to be able to talk about these ideas. Freely. Free speech.

We have never been more divided.

Those of us who hold to God’s standards (and fail, of course, as the law only points out the sin like a schoolmaster) will not compromise. We can’t. There is no compromise.

Keith Green had an album by that title. It’s great. Listen to it today.

Followers of Christ do not compromise. We believe sin is sin as God defines it.

We believe, and do not apologize, for accepting God’s Word as above our own.

Our cynical selves will continually question God, our society, our own justifications of behavior. We will question the Bible freely as cynics.

But God gave us His Word so that we could know Him. We cannot know Him completely. He is beyond our comprehension, and anyone delusional enough to think they “get” God is in need of help.

So we must revert to His Word.

“If you love me, you will keep my commands.”

Jesus said this. He then pointed out the two most significant commands: Love God, love others.

But He didn’t stop there. He gave direction and modeled what that looks like. He told us to pray, to watch, to wait. He told us to serve, to repent, to be perfect.

Those things matter.

He told us to be born again, not of water, but of the Spirit.

He told us to be baptized.

He told us to obey Him, to honor God!

He told us to honor our parents. (The Ten Commandments are Christ’s)

We, as rebellious humans, don’t particularly like these commandments. We are sinners in the hands of a Holy God. We like to argue more than we like to obey.

But we should obey if we love Jesus. He even said it. “If you love me, keep my commands.”

Pretty clear.

Don’t give me any garbage about whether or not Jesus actually said that. I won’t hear it. I’ve accepted that what we have in our hands today—all over the world—the written Scriptures, is truth. The historicity of Scripture is peerless. One must have a measure of faith to accept God’s Word as truth, but it is not hard to do so.

Of course it is the first step toward faith.

I’ve been accused of having faith in the Bible, not Christ. Good point. You could conceivably hang that on me. It is through Scripture that I have come to faith in the Person it reveals. I will stick to that Person over any in my own imagination.

I will gladly lay down my own ideas and desires for a “perfect god made in my own image” for the one revealed to us in Scripture.

I choose to believe that God inspired the path of getting the written Word to me and anyone who loves the God revealed in Scripture.

I am sad that our “woke” culture requires this sort of justification and explanation, yet it is good to see the foundations of why we believe what we do.

Charlie Kirk was a fighter, but with words. He loved people enough to share truth with them in some of the most hostile environments: college campuses. Many, many young people were saved through his ministry.

NO compromise.

I am so MAD at liberals today. I feel like a bunch of bad words could pour out of my mouth at people I know who cling to this false narrative of “wokeism” and leftism, Marxism, and socialism. Those who hate the man in office right now (they completely forget that GOD IS THE ONE WHO PUTS PEOPLE IN POWER!). God even put an incoherent old bumbler in office, one plagued with dementia, one who brought our country to deeper lows, thankfully his party was voted out in 2024!!

This IS GOD’S JUDGMENT on a country that has drifted from His commands, and accepted evil as good.

Say what you want about our current president, but he is coherent, and his policies are effective in righting what was so corroded in our government. He is not stupid, but he is bombastic. His ties to the underworld are probably necessary in this corrupt world system. Globalists quake at him, so he must be sort of in the right. Perhaps it’s all a psy-op, but for now, until Jesus comes for us, we see trends that help Christians. Our president supports faith, patriotism, and a return to sanity in the diabolical world of health issues (i.e. Big Pharma) —-at least on the surface. HE could be the Antichrist for all I know.

I am watching for Jesus, not the Antichrist.

My Canadians friends are suffering worse, though. I am sympathetic.

I identify as a conservative, and what happened yesterday cemented my stance.

Go Donald Trump!

I may not like the person he seems to be (I don’t know him personally, though) but I like how he handles things. I like his staff and the clear goals they strive for. I like that he talks about God and doesn’t disparage those of us (like Charlie Kirk) who LOVE GOD.

Wake up you people!

Are you so blind that you cannot tell right from wrong anymore?

I have stepped away from politics for a season of grief and reset for the past few years. My leanings never changed, but I didn’t speak out.

I have no patience for liberals, those leaning left. I identify as conservative.

I am pro-life, pro-marriage between a man and a woman. I am grieved by the medical establishment and Big Pharma who have conned society into vaccines and other silly medical procedures. Gender dysphoria is top of my list.

Guess what? When I was young I wanted to be a boy in the WORST WAY. I had two athletic older brothers and I was a homely, chubby GIRL, tomboy, who couldn’t stand anything about myself. Beauty standards those days were Twiggy and Christie Brinkley. I was the opposite of them. Oh to a be a tall, slender woman! (I am short and thick. )

Yeah. I was wrong. That’s what I felt like then, though. That’s the truth about who I was. I get (I understand!) the dysphoria. I lived it. Quietly, but truthfully. My brothers called me Minnesota Fats, so that wasn’t exactly hidden.

In college I lost weight and became health conscious, especially after a couple of spine injuries, but I have struggled with weight my whole life. I get people who are unhappy with themselves and their bodies. I lived it.

Thank God I lived in an age where I was forced to address my issues on a soul and spiritual level, self discipline, that I didn’t step into another gender to appease my desires. That I gradually accepted being a female, becoming a wife and a mother.

I get it, and my heart hurts for anyone who struggles with self image. I completely understand. It’s hard being “less” than others. It’s hard feeling despised and rejected. I know. It’s hard being put down for being overweight and unattractive.

I am glad that the man I married overlooked that about me, and saw what was inside—a woman who loved and appreciated him, who desired to be a godly wife. He saw my “truth” and accepted me, the inner me.

In my younger days I hobnobbed with several different Christian organizations, and I am glad I did. I rubbed shoulders with Roman Catholics, Pentecostals, Apostolics, Orthodox, —others of different faiths altogether.

Since I was friends with many different people I would get interesting experiences with them.

For example, I led a young woman to Christ and she asked me to baptize her in the bathtub where I was living…..Ha! got out of that one…

Someone once had a vision of me —I was a pearl in a mud-covered shell, all dripping with slime. This person saw me as extremely ugly, but inside there was a pearl, and it was priceless.

I’ve been encouraged by this vision so many times. It doesn’t matter what we appear like—it matters what is inside, in our souls, in our heart and minds.

Shame on us for our short-sightedness. Shame on us for not helping people see TRUTH. Shame on us for our unbelief. Shame, shame, shame.

Shame on you for leaning to the left, towards atheist ideology, Communism, socialism, wokeism, Marxism. Shame on you for not standing up for the unborn. Shame on you for winking at sexual deviation, infidelity, fornication, and adultery.

Shame on me for not teaching truth, not speaking out when I could have, getting sidetracked by life’s woes.

It is time to mobilize. Cast off those unhealthy relationships, those “friendships” that have silenced you.

WE are called to love, and that means truth-telling. We are called to love our enemies, and that means we care enough to say the truth.

Stop the compromise. Take a stand. SPEAK OUT.

Pick up the mantle that Charlie Kirk had to leave. It will probably cost you your life in this present darkness, but to live is Christ, to die is gain.

Perhaps you will be the only preacher that they will ever hear.

MARANATHA!

If I were to encourage someone facing deep trouble I would say “wait.”

Time is more important than any thought or experience. Thoughts and experiences that heal are significant. They shape things, but time and staying faithful is really the key to healing.

I think that is demonstrated in the lives of many great saints of the faith, and it appears to be in my life, too. In my humble opinion. Time heals all wounds—a trope, but true.

To have your spiritual antennae grow back after trauma takes time.

God is always there, but you are suffering. You are wounded, in pain, and unable to perceive His presence as normal.

Wait.

Stay the course.

Wait.

Keep praying, keep reading the Bible, keep forcing yourself to sit in the pews on Sunday morning. Keep following and obeying Christ’s commands.

Just do it.

And wait.

Out of faithfulness will come joy and peace, renewed life, and, eventually, heavenly reward.

We are human. We are fragile and vulnerable. We will be damaged! We will have trials and tribulations in this world. That is a given.

But God remains, and God heals.

It just takes time.

You cannot rush the process.

This is an encouragement, meant as encouragement, to someone who is reeling in the throes of trauma. Your job is patient healing, waiting, and staying the course.

Run the race. Stay on course. Be patient. Wait.

MARANATHA

I’ve been a wounded one for quite some time, but I’m looking back at the past years and I see slow progress.

Grief never leaves, but it changes. It changes you.

I’ve navigated several difficult circumstances; graduate school failure, relationship fall-outs, betrayals, house repairs, job complications….(all besides death of dear ones close to me.)

The list never ends!

But I am sensing an ability to cope (with God’s help, and my trust in God) increasing. I am sensing healing.

Cheri and I are taking a class together at the University of Minnesota this semester. We both love it so far! She’s taking it for credit towards her Bachelor’s Degree. I am just taking it for fun. Chinese Calligraphy.

It’s a quiet class, taught by the instructor of Chinese at the U. Therapeutic.

I am glad that I can understand what I am writing, but that is not a prerequisite for the class. It’s an art class.

I’m looking forward to this experience, and learning a skill.

My painting for church is almost done. It’s more symbolic than pretty, but that’s okay. It has been fun to paint.

The Lord has been speaking to me about the power of our words, our self-identification, and how He loves me and you.

If you love me you will——–KEEP MY COMMANDS.

I am back to this study and how to make that bear fruit in my life. All good. Understanding my value (not more, nor less) is part of the Christian walk.

I know my abilities are different from others’ abilities. God gifted me uniquely, the same as He gifted YOU UNIQUELY. We should never compare.

But we do. It’s human nature.

Learning our own identity in Christ is the first part of acceptance and purpose.

Remember the three words I wanted to emphasize in 2025? Purpose, Service, and Faith.

I’ve prayed for God to reveal development in these areas of my life daily. I believe He is showing me to go back to Christ’s commands. He wants me to know them, to teach them, to practice and obey them.

I love IBLP’s curriculum on the Commands of Christ. I find the material beautiful and helpful, easy to understand and apply. I strongly recommend reading and learning from it! Such a blessing.

Many of you switched off the post when I said that, so biased against Gothard and his work. I believe that is to your disadvantage. I have been blessed by so many of the things he taught, Scriptural things. He also helped me in a time of great personal trauma. I cannot forget that, and I can only testify to his kindness toward me.

This curriculum is really excellent. I am so glad that I taught it to my kids years ago. I want to encourage them to pass it on. I dusted it off and I am reviewing it in light of my 2025 words and wanting to deepen my relationship with the Lord.

This is healing.

For years I felt I could just barely hold on, going through the motions of work and life. My heart is seeing a purpose take shape.

It’s good. It is healing.

Two commands to mention here: “Be born again,” and “Watch and Pray!”

MARANATHA!

The phone did not ring this morning at 5 am, the usual wake-up call of a veteran substitute teacher.

It’s the first day of school here in Minnesota. Traditionally school starts after Labor Day, right when the State Fair ends.

Cheri was off to the University of Minnesota. My grandkids are home-schooling, so they have been already hard at work.

It’s a beginning. Again.

I’m thankful for the extra days at home, as I continue to address the home repair issues I’m faced with.

Progress has been made. I’ve been checking things off as they happen, and yesterday I was able to order the tile that will be the waterproof flooring in the basement.

A week ago the last basement waterproofing project happened. The fourth installment. We had a light rain today, and moisture isn’t in the house. I am praying that the basement will stay dry from now on.

Labor Day was nice, dinner with my mom and Ed, shopping for tile at Menard’s. We had late lunch at a very busy place on Lake Minnetonka; Maynard’s. It was a perfect day. The day before that I was at the Hitchville event, also on Lake Minnetonka. That lake draws me! Sunday was also a perfect afternoon. The lead singer of Hitchville, the son of good friends, was especially comforting and supportive through some of my trials. I always love to support his music. The band is really an amazing musical talent.

I got to eat my favorite fish: walleye. I love fish (must be my Norwegian genes!)

Cheri brought back salmon from Alaska, which we ate last week (amazing!!)

I do not fish myself, but I enjoy a Minnesota lake fish fry anytime. (Sunnies <3)

I don’t cook much at home anymore, but I try to fix what my body needs. It’s a treat to eat out once in awhile and eat “real” food!

Sunday was a blessed day! Our pastor returned from sabbatical and Sunday was his day to report. He used John 15:5 as his text, and emphasized that apart from Christ we can do nothing. We need to be PRAYING!

I’m praying.

As someone who has watched for Christ’s return constantly I PRAY for the salvation of many, many people. They are on my “snatch list!” (Jude 23)

Time is short. Jesus is coming soon. There is little time to get right with Jesus!

People need to call upon the name of the Lord. (Romans 10:13)

So, these thoughts run through my head as I make my daily list of things to get done. I can always be praying, and I try to. My morning routine before school gets a bit longer as my prayer list grows! That’s okay.

If I don’t get prayer time in before school I feel spiritually vulnerable during the day. Prayer is like a shield. I trust that the Lord will answer my prayers.

I was challenged to revisit the study on Christ’s commands. I did this with my kids years ago, and I was happy to get out the materials and read again. Today’s command was “you must be born again!”

I am praying that God answers my prayers for the salvation of those I am lifting up to Him daily. I am trusting in His answers to my prayers. I am expecting miracles.

I am expecting powerful life changes in those I love and pray for.

God answers prayer. That is in John, chapter 15, too. What a chapter!

I’m working on a painting for our annual church art show. I am so happy for this art show, as it “forces” me to have fun with my art stuff. The theme this year is the 50th anniversary of the church. I’m working with tempura on canvas, and it’s been fun to see each layer emerge with sometimes unexpected results! This is art :D. I’ll probably post a photo on social media when the painting is complete.

God bless you, especially as this school year commences. God keep you! May His face shine upon you!

MARANATHA!

Today there was a school shooting in Minneapolis, my hometown.

It was at a Catholic school, in the southern part of town, a church I often drive by. I am indirectly connected to a family that goes there.

The peace of that nicer neighborhood has been shattered, and I know that people are feeling vulnerable and fragile who are in that area and a part of that community.

We are all sad.

It affects all of us.

Several years ago a child was abducted and killed in central Minnesota. Jacob Wetterling. The entire state went into shock and since the case was unsolved for many years there was fear in the hearts of parents, even in rural “safe” farm country.

Nowhere was safe.

But isn’t that the truth of human life?

We are fallen creatures, lost in sin. It is only by God’s grace that we can be saved, through faith in Christ Jesus. We have a false sense of security here in our sweet Midwestern lives. No one is safe, except through faith in Christ.

It is a horrible violation for this young “person” to shoot and kill children while they attended an opening mass at their private religious school. The person killed itself, suicide, so justice will be by God.

And all are accountable to God.

As believers in Christ we are completely forgiven, but our actions still bear a type of accountability. Bible readers know that God keeps track. He even keeps our tears.

I am more and more of a “Literalist.” The Bible makes sense poetically, but it is also conceivably literal. I become more convinced of the literal meanings as I grow closer to my Heavenly Father. His Words are full of power and truth.

Where else can I go?

So asked the disciple. So ask I.

We only have Jesus.

I love my prophecy people! We are all SO excited to see Jesus that our anticipation cannot be hidden! We love watching the signs of the times, the last days, unfold before our eyes because we WANT TO SEE JESUS!

We KNOW that He has amazing and wonderful things for us, and we will be giving Him the glory day by day, ever more, forever.

We can trust Him to answer our prayers, to save those we love and have asked for salvation in prayer. WE can trust Him. Amen.

We can trust Him with our pets, those precious souls that have loved us back. We can trust Him with everything that will be left behind.

Because He is God. All powerful, almighty, good, merciful, all-knowing, and omnipresent.

The world is headed for some hard times. If you come to know Jesus after the church (bride of Christ) is gone you will be faced with great trouble. I can see glimpses of it even today in the tragedy of this morning.

Buckle up!

The ring of fire is spouting and quaking, the political powers are conniving and planning, the signs in the sky and stars, planets, moon and sun are undeniable. We have seen the beginning of the oceans and lakes dying.

Israel is hated, almost universally–even while God commands us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem! There is a huge blessing for loving His chosen people. Too many Christians have become “woke” and have ignored Scripture concerning the bride of Yah, Israel.

God is dealing with His people. He promised an eternal covenant with Abraham. He didn’t forget it, even though it was thousands of years ago.

So many people have this small view of God.

They cannot believe in a God who keeps promises.

But I do.

The bride of Christ is not appointed to wrath. I believe that God will keep His promise concerning this. Christ paid the price for my sin.

Persecution? Trouble? Of course we all have that, or should. That is peanuts compared to the wrath of God.

Satan can only make things hard for us. (Even death is swallowed up in victory!) But once the wrath of God falls on those that do not believe in His Son, Messiah, it will be awesome and terrible.

Wake up, church. Preach the truth of Scripture to the congregations, pastors! Get us ready for this upcoming event! Paul describes it in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Read it for yourself.

Tell every loved one, and pray that they will be snatched from the fire (Jude 23.)

Who is on your “snatch list?”

Mine gets longer and longer every day, practically! I am trusting God to snatch the people on my list. I’m trusting that I’m praying according to His will.

I am sounding the alarm.

A new friend I have, Stephanie Potts, a former CIA employee, is putting out a book in September about the woke church.

You need to get it. She has done her research! I will also let you know when it comes out.

Fascinating connections. The blind will not see them, but we can pray that God will remove the scales from eyes so that they will see!

Worldview matters.

Look up! Your redemption draws night! Zola Levit always joyfully announced that Jesus kept the feasts! The first ones are fulfilled (the feasts are prophetic.) The next one to be fulfilled is the Feast of Trumpets (Also known by Hebrew idiom as “No One Knows the Day or Hour”) so we are looking at a fall new year feast to be prophetically fulfilled YET.

Could it be this year? Very likely. But perhaps today….

Will Jesus keep His promise to His followers?

There is a special crown for those who watch for and anticipate His coming.

Jesus always kept the feasts.

Every Rosh Hashanah I am watching with interest.

Makes sense to me.

MARANATHA!!!

I awakened to the sun streaming in this morning. The dogs’ needs force me up and out around 5:00 am usually, but today we all slept until sunrise.

The joy came when I opened the door and the fresh, cool air hit. There couldn’t be a more beautiful day dawning!

After our humid and smoky summer (such a conundrum!) this early fall “tinge” is so welcome. It feels like the air from northern Minnesota has come to visit us, like unzipping the tent flap on a camping trip up north.

The acorns ricochet off of the roof. My friend came over yesterday and she was startled by the sharp sounds. It’s like gunfire. “It’s acorns,” I said.

As beautiful as it is here in my little neck of the woods, it cannot be compared to heavenly joys that await us.

There is much talk about Christ’s return, specifically the return for the church (not the second coming.) The bride of Christ is slated to go up and meet Jesus in the air.

Soon.

What a relative word! It can be a moment (PERHAPS TODAY!), it can be “weeks” (both literally or figuratively) it can be a thousand years (a thousand years is like a day…).

It seems like it could be days, lately.

The signs in the heavens all point to Christ’s return. The earth is aquaking: volcanoes and tremors. Politics: should I go there? Wars and rumors of wars abound.

For me, as I watch, I have my radar up for the movers and shakers behind the scenes of our economies, the Public Administrations of the world, and what they are up to.

Most people are mostly, if not completely, unaware of these entities. They are never featured on the evening news, they are sometimes barely mentioned. You must ferret out information on these folk.

But these are truly the powers, the puppet-masters.

They pull the strings on trends and markets. They control the internet. They are the decision makers, and all must bow to their demands. The Alan Greenspans are just the figureheads.

Conspiracies? Of course. Conspiracies have been around since ancient times. They are the subject of myriad stories and legends. They still exist.

Unfortunately, that may be news to some.

I have stepped away largely from keeping up with these powers. It is time consuming and emotionally draining. I think many of my prophecy people, my “Tribe,” have also needed to step back. The information keeps coming and it can be overwhelming.

For our mental health we must protect our information gathering gates.

The world is red hot right now, in all respects, even as the sun shines through my porch vines; it looks like all is well. It is not. Stuff is brewing.

But I choose to be expectant, watching, looking up. When I focus on my spiritual health I am happier, at peace, and confident in what is coming. I am granted guidance and wisdom.

It is, nonetheless, interesting to dip back into the running flow of prophecy talk from time to time, keeping track of the current situation.

Sometimes even the evening news knowingly or unknowingly reports signs of the times, the last days.

NEWSFLASH: We are in the last days!

Are you ready? There is an urgency right now to be prepared. I am not talking “prepper” stuff: no one could possibly prep for the wrath of God. You can only trust in Jesus, and that will always be enough. Death will be the kindest thing for most people facing the trials to come. Death is defeated by Christ, therefore it will be preferred.

Death without Christ is another story.

Let this time of urgency drive you to make a decision to follow Jesus. You don’t know what is coming.

Artificial Intelligence rewrites itself every 12 minutes. We are dealing with an entity that could be spiritually driven by evil.

The devil has been around a long time and he is pretty intelligent. You can only be safe from his power in Christ Jesus. Satan rules this earthly domain for now. He knows he’s going to locked up for 1,000 years and he is doing his level best to defy God now.

If only he would lose his power over people that I am praying for.

My prayer is that the scales of his deception would fall from the eyes of those I pray for. I pray that they would see the truth of God, in Christ Jesus, and convert to His way.

God answers prayer, so I am confidently praying, in His will, that they come to faith.

This is hope.

The world can burn on my right and wash away on my left. I am standing on a solid rock.

Come Lord Jesus!

MARANATHA!

An iconic moment in the BBC version of “Pride and Prejudice” was Elizabeth’s embarrassment at being found at Pemberley by Mr. Darcy. She was travelling with her aunt and uncle and reluctantly stopped to see the mansion with them, was assuaged at hearing the owner was away, but in the course of the tour he appeared unexpected.

They were both flustered and could only find tropes to say. Commonalities. They soon found their senses and the story soared on.

If only good health could always be a commonality.

I am, again, breathing in smoke from forests that burn north of us. Although Minnesota is practically Tropical Rainforest this summer, other places to the northwest burn.

We keep hoping that the endless rains will clear the air, but I smell that tell-tale smoke even as the gray clouds of rain hover over Corgi Hollows.

Mildew has been a battle, and as you know, moisture is no friend to this old house. Waterproofing people return next week to (hopefully) finish the job with another section to be tiled.

I can tell my health has suffered. I am still a healthy person, I think, but my lungs feel it, and I cough way more than I usually do.

Yesterday I felt pretty bad, so I got little accomplished.

There are days like that.

Still, it is harvest time here, and I am enjoying the tomatoes in the garden as they ripen on the vine. I love my marigolds and nasturtiums. The aloe vera that I’ve had for years looks amazing. It bloomed again, exciting the hummingbirds. I have two giant volunteer sunflowers that make me smile. I am so happy for them. I filled the bird feeders for the first time in months and the wildlife is grateful.

I baked a buttercup squash yesterday, along with three loaves of pineapple banana bread. I froze the bread. I can’t help it. I don’t even need it! I will try to bring it to Bible Study on Sunday. If I remember! I just can’t help myself. I must put up food this time of year. It’s wired into me.

One day at a time, one step at a time. Each year I try to purge and clean, but the last years of grief were pretty quiet on that front. Minimal was accomplished.

In our materially “blessed” country the stuff can pile up pretty quickly. I should be making several trips to the thrift store this week. The purge is on.

I’m giving up many, many books, too. Water has damaged a lot of them, so they are simply garbage, but I’ve decided to let many home-schooling materials go. The cost of education.

The times change so fast. We are all wired now, so finding a book online is simple.

Of course I have my book friends that I still don’t part with. Kids will have to purge them after I’m gone.

How really fragile we are! I still have three parents, and I am so blessed to have them in my old age! I am living with that blessing day by day. I know things can change, quickly, and I am learning to bless the Lord daily, for this day, for this moment. Ten year plans seem sketchy these days.

Spiritually and physically I don’t see us around in ten years.

As the “evangelical” church drifts from a solid stance on eschatological issues I want to quietly affirm my own doctrinal stance on the last days.

Scripture gives us several examples of being “caught up” to heaven. Enoch and Elijah for starters, Jesus. Paul writes about an NDE he had where he was caught up (he can’t say if it was in the flesh).

In this manner, says the Scriptures, we (the followers of Christ) will also be caught up.

I don’t need anyone to explain that simple sentence to me. I just believe it.

When we are caught up (latin equivalent, English usage: rapture, Hebrew: harpazo) is still a big question to discuss and speculate, but Jesus told us to watch.

He even gives a crown to us for watching. Another crown to cast at His worthy feet!

Scripture plainly states that we won’t be unaware of this time! Jesus gives us all sorts of clues about the end of days, the coming of the Day of the Lord. There is leeway in interpreting “the day of the Lord,” but it has to do with the end.

The end.

It can all be summed up: “The End.”

The end is coming. Are you ready?

The end of the church age is in sight. The house of Pisces (the sign of the fish) has transitioned into the house of Aquarius (the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.) Christ will reign for 1,000 years while the devil is locked up.

Things have to happen before that kingdom on earth begins: Israel must be dealt with, the church has to celebrate a bridal feast with the Savior. The church has to go to do this. The feast happens in heaven. The church also returns with Jesus to reign with Him.

All these things must come to pass.

There are some scary things described in the book of Revelation, written by John, Jesus’ beloved disciple. John was the last disciple to survive of the twelve. He spent time on an island in the Mediterranean Sea at the end of his life. God gave him a picture of what would come in the next millennia. Two thousand years.

God is wrapping things up.

Isaac Newton predicted Christ’s return around 2050.

Predictions have been made for millennia.

A good, solid prediction can be based on the Hebrew Idiom that refers to the Feast of Trumpets: “Not knowing the day or the hour.” Only the priest could declare/know that moment of the feast’s commencement.

Only the priest can declare that moment of harpazo.

Jesus always kept the feasts.

I’m banking on being caught up here, actually soon. I’ve been watching and waiting for 60 years.

My grandpa was a dispensational preacher, so it’s in my blood to be dispensational, theologically. I am mostly dispensational. I still believe that the Holy Spirit can be a powerful Person and intersect with this dispensation in many ways. He is God.

And, boy, does it make sense.

I don’t need fancy theologian talk. Scriptures speak to me, personally. God is a personal God. He is MY SAVIOR.

I am supposed to watch. I am supposed to look for signs that the Bible tells me to look for.

Simple obedience, that is what I want to spend my days here doing, being, living.

May I encourage you to earn that crown for watching? Are you ready? Is your name in the Book? Are you right with God? Do you believe? Did you put your trust in Jesus?

The most gripping and blatant sign is the existence of the nation of Israel after 2,000 years. This is amazing. Jesus is so good! He wants us to be comforted, to have hope.

He gives it to us.

We have hope in His glorious returning.

Do these words resonate?

Follow Jesus.

I have decided to follow Jesus.

…

For those who have chosen to succumb to Augustine’s frustration with the Jewish people I would warn you. Augustine has his place in history, but perhaps most for influencing the falling away from God’s people. Israel is, indeed, different from the Church of Christ, yet the church should never have divorced herself from the ancient people of God. This was an epic mistake.

The feasts ordained by God are symbolic for the church as much as for the Jews. Augustine messed up. And so began 2,000 years of ……

Get back to Scripture. See the patterns and the whole story. Jesus is Jewish! Those who follow Jesus follow Messiah! We are grafted in. God has not forgotten Israel, and the upcoming seven years (the last “week” predicted by Daniel) will commence to bring them into the Kingdom of God.

Watch.

MARANATHA!

Relationships are complicated. Don’t we all agree?

What an experiment I’ve had these past few years with my huge life change! I was given a “gift” of starting over, even if it included deep sorrow, trauma, and grief. The darkness is giving way to light, even as I anticipate the coming of the Messiah to snatch His bride for the seven-year feast in heaven.

Look at the earth quaking! Look at the powers align to simulate the descriptions in Scripture! Look at the spiritual revival taking place all over the world.

America may be in decline, but God is moving. I pray that the current powers bow to God Almighty, and do his will. They may not understand God’s power, (who does?) but when they accomplish righteous things I rejoice. When evil is done I am willing to grieve but wait on God and His intervention.

I am willing to wait on God for His intervention in my own life and the intersections of relationships that have been happening in my 60 plus years.

Many people have intersected in my life for a time: those in school, in college, in Germany, in Turkey, in Louisiana, in Texas, in Iowa, in my former Minnesota town and church, in my jobs, and now, in my present life.

Family has always intersected one way or another. I think we all have that kind of relationship with our kin. Sometimes we are close, other times we grow distant. Bonds remain.

Some people we cling to, some cling to us. For better, or worse, like marriage!

Intersections shape us and teach us.

I have feared some intersections. Relationships are prime ground for pain. Who really likes pain?

I have severed some relationships for my own mental clarity and for healing.

But…

Some of those relationships are reconciling. The intersections have occurred again. Our roads have wound back together.

Still, I sometimes think back to some relationships where the intersection happened, and it remains in the past.

Our lives continue to drift apart. Loss.

As this happens I am somewhat comforted to see other relationships beginning. Our lives have crossed recently, and we are even on the same path.

It is a challenge for me to continue to let the past go and to welcome and navigate the future.

In heaven there will be an eternity of relationship intersections, all wonderful and full of love and joy.

I look forward to that.

If you know Jesus we will certainly intersect there. Let’s drink tea and feed our animals together. Let’s make things that are beautiful and walk with our Lord in gorgeous surroundings. Let’s talk about important things and fellowship. You and I will be thrilled to know each other and be in Christ’s presence.

He’s coming soon.

He’s coming soon!

MARANATHA!