Growing Deeper

 It's Monday🫣  ...And we are opening our eyes🤗 to a new work week, and of family with various needs. Bless God! Look around to all the wonder and blessings we DO have. Whether they are of health, food, a good job, or those you share your life with.  Yes, it's Monday, a lot of how we view this day will have to do with our perspectives.  Life is good for many, but maybe your life today is not "good." Sickness is going around, the pressures are on for you to bring "Christmas"all together, and there is a huge list of things still not done. Take heart! Life in general can be hard to manage, especially during the holidays when everything is suppose to be PERFECT.     We live in a fallen world. Life is NOT perfect, but we don't have to succumb to feelings of despair. Even though some are battling sickness, financial issues, loss, fatigue, or whatever, (you fill in the blank_____.)      Isn't it comforting to know that whatever challeng...

Just recently I had a conversation with friends of mine who stated that they were questioning their beliefs. What IS really true and what could they have absolute faith in with this world of so much controversy. I felt that recent events were instrumental in those questions and triggered an even deeper quest for what is true in all of what we are seeing going on in the world.  I think that being a believer doesn't inoculate us from questions; I also believe that questions are inevitable and actually good, especially in these time war and loss. One friend even said, "Yes, I do believe there is a higher power. But I am not sure who that actually is. I was very surprised at that comment. But at least it was an honest one.  I continued to listen and think about how to answer.  Later a thought came to my mind.   I recalled a movie that I had seen so many years ago. The movie was "The Miracle Worker" with Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke. It was a true story about Helen K...

 Recently, our Golden Retriever, Angel,hurt herself. Somehow, she ended up with a puncture on her neck. I noticed it because she was scratching her neck and there was blood on the floor.    I investigated and found a wound. "What happened girl that you have this hole here?" and looking at it closer, I said to her "you cannot be scratching this, or it will get infected." It was already looking pretty nasty. She had a compulsion to keep scratching so I decided that a trip to the farm store was in order. Thankfully they had exactly what I had in mind. There, hanging on the wall was a large assortment of cone shaped covers that could be fitted around her neck. Here, I felt was the answer, to keep her from effectively scratching her neck.  So, once I got back home, I went to her and put it on her. I can only imagine what she must have thought. "What is this, and what did I do so wrong that you are punishing me?" She looked sad immediately. And tried to take it ...

I have been reading a book lately that has really upset my applecart of theology. And I am so glad! I have always believed that my prior thoughts about God have been pretty accurate, but now I believe that I was off in a number of ways, Thank God! The Old Testament is quite violent and harsh. And I felt that this God of the Old Testament doesn't seem like the Jesus I know in the New Testament. But to my surprise, I have found that the loving God of the Old Testament is exactly like Jesus. Even thought God was at times quite severe, His motive was love, because God is LOVE. My understanding of Him had a lot to do with my memories of my finite earthly father. I have heard that our experiences with our fathers have deep influences on our views about God. My life like so many, had a lot of twists and turns through my formative years. I was adopted at 2 years old along with my twin sister. My parents already had 7 other children. The story I was told, when I started asking questions abo...

 The internet has brought us many very useful tools to help us out and enhance our lives.  Many of us google just about any issue or problem we encounter for information. This googling ranges  anywhere from "what does poison ivy look like "to "what other movie have I seen that actor in?"  Another app I go to quite frequently is Pinterest. It is full of all kinds of things to look up. And in my account I can choose to save many categories, for example, I can find ideas anywhere from keto recipes to how to heal a chicken of a" splayed foot." I have spent much time (I won't relay how much)  looking on Pinterest for recipes, and other things. There are so much interesting subjects out there that because of my access through the wonder of the internet I can find just about anything.  Recently I discovered a new word that captured my interest.  The word is "Influencer."  I found that there are actual people that are called influencers. This may not...