Sunday - March 16th, 2025

Hello, dear Reader, and welcome here (again?) on this day of breathing in and out yet again, the first of many blessings for us to be mindfully grateful for today. Add to that a hot cup of cappuccino and weather like this:

and, so far, it's shaping up to be a beautiful, glorious day and the Sun hasn't even risen yet. 😎

Here is the day's Proverb:

Proverbs 16 ESV

 One of the stand-out verses (to me) today is:

I feel like the Word is challenging me today to strive for better, gentler communication with all people, which also reminds me of these other verses about gentleness:

And, honestly, dear Reader, if Anyone in this Universe can squash someone else like a bug, well clearly that Person IS God Himself, and since He chooses to be so very kind and gentle with us, we are obligated to do our best to show that very same character to each other as well, in emulation of Him.
Anyway, it's truly more difficult (if not downright impossible) to receive harsh words than it is those spoken with thoughtful respect of the hearer in mind. He challenges us to quell frustrations and operate above the realm of mere emotion and, I don't know about you, dear Reader, but for me it IS a challenge. How lovely it would be if gentleness were my default setting, but that's not reality at this moment I'm afraid. No matter, so long as we're doing our best to do better in His eyes, we must be on the correct path and, if not, He's abundantly skilled in making that plain to us in His time. 

Here is another chapter from the New Testament:

Colossians 3 ESV 

See how He's always talking to me directly? By that, I mean just look at this next verse from Colossians chapter 3:

Maybe it IS a very immature way of viewing things, but when one topic is constantly in my face as I search the Scriptures, to me, that's God showing me precisely where He wants me to grow in the area that He's challenging me to do better in, like those verses above today. Of course, themes throughout the Bible are repeated constantly; it's hard to explain, but when I experience it, there's no denying that that's what's going on. 
I feel like a lot of you can relate and would love to hear about it.

So, please pray for me, dear Reader, that I will speak the truth IN LOVE that it may actually be persuasive to the hearer and not hurt them in the process. May God make me more and more like Jesus; I must decrease that He may increase:

Thank you for sharing precious moments of your life today reading these morning thoughts; may God bless you and fill you with such love that you will never be the same! In Jesus' Name - amen. 💜

The Ides of March 2025

Greetings and salutations on a beautiful, dark and chilly Spring morning on the Ides of March 2025 where I sit at a busy desk, listening to vintage praise music, hammering away at a $10 keyboard in the small hours before Dawn (my very favorite part of the day). 
I pray these words find you well, and, if not, I pray the Lord change either your heart or your circumstances, or both (depending on His will and whichever option is best for you). Here's the classic Jars of Clay song currently playing:

Here is a look at our current weather here:

Yesterday when we were in Sierra Vista, I picked up a pretty pastel-striped, fuzzy sweater at the Goodwill and am wearing that for today's chilly conditions. It's oversized and comfy and cost me less than five dollars (score!). 😎 I rarely 'do' retail and contend that I would continue to shop this way even if our financial means were greater. 

Without wasting any more of your time, here is today's Proverb:

Proverbs 15 ESV

I can't speak for anyone else, dear Reader, but there's a lot in today's Proverb to unpack (for me); every verse is pregnant with deep, rich wisdom and insight today and starting with the very first one, several stand out to me today (how about you?) 

Do you want to hear how dumb I am? 👀 I play worship music while putting makeup on so that (more often than not) the music elicits tears and the tears ruin the makeup as its being applied. 😂

Sometimes I even have to start over and do it all over again, too. 😏 And guess what? I get up and do the very same thing again the next day. And that, dear Reader, is the part of it *that is the proof that I am, in fact, dumb. 😶 

No matter: the limitations of this finite, human mind isn't a soul-crushing reality as I know that I'm not alone since all of us besides God are less than Him and pretty much all in the same boat (that of being flawed, finite human beings). In fact, laughing at ourselves is often deliciously enjoyable, I highly recommend it. Now, more random 'feel-good' music:

And now, some morning prayer:
Dear Lord God, thank You for waking each of us up and giving us yet another day of Life today, God. None of us deserve it but here we are and we give You praise for the gift, Lord. Please work in and through us for Your glory today, God, that the Life You've ordained today will not be wasted in Your eyes, God, in Jesus' Name. Please protect all of the vulnerable today, God, starting with the unborn, God! Please make the murder known as 'abortion' literally unthinkable world-wide God, please, in Jesus' Name! Lord, thank You for sending Your peace across the earth and bringing an end to conflicts across the globe, God. Please show Yourself mighty and merciful to all affected by war, God, in Jesus' Name. 
Lord, please protect all of our leaders, God, and expose any/all who are less than loyal - to you, to others - and bring all deeds of darkness out into Your glorious light, God, in Jesus' Name. Please send a host of angels to protect President Trump and all who serve under him and surround him God, today and always, God, in Jesus' Name, and thank You for using him for Your purposes in this nation and around the world, Lord God. Father we ask You to please remove all wicked rulers from places of authority and replace them with those who love and serve You, God, in Jesus' Name. Father God, please set ALL captives free today, God. Please release ALL who are currently in bondage, God. Please set them free to the glory of Your name that all will know You and You alone are God, Lord. God, we ask You to please recover and redeem 100% of all humans who are currently enslaved and hidden, God. Please release the babies and children, God. Please save the women, please redeem the men. Lord, please convict human hearts of those who currently work inside the human trafficking industry and give them no sleep, no appetite, no peace until they do the right thing in accordance to Your will, Lord God, in Jesus' Name. 
Father, please meet every human need today, God. Lord, please eradicate all Marxist and other satanic 'ideals' and replace it all with Your truth, God. Please subdue the world at Your feet, Holy Lord God. Please answer the prayers that we forgot to pray today, God. Please make us humble, gentle, teachable, holy, and in general please give each of us the character of Christ that You may be glorified. Thank You for all things, Lord, we love You. In Jesus' Name, amen.

Thank you for spending precious minutes of your life here, with me, dear Reader; may all eyes who see these words come to know God in a new and powerful way today, in Jesus' Name, amen. 💜

March 14th, 2025 🙏 a Friday

Hello, dear Reader, and welcome to this sliver of cyberspace to the blog of one Christian, American, middle-aged woman on yet another blessed day above ground. 

Here is the current weather and forecast (and I am dressed warmly for it): 

Since it's such a chilly day without much prospect of getting much warmer than it is right now, I skipped a morning shower today and just went ahead and got dressed; it's something that I'll do quite a bit during Winter, in fact, opting instead to bathe much later in the day or even that evening or night. And, I don't know about you, dear Reader, but I've had at least a half a pot of coffee all by my onesie so far today.
Anyway, here is today's Proverb (first, the text, followed by the audio):

Proverbs 14 ESV

There are lots and lots of effective corrections, prescient warnings, and explanations of God's Universal Laws in application in today's Proverb - so much of it applies to me personally! How about you, dear Reader? Among my many faults and frailties is a tendency to be pretty hot-headed (bad/ short tempered) so several verses today speak to me in that regard - ever a work in progress. Which vaguely reminds me of one of the books that I read while a ministry student many years ago; I'd recognize the cover if I saw it but nothing comes to mind as far as author/title at the moment.

Since finding the next video recently, I watch it about once a week and, so far, always get something from it; Chris Langan's IQ is 200+ and the things that he says will blow your minds! I follow his substack as well as his X profile (and, his wife followed me on X recently😎, so I now have new access to two brilliant people - bonus!) - but I digress; here it is:

Honestly, especially the first time you see this, it will probably blow your mind, no joke - and I don't think it matters what your current faith looks like, either, feeling that the ingenious insights and unconventional wisdom that he shares are expansive and inclusive in nature. Just brilliant, please do see that (video) if/when you can (and feel free to let me know what you think in the comments section). 👍

Well, for your periodic reference, here I am today:

much makeup and filtering were used here 😁

And what else? 
Oh, the tiny, little intelligent, sweet baby turtle is sleeping with Terry; I tried to wake him up earlier but he flat refused to come out of his shell (quite literally). 😂😕🐢 His apparent sentience and ability to comprehend and communicate are sometimes unnerving, he's so clearly intelligent. He's my favorite turtle that God ever made. 💚

So!
Tomorrow is the dreaded Ides of March, also called 'National Brutus Day' it is the anniversary of Julius Caesar's murder on the steps of the Theatre of Pompeii by his so-called friends (senators, including Brutus, his alleged best friend) - hence the somewhat-antiquated saying, "Beware the Ides of March". 

Beyond that, in three days from today, here in the United States at least, we observe St. Patrick's Day. If it's warm enough, I plan to wear this: 

but, if it's too chilly, I've got a shamrock-green baby-t-shirt to wear under a warm hoodie with leggings. Either way, it's all good; we'll see. I appreciate all the seasons, but am ready for warmer weather now.
I apologize that there's not much depth or substance to this blog entry; just sharing some 'random thoughts' as they occur.
I found this very encouraging:

That's about it for now! I hope to have subjects of more substance for you next time, dear Reader; in the mean-time, thank you for spending some precious, fleeting moments of your life here with me; be blessed and have a wonderful day. 💜

March 13th, 2025

Good morning (et cetera) dear Reader on yet another beautiful, (so far) peaceful day above ground, with Life being just one of the innumerable, undeserved blessings being poured onto our heads by a loving, all-powerful God today. 💖

Be encouraged!

Let's read/ listen to Romans chapter 8. 

I'm not crying, you're crying. 😍💖👏

And, here is today's portion from the book of wisdom:

Proverbs 13 ESV

I'm suffering from 'imposter syndrome' big-time lately and suppose I'll have to get back on the path to a law degree at some point in the relatively-near future; the idea simply will NOT leave me alone.

I don't always write mine down here, but as well as praying the easy prayers (for family and friends, for our leaders, et cetera) please also try to pray the hard prayers, too (for our enemies, to forgive those who've hurt us, for truth to remove deception far from us, et cetera). Thank you for spending precious minutes of your life here today and may everyone whose eyes see these words experience God in a new, powerful, life-changing way today, in Jesus' Name, amen. 💜

Morning Thoughts - March 12th, 2025

Hello (again?) dear Reader, and welcome to an obscure American blog on a dark, chilly Spring morning where I write to you from a remote location in the Sonoran desert near the US/Mexico border. 
Here is our current weather - it hasn't changed (I checked) since I took this:

And I could hear a gentle rain when I first rose from bed about an hour ago. 
Well, in today's Proverb there is much readily-available, targeted correction for me personally (see verses 13 and 16 and 18 as huge stand-outs to me today, among others):

Proverbs 12 ESV

Although there is a lot to assimilate from today's Proverb, here is some more reading, this time from the New Testament:

James 1-3 ESV

Because I have a weakness for anger and also (unfortunately) using my words as weapons, many corrective verses pierce my heart with conviction (thank You, Lord, for correcting me!) these verses offer hope and provide a goal to strive for, giving encouragement and life:

Thank you for spending some of your time here today, dear Reader; no matter your own imperfections, always know that our God is so much bigger than our failures! Yes, even yours. 💜

❤️ Tuesday, March 11th, 2025 in the Morning 🌅

Good morning, et cetera, dear Reader, and welcome (back, if applicable) to this temporary wisp of virtual smoke in the cyber-Universe on a chilly Spring morning somewhere in the Northern Hemisphere, USA.

here is shown my Lord, and me (or you), holding the hammer and nail. 💔

Well, the rubber meets the road again, and I am now in a place where I am either forced to repent (of hatred, judgement, anger and the like) or choose the other option and that is to continue to indulge in all of those things as though His sacrifice meant nothing to me. Even in light of putting it that way, you'd think the choice would be an easy one, but no: I'm very human and my feelings have far, far more sway with me than I prefer to admit even to myself, let alone to you or anyone else, Dear Reader, but here we are, and as I love to tell you all the time: facts ARE, indeed facts. I can never repent of a thing unless I'm willing to first acknowledge the reality of that thing for what it is: sin IS sin, and by indulging in mine, I am wrong.
(Remember: 1 John 1:9 is step one, I've got to call that spade a spade and then He can do something about it). Rather than rendering the confession worthless by trying to couch it in justification or trying to deflect any of my responsibility onto others, I must own it completely, just as Jesus owned these same sins Himself when He died to redeem me, and to redeem you, and HE of all People would have been completely justified if He'd put that blame back onto us, the ones who DO deserve it, but no. He didn't, and He is the One I seek to emulate. 

So, no, the responsibility for my sin IS 100% ON ME and no one else, no matter what he or she has done - to my way of thinking - none of that matters here. All that matters is that I own my sin, my part in it, before God, so that is what I now choose to do. Those paying attention will notice that I do this constantly, like a hamster on a wheel; it is the Christian process. 

But I am not afraid! I know Who forgives, and heals, the same One Who will take the ashes of my wretched sin and give me Beauty for them in exchange. But to get the miracles of peace, wisdom, discernment and all of those other beautiful gifts, I first have to be willing to let go of the counterfeit things, of Pride, Anger, Judgement, and the like - and be content to remain empty-handed in His Presence and before the world until He decides otherwise. 
If you find yourself in that kind of place today, Dear Reader, I pray now that the love of Jesus Christ fill your entire being and remove all fear, silencing all lying spirits who try to dissuade you from the light and love of His truth, in Jesus' Name, amen. 💜

I looked up Isaiah 6 today because of this verse that rose to my mind when I first sat down to share these thoughts with you today:

And it's a short chapter, but full of Life and Wisdom and other miraculous treasures:

Isaiah 6 ESV

And here is today's Proverb from the Book of Wisdom:

Proverbs 11 ESV

Behold, the Word of the Lord. I don't know about you, dear Reader, but I see myself in both chapters, ways where I am weak, things in which I am continually wrong and sinful. May God deliver me; may He deliver you from your troubles as well, whatever they may be.

Dear Lord, thank You for yet another day of Life today, God! None of us deserve it, but here we are: thank You. Please deliver us and make us holy, useful to others by You, to accomplish Your will, Lord, whatever that is. God today we ask You to please create a new heart in each of us, O God, as stated by David in Psalm 51, this is the prayer of our hearts before You today, Lord God. Father, please protect every vulnerable human today, Lord, starting with the unborn! Please create maternal love in the heart of all expectant mothers that the idea of murder is abomination to them one and all, in Jesus' Name! Please continue to pour Your peace over the earth like a blanket, smothering the ravages of War and Destruction, in Jesus' Name! Father please release ALL who are currently in any and all forms of captivity: the children, women, and yes the men, who are there not by their own choice, God! Please expose ALL done in darkness and bring those deeds out into the light, God, as You set every captive free, in Jesus' Name! God, please introduce Yourself to ALL who do not yet know You, God, in Jesus' Name. Please protect President Trump, Elon Musk, and everyone else in leadership, Lord God! Please protect them and all who surround them now and always, in Jesus' Name! Please protect ALL servants of righteousness from harm, God, including the entire administration and all who serve in public office from the Senate all the way down to our local offices, God, and replace all wicked rulers with righteous ones of Your choosing, in Jesus' Name! Please redeem our friends and family, Lord God! Please also pour Your abundant love and grace out like a flood onto our enemies, God! Please overwhelm them with Your goodness that they will never be the same, God! Please subdue our human passions and give each heart a song of praise today and we give You all glory and honor for You alone are worthy, God. Thank You again, Lord, and please answer the prayers we forgot to pray today, in Jesus' Name, amen. 💜

Monday, March 10th, 2025 in the Morning 🌅

Hello, dear Reader, and welcome (back, if applicable) to this almost-completely unknown American blog, a tiny bastion of faith and free speech amidst all the lies and propaganda (and other unsavory content) available online, all of course depending on what one searches for.

Here is a link to Matthew chapter 15:

Matthew 15 ESV

And today's Proverb:

Proverbs 10 ESV