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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.

The angst of the prodigal son story arises upon my path again today. Its a bane to many parents. Shakespeare included this global trauma in his play The Tempest where Miranda is surprised that a noble woman like her grandmother could give birth to an evil man like her uncle Antonio and stated “Good wombs have borne bad sons.” This same phenomenon persists, evil? I am not so sure but certainly not biblically honoring “thy mother and father.” Has it always been like this? Is this why the honoring is included in the Ten Commandments and is also addressed in the Chapter of Luke? Luke, the physician and the reporter, of the New Testament writes of The Parable of the Prodigal Son. The young son takes off with his inheritance and squanders it in reckless living and then returns home to his forgiving father. In telling of the story there are key parts that get overlooked; one; even though the request and the reason for the financial request surely grieved the father, he didn’t argue with his son’s desire, he conceded to it. I believe he exhibited faith in his child. And second; the father did not chase after the son, did not impose his desires upon him, and the son, when in dire straights, made the first move in returning to his family. The first move in contrition after such a big bravado is an important character reset. It is a form of dying to self. Ephesians 4:22-24 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. And third, the father ran to meet him putting aside what transpired, an act of mercy so that his son didn’t arrive home defeated, but knowing he was wanted. And fourth… there will always be the one who who cries “not fair!” when witnessing the power of forgiveness.

I can look where I choose. The Hostages. The Protesting. The Media. The Bills. The Diagnosis. The Changes. The Discontented. The Crime. The Loss… and more. There is always more. Will I will see what I want to see. Will I see what they cause me to see? Am I right? Are they right? Three times yesterday God proved me wrong. I am glad He did for His way was better and benefited me. Remember… Romans 8:6 “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,” He reminded me, where is your focus? Everything now has happened before. We puny humans are slow to learn as it is in our nature to drift away from God on a daily basis. If things are good, we drift in taking His good for granted. If things are not good, we drift in defiance. But God is the same. He was called upon by our fathers and mothers for hundreds of generations. He was called upon by Moses. He answered every question, and every plea… to those who asked. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is our God. So for the solution? God. Always God. Psalm 16:8 I have set the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=8txqw-u4V78&si=kldAX_MJxOsCmt2H

This is the Rescue of The Rose and like my paintings she comes with a story! Progress happens and organization was at the top of the list as this old thing was dragged out of the back of the closet by its two remaining knobs ending her career as a "make-do-for now" artifact. She was all wood! Real wood. Yes, but this poor old sot was breathing its last hurrah of overstuffed drawers in lieu of a modern "system" and dumped into the garage for tool storage. "Take it, burn it. do what you want to with it" was proclaimed and so I did! I brought "it" home and knew with just the right CPR (Creative thinking, Paint and Repair) coaxing "it" to live again. Perusing began and ideas were swirling and after extensive elbow grease, ideas, and paint The Rose emerged! I recalled Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote "There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence." There it was, she was to be a creamy delight with a nod to her long lived strength adorned with black iron hardware calling attention to the whimsy of carnival stripes. She took to the ministrations with the ease of a lady in a jewelry store and emerged successful and the easiest transformation to date. She is The Rose. - Denise Rand Dahlheimer Happy Happy! Story board time!

After ten years I moved from my “exit” house. At least I hoped it would be where I made my exit into heaven’s door. In my heart I knew it was not. How did I know? I was under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. And how did I know that? I fought too hard to control all aspects of it. The first sign was in the heavy furniture I bought that was only movable by professionals, and another was many times we traveled for Du’s work which also piqued my quest to see many places and their peoples. And then the Holy Spirit called me out on my heavy furniture. He let me know that there are people that will take care of that. He simply said “let’s close this door.” I was excited, yet reluctant, but because I belong to Jesus l will follow Him. He allows us the Ecclesiastical time to reflect and so I did. This past home was a time for personal soul growth. Observations were made, messages given and received. Theirs is on them. Mine is on me. And then my reflecting turned to self-doubt with a tint of pity. Leaving an opening when the devil came around to find me looking back at the routine, the order, the knowing. I was looking back just like Lot’s wife; the only woman in the entire bible that Jesus mentioned in Luke 17:32 “ Remember Lot’s wife”? She left her heart and her attention back in Sodom. My lesson was to be an up close and personal reflection regarding this comfort of “knowing.” The humanity version of it steals! Proverbs 18:15 states “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” This acquiring and seeking are action verbs. Like in GO. Mark 10:52 "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Mark 16:15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. And so on. So I will go and grouse no more. ☺️

I tried to not think in the terms of the grousing crone but it was tough! So I quit. I just sat there and gazed upon the giant crucifix

While I am away my youngest granddaughter Ev is babysitting our pup. And he is teething… and curious… and nighttime was a struggle… and a lot of texting was sent to grama and papa. We prayed… fervently! We prayed from the need. We prayed with “oh please Jesus put your touch on this situation!” And thank you for rhe gift of this situation! Teach us our parts in it.” And then… Ev just “knew” what to do. The kennel was chucked to the side. Playtime was increased. Sammy was invited in to her space where he knew he was safe. And both found joy, peace, and confidence. All in less than 48 hours. Why so quick? They both understood their part in the relationship. But the lesson was mine as I watched this clip she sent and the song by Tom T Hall played in my thoughts of “old dogs and children, and watermelon wine…” https://youtu.be/e7luxiYV0Kk?si=vymea1AXDJKIf-62