When you feel people have forgotten your acts of kindness;
When you feel unseen or unheard;
When you feel no one cares about you;
REMEMBER
The Father in Heaven sees, hears, cares and remembers.
You are NOT forgotten.
Spirit
Encouragement from the Scriptures necessary for spiritual wellness.
Daily Character Checklist
Dear Christian.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell if you are displeasing God, or so some say. But here is one of the many checklists offered in the Bible. It is concise yet encompassing. It is found in Proverbs 6:16-19.
- A proud look – haughtiness, self agrandizing
- A lying tongue
- Shedding innocent blood
- Devising wicked plans
- Running toward evil, to do evil, to sit in the company of evil on purpose
- False witness who speaks lies
- One who sows discord; you know just like to stir up trouble
He really hates lying. He listed it twice. So dear one examine yourself. Be honest. Don’t try to justify your behavior. What you see is yes and amen and then do something about it. Correct it if there is a need. We all fall short sometimes.
Watch What They Do
He(she) who goes about as a tale bearer reveals secrets. Therefore do not associate with one who flatters with his(her) lips. Proverbs 20:19
Remember when you get that call which purpose is to spill the tea about someone, those same lips will possibly spill the tea about you to them.
My restatement of the next part is, “Don’t get caught up with smooth, complimentary conversation. Watch what they do. Compare it to what they say.”
I wish I had listened to a version of this advice when I was younger. My grandmothers had their version. One in particular I remember. Lips all the time flapping are probably lying. Your ears are not trash cans.
So hear me young’uns, 😉, Listen closely through the filter of honest and clear observation. Don’t be blindly swayed by gossip wrapped in flattering words.
Consequences
A false witness will not go unpunished and he who speaks lies will not escape.
Proverbs 19:5
Just going to let that sit right there.
Love in Action
Can you positive example of where you’ve felt loved?
I experienced a car accident that totaled my car. Some friends, a couple, helped me buy a brand new car. They paid the down payment, taxes and registration without my asking. Their action supported their statements of love.
Redefining
Hi Everyone.
For those who are former followers, I am renewing my presence in this digital world. For those who are and will be new, welcome.
My randomness has not changed. The “black soil” has just been seasoned and is richer than before. I have gone through a deep loss. I have gone through the grief that accompanied that loss. I discovered in that process that I was also grieving the loss of 45 year old identities.
I hear you saying, “What?” For 45 years my identity was somebodies’ something which consumed the original. I was my husband’s wife, my children’s mother, and the Pastor’s wife. I am still my children’s mother but they don’t need me the same way. The question, “who am I now?” popped into my mind and I grieved that loss.
I am now ready to find Pat; To redefine and to live the rest of my days as my New authentic self. What does that look like? We will find out together. My soil is getting richer.
The least
Gideon judges 6:14-15 7:9-11
I was sitting thinking about a sermon presented a few weeks ago. It was from the book of Judges about a guy named Gideon. Gideon was chosen by God to fight the enemy of His people. When Gideon was informed by the prophet, his response was, “My family is the least of families, and I am the least in my family.” There is much more to the story, but the thought of “the least” is what has captured my thoughts.
Have you ever thought of yourself as “the least?” Have you ever compared yourself to others? Did you decide you weren’t good enough based on that comparison? Well, listen to this. God loves choosing “the least” to do great things. David was the youngest son, a sherpard boy. Esther was a Hebrew girl in captivity who became Queen of Persia. Matthew was a tax collector hated by all, yet Jesus chose him. Mary Magneline was a prostitute but Jesus chose her. Peter was an uneducated fisherman. Jesus chose him, and he became a leader of the apostles. I am not great by man’s standards but He chose me. I could go on but I won’t. This is my point. God has a plan for you that will make you great for His purposes. It might not be on a grand scale. You might not even be recognized by those around you. But if you follow His plan, you will be great on His grand scale. Go in the strength you have and trust Him to give you what you need to do the job. You are not “the least” in His eyes.
Trust God to make you Great.
Not Again!
No matter how hard you try, we will not be erased. We will not be eradicated. We are like ants. We are resilient. We are industrious. Regardless of the industry, good or bad. We ARE industrious. The skills our ancestors possessed on the plantation they brought with them from Africa. Our ancestors had societal structures:government, commerce, agriculture, and construction. What was learned from slavery was how to avoid the whip. How to live with rape. How to swallow pride for the sake of survival. I won’t talk about methodology. We might need to use them again.
Mr. DeSantis and those of like mind, all the whitewash in the world will not hide the atrocities done to our ancestors. We will always BLEED through. The TRUTH will always come through. Your children will discover that you lied to them.
We, as a people, survived slavery. We survived Jim Crow. We will survive the “Jim Crow” you are trying to create. You say slavery taught us skills we needed. You are correct. You taught us how to survive people and attitudes like you. We can navigate the ploys you implement. Our ancestors passed those lessons down. We may have forgotten that we needed them, but we did not forget them.
So, I implore my people teach those lessons to our kids and grandkids. Teach them our history, good and bad. Teach them self-sufficiency. Fraternal organizations and churches increase your community activities that include teaching our people. Use the tools you’ve learned in business and law to strengthen us. We are strong because of our ancestors. We are stronger because of what we’ve personally experienced. We will become stronger still.
Let’s learn from those who HAD to teach our kids our history at home and through those aforementioned organizations. They did not depend on others to teach US about US.
Let’s Get Busy
Realize the HOPE
I posted this in 2022. It is even more relevant now. Please give it a read and your consideration. Allow your better self to prevail.
We are into the second day of 2022. Tell me, what has changed since December 31, 2021. I know some of you will say nothing and in some ways you are correct but there is an element that January 2022 has that December 2021 lost. There was an expectation leading up to midnight January 1, 2022. There were comments made among people everywhere that expressed “better is coming”. It sounded like, “I will be glad when this year is over.” “I can’t wait until January 1.” “I can’t wait until midnight.” There was an expectation. There was hope. Yes, HOPE.
We all HOPE things will be better. However, it just won’t happen. We have to make things better. We have to do what is best for humanity not an institution, not a political party, not a corporation, not a government entity. We have to do what is right and best for mankind. If we once again realize that the things I do to make your life better will actually make my life better, maybe, just maybe we will make things better. For you Christians reading this I would like to remind you that Yeshua (Jesus) instructed us to love our neighbor as ourselves. He used the story of the Good Samaritan to show that everyone is our neighbor and being a good neighbor requires a willingness to do more than take care of ourselves or people ethnically like us or people of the same faith. If you missed it or don’t know the story it is the despised Samaritan who was the compassionate one, the good neighbor. The political and religious leader stepped over the person in need. Which are you?
The Christian behavior in this country,especially in the last few years, is so far from Yeshua’s teachings and examples that a new name should be applied to it. There is no Christ-likeness. Where is the love for those with whom you disagree? Where is the love for those who may not believe as you do?Where is the love for those whose lifestyle does not conform to what you believe is God’s law? Let’s be honest. Our present Christian behavior doesn’t either. We need to get back to the Judaic basics of our beliefs. If nothing else we Christians need to get back to the 10 Commandments. That was what Yeshua taught. and lived. That’s what Paul taught the non-Jewish believers without requiring them to convert to Orthodx Judaism and lived before them. We need to obey them instead of requiring other people that never said they were believers in the first place to obey them. I am sure the other faith belief systems have a comparable tenet. So treat people right even if you disagree with them. or they are not like you. We were not commissioned to be judges but examples.
Only then can we realize the HOPE. Only then will 2022 be better than 2021. I remember when I was a child the admonishment to “do unto others what you would have them do unto you” was a powerful guiding force for decision-making. I’d ask myself before I said something or did something, would you want that done to you? If the answer was No then I likely didn’t do it. Now I did have moments of anger where I ignored myself but typically, I listened. We should start asking ourselves would we want to be treated the way we are treating others. Change our society by caring for each other. Realize the HOPE.
It is now 2025. Unfortunately, things have not changed much. In fact, in “christiandom” it has gotten worse. Yeshua is being disgraced. There is very little love being shown to people. It is taking a great deal more effort to have HOPE.
Daya 6 & 7: The Battle is Won
Seven days ago I engaged in a battle with my Blood Pressure. I was determine to defeat this adversary with natural means. I had tried several different pharmaceuticals prescribed by my primary care provider and my cardiologist. My doctors’ felt the side affects to them were out weighed by the decrease in my pressure. However, I was the one feeling those side effects. All but one made me extremely ill. The one that was tolerable wasn’t as effective. I stopped taking them. I researched the vegetable and herb world to find answers to my situation. I found beets decreased the blood pressure quickly. I also found a herbal tea that reported decreasing blood pressure. On last Sunday I began. Three hours after drinking 8 oz of fresh non-pasteurized beet juice my pressure had dropped 20mmHg units. I was hopeful. You can read the details in the preceding posts.
My “beginning the day” blood pressure was always less than it had been the day before. The last two days I have had measurements in the 120/80 -ish range in the late afternoon. This morning, I drank 12oz of a combination juice of beet, celery, carrot and apple. At about 5pm I took my pressure and it was 122/71. This will be my daily prescription for my blood pressure along with potassium and magnesium tablets and a decrease in salt intake. I will continue to try to reduce my stress and increase my exercise. This is my self-care plan. I am making an appointment with the cardiologist. I expect that will be a positive visit, except for the stress test I have to take. 🙂 I am not a doctor or a medical expert. I can only share my experience. If this appeals to you, discuss it with your doctor and give it a try.
I am continuing the war of taking care of my body on all levels. I still have difficulty prioritizing myself but I am getting better. My next battle is returning to the weight and dietary practice pre-quarantine. I liked how I felt and I like how I looked. Seventy is my new 40. I am going to get there. It took 18 months to get here, so I know it will not happen over night. First order is to get back into the habit of making my raw food that needs to be dehydrated in a timely manner.
Next experiment is making veggie burger patties with the pulp from the beets and celery. Hope they taste as good as the juice.
"Black Soil" Living 