GONE WITH THE WIND

     Glancing at my watch, I discovered my afternoon had tip-toed out of sight, but my list stared up at me earnestly. Where did the day go? For that matter, where has my life gone? Have I spent it well or wasted it? 

     As I walk through the rooms of my house, I hear the call of good intentions and unfinished tasks.

     "Finish me!" 

     "Start me!"

     My desk in our joint office has a long list of items in the queue. Bills wait to be paid, and receipts from purchases are stacked, wondering when I will tire of their presence so they can be filed away. My list of "someday I would love to" ideas piles up, waiting for me to research and develop them. 

     Recipes for soaps or foods sit to the side. Other files hold manuscripts that need another edit or rewrite for the first or tenth time.            

     My standing desk, my writing oasis, is up by our media room, and on it, I have outlines and notes for unfinished books and messages.

     My laptop dutifully beckons me,  "Please write something." 

     "Come over here and be creative for a few hours!" the desk cries out." 

     Yes, this is my heart and my dream—to write, to be published, and to share these thoughts that only my mind has put together from my studies and life experiences.

     Early before work today, I chatted with my husband, Jerry, who sat next to me while I got a bite for breakfast. He declared how much he loved me and prayed for me. Before he left the house, he kissed me goodbye; he never forgets. 

     My sweet mama lives with us and is now 93. At lunch or whenever our paths intersect, we chat a bit to sync our calendars and set reminder alarms. 

     Finally, I climb the stairs to answer the calls to edit and write.

     Years before, I raised six children and thousands of other children and teens who belonged to other mothers. Throughout my career as a public school teacher, I taught preschool, elementary, middle, and high school. 

     Back then, between rehearsals, preparing for work, church, sports, theater, and picking up and dropping off kids going to practices or to their minimum wage jobs, it was hard to imagine ever having time for my own personal dreams. Yet now, with the nest empty, I see clearly that in the busyness that my tribe afforded, I did live my dreams back then. 

     But that was then. This is now. Now I am retired. Really? Ha, I wonder sometimes! Last week, I whispered to Jerry, "Hon, I don't feel retired." 

     Yet, today, I am allowed to chase after long-awaited dreams that I teasingly told myself, "When I grow up...I will..." 

     My life is complete but with more balance. What more could I want out of life? God kept me sane and content throughout the challenges and trauma that I have experienced. I am wiser now for all of the wear and tear. 

     I enjoy this front-row seat, cheering on my husband and interacting with Mom, children, grands, and great-grands as they grow and flourish. Many prayers have gone up and were answered. 

      Life is precious. Like sand through an hourglass, it briefly passes through our present, and then it is gone. 

     I discovered the answer to my first question. When I evaluate the total, I have no regrets. I did not waste my time or my life. The bad did not outweigh the good. 

     Time comes and goes. Will it be wasted? Well, that is up to you and me to decide. But when it is spent. Embrace it.

     

     

   

     

THE RATTY AFGHAN

 

     Last night, my husband and I sat on our loveseat to read a book together, which was required for some training for Globe International. As usual, he likes the ceiling fan running, so in my usual fashion, I pulled my trusty afghan over me that has seen better days.

     I read the first chapter, then it was his turn. I tried to keep my focus, but I kept eyeing my afghan. 

     I had not really looked closely at this afghan until now. It was in terrible shape! This beautiful bright afghan I'd purchased years ago had been literally through the wringer of my washing machine dozens of times. I loved the splash of color that it added to the room, and I would not discard it. It was so soft, comforting, and familiar. It had seen me through many ups and downs as I snuggled in its warmth.

     I returned my thoughts to the chapter at hand, but I couldn't help but plot a solution in the back of my head. When we finished our studies, I began my work to restore this old friend to its former glory.

     Never once did I think of stuffing it into our garbage container, and yet it was not in any shape that I would consider giving it away either. 

     I remember the first day this beauty caught my eye as I browsed through a dry goods store. The afghan was a little pricey, but I wanted that tomato-red dash of color to compliment our brown leather couch for contrast. 

     When I placed my new find in our family room that first day, it really set the room off. Cozy and warm under my blanket, on that chilly evening, I stared into flames, jumping and crackling in our fireplace. 

     It was love at first sight. It still is, but I have to work to tame these scraggly pieces of yarn that have twisted and caught and taken others on their naughty journey of disarray. 

     It was nine o'clock, and our reading had finished. My husband headed upstairs to check his email while I went for the scissors. Pulling up the straying strands and snipping, I figured that this might take about thirty minutes.  

     At ten-fifteen, I was just finishing one side. I know myself. Since I have ADHD tendencies, when I have a mindless project like this, I have to stick with it while I am inspired, or I will find more interesting things to do that prevent me from returning to it for a long time. 

     After painstakingly working away for a long while, I admired the transformation of the first side. 

     I thought about how marriage relationships can get frayed over time due to the stresses and responsibilities life brings, especially during the child-rearing years. Couples frequently focus more on the children's welfare and happiness and tend to neglect their own.

        Life is tough and strains relationships over time, mostly because they involve two imperfect human beings. In our modern American society, our culture has made it easy to walk away rather than to stay and do the work it takes to cultivate a healthy relationship from one that is strained merely from lack of attention. 

     Over time, the energy of the relationship sputters almost to a halt, and the temptation is to blame the other spouse when life together is less than you want it to be. If both would remember the "why" of what brought them together, show mutual respect, and express love and gratitude every day, staying committed to the marriage and to each other would not become an issue.

     Other things can factor in like being absorbed by internet content, work, or not making time for moments where you can converse and focus on each other without other demands. 

     Often, I see couples out for dinner on the town, and as soon as the order is taken, the phones are whipped out. No real conversation. No eye contact. Or how about the man who will spend all the time thinking of clever things to say to the wait staff rather than trying to listen and respond to his own wife. 

     Just like allowing those snags to detract from the beauty of my afghan, simply forgetting the wonder of your spouse and looking them in the eye or letting them know they are the most important person to them this evening can bring a spark to keep the deep friendship and love into the forefront. This revitalizes both partners. These simple little gestures reassure each other of their importance. The result will cause you both to have a beautiful foundation for your family.

     For years, I overlooked the rattiness of my originally beautiful blanket. I never stopped to look closely because I was preoccupied with a book I was reading, conversations around me, or just closing my eyes and napping. Nothing was wrong with any of those activities, but I allowed my cherished afghan to deteriorate by not paying attention.

     After taking a few hours to snip and remove the ratty strands that went awry on the afghan, I discovered in astonishment just how beautiful, like new, this wonderful old friend of mine looked. I am no longer ashamed of it. It is a lovely decorative part of my living area upstairs where my red chair, red ottomans, and lamp set off my grey couch and black and white chair. It is such a great feeling to see the result of my work. 

     How much more important are all of our relationships. Things get ratty, I know. Sometimes repairs are not the answer, but for the most part, when both are willing to work; they can unearth the beauty, warmth, and comfort once enjoyed together. 

     Snip away at the misconceptions and embrace the truth. Cut off apathy and be intentional. Don't give up because of a tough spot. Keep at it, and you will find that over the years, you have cultivated a thing of beauty that just takes time. It takes getting your hands dirty. It takes pushing the easy way out and telling it to be quiet. It takes forgiving another; sometimes, the hardest of all is forgiving yourself. 

     It is never too late to renew those vows. It can only get better.   

     

     Isaiah 43:19 (KJV) "Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."

   

     P.S. I have to add this last part. I have been in abusive relationships. I am not condemning anyone who has experienced anything like that. I know too well about relationships that cross boundaries with disrespect for the covenant of marriage or of the other person. There are times when, due to abuse, whether physical, psychological, or emotional, one attacks another with no acknowledgment or desire on the offender's part to change. Without a resolution or a movement to care for one another mutually, over time this breaks down and is not a safe place to remain. To remain is unthinkable for the victim and the children. 

     In Matthew 19:8, Jesus mentioned that Moses allowed divorce due to the hardness of men's hearts. 

     

     But remember, if you are in a stale marriage or one that is repairable, give it first to God, bless it, bless your partner, and ask God for wisdom, grace, and mercy to love well. As you both work to restore your relationship, I assure you that you will eventually find your lost treasure trove.

     

    

OUR GOD REIGNS

 

       I see the writing on the wall, don't you? 
      In the past four years, the culture of our country and the world has drastically changed. With it, an ominous haze of disbelief and helplessness has attempted to weary most of us. Many of us tuned in or researched to stay abreast of things happening worldwide that could not be found on television.  

     Lately, while reading and studying the book of Daniel, I saw several times that God struck down kingdoms and leaders regardless of nationality due to their disdain and mockery of God and His principles. God allowed captivity, insanity, and death to befall wicked leaders, and calamity also fell on their citizens to wake them up to the fact that they were not gods. Idols are not true gods, but Yahweh is the one true God.  

     In Daniel chapter 5, I read about the mysterious hand that appeared in the middle of a carousing feast and wrote a message that was from an unknown language. Previous to its appearance, King Belshazzar brought in sanctified goblets captured from the Jewish temple when the Assyrians conquered and carried off captives years ago. Daniel was one of them. These sanctified temple implements were initially used for service to glorify the God of Abraham; this day, this raucous crowd desecrated them by serving wine to unholy individuals while they drank toasts to gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone: a sacrilege. This weak king, already faithless in his duty to his citizens, used his position to further himself and satisfy his desires and whims.

     God sent this mysterious message, which caused the king to quake in his sandals. He was unable to stand. Fear enveloped him. Daniel was called upon to decipher the message. First, he scolded the monarch for his negligence of duty and for forgetting the lessons learned by his predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar, who went through years of insanity foraging like a wild beast for seven years all because he made statues for worship and even made his people worship him as a god. After restoring his sanity, he became a more humble man and acknowledged the One True God.

     Daniel refused any rewards offered for the interpretation because he knew what was happening that evening. He proceeded to let the king know that the Medes and the Persians were even now at his gates, invading because of his folly and immoral ways. 

     I sense a change occurring. The change in the climate today is not the one that so many in the news have been touting. No, it is a swing back to rational thinking leaning back towards nationalism and to sovereign decisions for the good of their individual countries with a rejection of ideas that impoverish their nation's economy and their citizens.

     In my previous post, God Are You For Real?, I paraphrased much of Isaiah 40 from the Message Bible. In verses 23-24, God tells Isaiah that he reduces rulers to nothing. He makes the elite of the earth seem like nothing at all. They barely get planted and take root in their position of power, and the Lord blows on them...they wither away. (TPT)

     Daniel also scolds the king that his ancestors failed miserably by not acknowledging the God who created them and gave them breath. This same Creator can take that breath back away from them. Leaders are in trouble when behaving like they are gods. 

     In recent years, citizens worldwide have stood up against policies that do not make sense for their prosperity or freedoms. I see some world leaders placed in office promoting common-sense policies again. Some are even believers who pray with their policymakers. Then, I also saw leaders who mysteriously perished or were taken out of power who attacked or did not support God's chosen people, Israel.

     New radical leaders are pulling their countries out of violence and spiraling economies. Peace and prosperity have returned. An admiring world looks on. A flicker of hope spreads. People lend an ear to hear the formula for their successes.*

     In the USA, we also see a massive following for common-sense candidates who denounce broken experimental new policies and stand for the rule of law: law and order. The candidates the masses flock to are the ones with plans to rid our economy of the many brakes deliberately placed on it. Candidates who want to see our country united, peaceful, and healthy again are heeded.

     But my thoughts here revert back to Daniel and the calamities these rulers brought on themselves, not due to politics nor due to inept policies that should have been shelved with no benefit to the citizens. Their fall was due to their disregard for God and his holy principles through their idol worship, debauchery, lewdness, and their murder of innocents through human sacrifice. 

     The most recent affront by a head of state to Almighty God was on March 31, 2024, in Washington, DC. The leader of the free world (much like Belshazzar), on this Holy day, Easter, disrespected our Savior, Jesus, as well as the majority of Americans who are Christians. His speech did not mention the name of the day, Easter. Instead, the day was touted as a day to celebrate things contrary to the worship of God. Children who eagerly waited for the egg hunt on the White House lawn were exposed to the lewd and unbecoming behavior of confused adults. All of this was flaunted in the face of a holy God and an unbelieving world.

     Yes, I see the handwriting on the wall. The sinful leaders and elites in this world who want to minimize us to mere slaves are also going to taste God's judgment either here or before the judgment seat of God. They are misled and blindly follow the orders of God's foe. 

     This is a travesty of disrespect toward all of mankind. But believers are on guard as watchmen and women. They stand in the gap in a spiritual war for our right to rule and reign here on this planet rather than the demonic powers that are pulling the puppet strings.

     Back to Assyria. At the end of that unusual evening, King Belshazzar was killed. Darius the Mede, then sixty-two years old, conquered and took over the kingdom. The tables were turned, and an evil despot was removed that quickly. The grim lessons of these monarchs in Daniel are encouraging me today. Hope is flying its banner. All is not lost.

     These next few months may look chaotic, but as millions in the USA and worldwide cry out to God in repentance for mercy and justice, we are being heard. The tide is turning because OUR GOD REIGNS.

*Do you want to read some encouraging news? Search speeches and interviews featuring President Bukele of El Salvador and President Milei of Argentina. Review the Netherlands' new policies and standards that have been agreed upon for candidates and voting in the EU parliament. Read about what voters are saying in France and Germany. Add any additional topics that are encouraging in the comment section below.