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I awoke this morning and as I lay in bed a bit I contemplated God. How good He is. How all the storms I endured in my life always subsided. My thoughts wandered to my current storm of behaving like Lot’s wife and I asked forgiveness… again. And then I was just about to ask God to grace me with a sign, a nudge, a confirmation, or something to bolster my faith when my thoughts went to “it’s okay Lord, you always come through I am sorry.” And I got up to start my day. Okay but not ecstatic. Ready to plunge in again. And then! My thoughts started taking a downward slide towards the path of woe. I recognized it sooner than later this time. I cried out “Jesus!” And then I heard the singing in my heart “show me your glory.” How can I refuse to let God shine all over my life? Guess who would want me to? You want to know how this started? A Christian “friend” just so happened coincidentally to spew fear at me last night. I rebuked him. Was he mad? Nope! He just responded as the enemy would with a whatever attitude. So now instead of being a duped participant in my own robbery , I am upping my asking for Gods abundance!! Exodus 33:18-23 18  Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” 19  And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_e3aJLRsdc

When you look at this picture… what is your takeaway from it? One picture can appear different because of perspective. Du sent it to our SIL to show him the beauty of this place of his. Tranquil. Geese swimming lazily along. The morning dawning. A nice moment as he awaits our house getting finished. SIL saw the docks wheel axel sticking out of the water causing him concern in how much water this big lake is down. Concern because his big boat is sitting just off view and the water is now too shallow to not just launch it but to get it out of the water before the ice sets in. So everything generates a “Thank you Jesus!” or a “Oh Jesus help!” And for me? I see a large four color painting but struggle to not being able to paint in the confined area of the cabin for our house is still not done. As for God… He sees it as Jeremiah said in 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Oh and btw… creative thinking was achieved and got the boat out🙏 thank you Jesus. Still waiting on a close date. But it will come. We told God about our concerns. 👍

About this 2 or 3 are gathered verse… there is more to it than you think. Matthew 18: 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. I was distressed the other day as delaying circumstances in the house project were beyond my patience and I went to a friend in prayer. They “saw” the house was on fire. From God? Maybe. And they proceeded to relay their interpretation. “This is what I see. In its future it will burn to the ground.. not because of how it was built but because of thing far beyond anyone's control” and I was worried! Was he right? Was he wrong? This did not comfort me. This did not give me peace. This caused chaos. But I knew God was in our midst. Yes I knew because He is with me always. Because I cannot live in chaos and seek Gods peace, I asked another to pray on the fire scenario. Her words were a balm to my soul, “Even when God shows us bad things as a warning there are usually conditions and directions.“ I was certain God was in our midst. And I left the whole thing with God and proceeded with tasks I was required to participate in. After a day of letting it go and letting the worry evaporate, God showed me this pic. Why? A two fold lesson. Trust God even if and no matter what. And something is coming that someone else - including me - needs this residing on the back burner. God is global.

Is working for God your 9-5 job? Yes and no. God is beyond the constraints of time but we are not. Do life events continually threaten your creativity? The pulling and stretching of our earthly job descriptions tends to blur, obscure, and muddle up our intentions of communing with God. Yes, circumstances can get overwhelming. For me, right now, even though there is little time or space. I grab a minute or two to plop down paint on a smaller than normal canvas stretching my thoughts for the vague idea that I cannot quite pin down and knowing I will probably paint over it the next time. It is frustrating. But I am persevering because I hear in my thoughts “keep your head in the game.” I know I must make the conscious effort to try. AND I have to act to make the try happen. It is in our nature to drift off of our course, it takes discipline to stay on it. Just do it. It is in this, we find our best. IMHO

For a very long time now, Du gets up first and makes me two mugs of cinnamon-y chai tea with Italian cream and Stevia while he makes his coffee. Its always the same, not to hot, not to cold and the first cup is inhaled as its stronger than the second cup which is always sweeter. Odd as its the same teapot of water into the same tea strainer. I get why the stronger tea first but the second being sweeter is odd. An odd too is that when he is out and about earlier and I make my own, it doesn’t taste the same even though all ingredients are the same. His is better. We talked about it. He never realized the second cup was sweeter. And as in most conversations where a goal is wanted, we figured it out. I put the cream and sugar into the bottom of each cup ready to dilute perfectly with the hot water. Each cup is the same in flavor but the second has less caffeine. Du adds the cream and sugar to the tea leaves in the strainer where the leaves soak them up and released only by the water. And so by the second cup the leaves are saturated and then adding more when releasing even more of the creamy sweetness. I see now the value in being tempered. We get sweeter. Luke 6: 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

I watched a reel the other day put out by a newly popular Christia influencer where an “important” singer was complaining about how mean Christians were to her as they found her works, and her persona, offensive. As she spoke of how hateful Christians are she said she was wanting no part of “us” I noticed she wore a tee shirt emblazoned with “made in hell” on it. The influencer made the comment “look at what we have done to her” and I was taken a bit back. I have never spoken to her. And I don’t know anyone who has and just who are these “we”? So I put it to God. Today the thoughts came to me of “who do you suppose was complaining?” Most of us have been the recipient of this experience. This leads to the question “ Is the demon complainings going to shut you up?” The bible says to speak in love. But love, true love, is a force! Not wishy washy, not mumbling weakly, but embracing the power of God to share His good news. Thats our job. So these kinds of encounters… What would you do? Leave them to God? Rebuke? Have you ever rebuked a demon in a person? I have 3 times in my life. One, I did as I was shown the spirit of a wolf in his eyes. I left the scene and gave them over to God as this was not in my wheelhouse at that time. The second left my life, and I entrusted them to Gods care. The third, recognized it and dealt with it. Every situation is different but the message is the same. Jesus loves us, this I know but take guff from a demon? No I don’t think so! The moral of the story? They can complain about who said what and grouse that the message wasn’t delivered on a satin pillow as well as saying “you Christians are all hateful and its all your fault that I deny your Jesus and and and…” but at the end of the day, they heard. They chose. Matthew 10:14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.

I have been word sparring with a prideful and obstinate woman for months, out of necessity, and Friday it reached its peak. I was sorely tempted to retaliate in petulance but finally responded by not responding. Gods will for me was to be silent. I knelt to His will. And then! I was nudged to contact my friend. The timing was perfect as she needed prayer as well. As I prayed for her, my inner storm subsided. As we chatted, I felt joy replacing exasperation and I realized there is more going on with the verse Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” And then I dreamed. An amazing dream. People, mostly men, a lot in suits, some women, all around me, were in various stages of kneeling. Some were already in a full-on unsupported kneel. I saw me in a full kneel as I have been experiencing (and successfully) Exodus 14:14, “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” The others in the dream? Well… God works globally and if I see the desire, need, want, etc, to kneel before King Jesus others are experiencing this. As for “the suits”… all those personas that come to your thoughts. And the woman? I don’t know. Will she attempt another round? She can, but again I will wrestle with the angel and come away blessed. 🤐🫡

I read a blip asking “What could the devil do to sway you to its side?” Most responded to that “drawing the short straw” was a distinct player. Granted that catastrophes, tragedies, emergencies, etc can really shake us up and roll us out of bed but then the choice thing happens. Yes we choose. We choose right or left, up or down, in or out, to fight or to flee. We choose to ask for help, or not. Some retreat. Some ponder on the misfortune as whether is it by divine design or simply a sequence of events put into play by choices while scrambling to reestablish their normal. Some blame others. Some blame themselves. Some blame God. I rarely hear anymore “the devil made me do it” and when I do, I notice the glee accompanying it forgetting its aim is to seek and destroy our bodies and our lives. Its goal is chaos. Regardless, those that know God will seek God. Those that do not know God, need those that do. How we handle ourselves in our trials matters. The results of our trials matter. What did we learn? And for the original question of “what would it take…?” An easy life living the the luck of “the long straw” causes the strongest current in our daily drift away from our Father. Lord “Give us today our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11) in Jesus Name, Amen and keep me close to you.

I have had more than a few moments this past 3 months of grousing about not liking the path in building in building a new home, which has now been delayed by 4-6 weeks due to rain. In the beginning… of this latest adventure we left “MY” forever home. And because the house sold really fast, and rather than buy, we were led to build, and that takes time. So we went from my daughters cabin to our camper - which has a smaller version of our actual bed so yay! in a campground that is new and still under construction so boo! to sometimes staying at her guest room in the basement when we need to which is a treat and a delight to see her family in their natural habitat so yay! again. And as always the yays! on my path are, as usual, ahead in first place. Thank you Jesus. And then, last night I was given a dream to pretty much knock off the grousing. To enjoy where we are. For as long as we are here. And to bloom where we are planted. Do I love my circumstances? NOPE! Would I like a lot or even a little more control in my life? Hmmm… maybe… maybe not. I have more experiences that have cemented into my thinking that God knows better than I. In my dream, the Holy Spirit made it very clear to trust the process… and to stop complaining. The dreams ending was the most vivid part where the Holy Spirit said to me “even if I poured the healing waters down into your mouth, with your attitude right now, you would strive to not know His joy for you.” Oh snap! Gotcha Father. 🫡

The awareness of “an age of rage…where there are those who “knowingly created conditions for extremist views and, yes, extremist actions” (J. Turley) is being thrown onto my path on a daily basis. So who are “those” who do this? I don’t think I know any extremists. Most I know are “middle of the roads” like me. I don’t hate anyone. I wish no harm upon others. I try to live by the Golden Rule, and that as for me and mine, we serve the Lord hoping that they will know we are Christians by our love. And then I saw a clip, a reel, a tiktok sort of thing yesterday that showed me a demon speaking through a rather ordinary, average, nice gal in her early twenties. It was furious that the assassin failed. FURIOUS!! How it latched on to her is unknown to me but latch on it surely did. To be latched upon results in dabbling with the dark side warned about in the bible. Upon? Yes. For a daily practicing of the bible, immersed in the ways of the Lamb, baptized in the fire of the Holy Spirit, forgiven and forgiving child of God? Yes, only upon. And upon is still pretty ugly. But in? Available to everyone else. What? Why? How? The Holy Spirit will not dwell with the foul making it a pretty big deal “on whom you serve.” Can we have our opinions? Yes! That freedom is still available in the USA. But opinions salted with hate, or malice, or offense? Nope, not even irritation for evil lurks for any opening. Can they have theirs? Yes! What if we don’t like it? Choices are available… stay neutral and agree to disagree, or walk away but leave them with a blessing, or enhance our own selves by looking within as to why their opinion tripped an opening for evil to gain access to us. Any of these choices are chances to address our reactions as convictions by the Holy Spirit to bring us up to His level. Go for it!

today is a good day for a foil hat I think. gift giving… how do you decide what to give another? do you give what you like assuming they will like it as well? do you pick up ideas in your conversations with them as to what they enjoy? do you just fulfill the bare minimum and call it a gift? do you go overboard? or is a card the magic pill? does this impact our ability as well as a reflection on how and what we expect from God? Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17

I have not been painting for 3 months. It feels weird but I am led to not to. I have also not been writing much either but I am led not to which seems a little ironic as well as prophetic. What I am led to do is to reevaluate the path I live on and to observe what transpires each day. We are living between an RV and my daughters cabin as we build a new home, which has been affected by the rains - another of God’s doing I presume. My only task in this is to pick and choose and to turn the choice over to another. Other than that it is not a factor in what is obviously a lesson. What I have learned so far is this; that it only takes 10 minutes to clean an RV, 30 to clean the cabin where it took and hour and a half to clean my house. That it feels better to sleep closer to my husband in this queen size bed as opposed to the king we had in the house. That after 35 years I know I made a good choice, am grateful to have him home after his years of bridge rehabbing, and this adventure is just his cup of tea. That one bathroom does not kill the mystique 😂 And that my love of painting had changed at some point to a need to fill a spot in my heart that was hurting, thus shutting God out of it. He knew. He understood. I was not ready then but in this “void” I now am in, I am soon to be ready to move on up the path at just the right time. What I have been doing is earthy things such as yesterday we were out at the property mucking about the soggy grounds digging ferns and trillium for our friend before the bulldozers go out to level the ground for the build. Note: not to worry as we only trekked through an acre of the 40 and one fern regenerates into a hundred. We also fit in to our “busy” schedule the riding of our bikes. The other day we brought along puppy Sammy, who unfortunately got motion sickness so we will try breaking him in to it on shorter trips. He says he still wants to go as he howls when we leave him behind as enjoys playing with his padded basket. Charly on the other hand enjoys his bed. His size alone gives the impression of living with a calf but his attitude is pretty chill, most of the time. But first, we start the day with bible time followed with prayer, including the Prayer of Jabez for blessing us and ours. Overr the past months we have noticed a change in the types of daily blessings from the big stuff to subtle soul enhancing experiences. So the lesson appears to be to get in the habit of living 2 Corinthians 6:2, For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” I am content, I think. I am not entirely sure as I have this nagging feeling of something is coming. God assures me that imaginations can be used for good as easily as dread and which I choose is up to me. 🧐 Life as a Christian is definitely not boring. 👍

The Bible says that “Too many worries lead to nightmares, and a fool is known from talking too much” from Ecclesiastes 5:3 what is interesting is that these two scenarios are combined in the same verse. I dreamed of my little sister last night. How unexpected! I had just been talking about her this past weekend about our fun shenanigans growing up and how grief is forever. She came to me in a dream looking bright, just as tall, just as beautiful, and quite fit and with a message that I would feel better if I lost weight. True enough and I marveled at her caring. Was it caring? No. It was a trap. The message… while true enough but a fairly generic one to send to a menopausal woman. Insert eye roll here. Unexpected though? I think not. I had opened a door with my words. Evil was listening and now betting my grief against believing the word in Hebrews 9:27, ““Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,” ‭‭ When I awoke I was filled with sadness as her passing was now relived again and that the evil one thinks me so slow witted that I could be duped in my now weakened state as it attempted to dredge up the grief from its safe place to where I could be manipulated. But even weakened, I know from many conversations and experiences with God… God will not use the dead to relay his message. He is a God of life. This was not a Holy Spirit encounter either as the Counselor is all about - and only about - pointing all attention to Jesus. The message directed my thoughts to myself. What it didn’t bet on is that I am so over me.

Ella, the dancehall girl… I saw her sitting on the lawn looking so ill at ease, dressed in a stark geometric style that rendered her cheap and unwanted. Having spent the last few summers in the Black Hills of South Dakota perusing the old styles, the local saloons still in their glory, and the general ambience of days of old, I recalled seeing this little lady's family of parlor lamps lighting the way of swinging saloon doors and sawdust on the floors. Many have said they were born a hundred years to late and yes, she too thought this as well. As a product of the 1970s, she always knew she was out of sync with the times and the geometric look imposed on her. She has the most beautiful curves and legs worthy of fishnet stockings like her older sister unceremoniously named the "Leg Lamp". I knew she had a chance at another life if I brought her home but I hesitated. But as kids all do, my dearest son-in-law says "you want her? let's bring her home" and into the old green Jeep she went. I let her sit for a few days trying to decide just what would serve her best. It was decided. The ideas were in full swing and it was just a matter of time for her new threads to be delivered. But as other projects loomed on the horizon, she was stripped of and cleaned and her legs were sanded up to smooth out some of the time. No not all! Because all scars should tell a good story, and she certainly had hers, it was decided to honor her for keeping fit enough for the last fifty years. In the process of giving her back her life, she gained a name… Ella, the dancehall girl. She is not for sale anymore. I am pleased to introduce Ella, the Dancehall Girl of yesteryear.

If Van Gogh was a genius, why wasn’t he recognized as such when he was alive? Thank you for the A2A if Van Gogh was a genius, why wasn’t he recognized as such when he was alive? A fairly simple reason that happens over and over. The majority of people do not recognize greatness when it stares them in the face or pokes them in the eye with its glaring beauty. It is far more common, and “common” being the operative word, that people focus more for others to see them with a “look at me! look at me” noisy persona. Look at President Kennedy. Hated!! Detested. This Irish Catholic would doom us all!! President Reagan and his horoscope seeking wife with her need for new plates. Now both are historic in their saving deeds. Even the words spoken by Jesus to his own people in Nazareth were scoffed at because to them he was just the kid down the block therefore without authority to preach to them. Now Mother Theresa… a lowly sacrificing sister to the poor. Made worldly great by one Royal person who took an interest in her. That and that she appeared more lowly in life than she truly was. Her greatness was no threat to ours. Because we have one chance at life, we are driven by our esteem to make it count, to be remembered. This drive pushes folk to be so narcissistic that they have to be told what great is. God knew of this flaw about us. Even He had to proclaim “Greater is HE (Jesus) that is in you than he (you) that is in the world.