4 September 2017

Labor Day...
We have so many holidays they tend to become meaningless now...
Which ones should be the ones we really care about... all of us... as a nation?
I have my own favorites, but I respect some other ones.

I think there is a global calendar somewhere online.  I know I have raced by it in the past.  It had so many holidays listed for places all over the world.  I think it was a business aid, to help people who sell in other countries.

I do miss celebrating the real holidays... instead of the convenient Monday ones.

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This has been a long weekend, but I have been reading some new books, finally baked my very first FIMO shapes, tried out a salt-dough recipe, went shopping for some supplies to do other things (projects), and more... This week should be busy, too.  I may actually get a new sales listing posted at Etsy or another one of my sites by next weekend.  I'm trying for that.

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The DECEMBER Membership Drive for Working Together is also progressing.  I have to work out a few details, and then it may be nearly planned.  I need to learn about email list collecting, decide what social media ads I want to try, figure out scheduling posts at my main efforts, decide on the pricing, work out the payment process, and pray that GOD will finally bless this effort.

Membership is the foundation I planned for Working Together.  It's been a difficult challenge finding a way to connect with other Christians and build it up, but maybe this time we can overcome that hurdle.  Poverty is a canyon that isn't easily jumped!

What does membership mean?  It means we can connect across denominations, build up financial resources, protect what we have, create a path through the future unknowns.  It is how we can discover each other.  It identifies us as a group, and begins a conversation about what we need.  It is really the only way to move forward as we begin to suffer the effects of an ungodly civilization.  Our collective funds become the bank we need to grow and share.

It's hard not to keep talking about this, but I will.

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I like the book I started by Pastor Cho of South Korea.  It is an older book, and it is about an organization he was a part of that has changed a lot since the founder died.  I don't even know if Dr. Cho is still alive... I heard about their Prayer Mountain awhile back and was very impressed.  The book is his speeches as leader of a group called Full Gospel Businessmen... I assume it is the same Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship I was familiar with in those years.  I know I put a link on my resource page at work2gather.us -- and that I had trouble getting it to work.  I am finding it very interesting to read the voice of the ministry, even though it is from a time when he was younger.

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We have lots of smoke from local fires tonight... very choking.  I hate to think of being out in this air. 

Some posts on the internet, at Facebook most likely, were angry that the flooding in Texas was getting all the attention... and money.  As the future begins to be too financially burdensome, local areas will need to take care of their own disasters.  We don't have the money to cover them, at any governmental level, but someone will have to.  Local banks and business people will need to work out a plan to recover their areas.  Churches and ministries will need to meet more needs.

I am always amazed at the disconnect in the issue of taxes.  We talk about Federal taxes, State taxes, etc., and see it as separate funding, but it is all taxes... it is paid by the same citizens.  When a federal program has funds for clean up, it is our tax dollars.  When a state program has funding, it is our tax dollars.  County, city, roads, gas, building, property, driving, everything... taxes are all from "us!"

It seems like we are raising different taxes, but we are just raising taxes... nationally.  Changing the tax structure is something we can't avoid.  Sooner would be better than later.

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Well, this will have to be it for today.  I don't want to get going because serious topics really make me want to talk.  It seems like the big issues are the same issues over and over.  I need to find a way to share them here, without being too repetitive.  :-)  It is beginning to be organized, but it will take a little more time.  I am hoping these issues will be figured out by the end of this year.

In Christ,
Deborah Martin

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May God watch over all the suffering people tonight.
May He find a way to touch their lives to let them know He understands their pain and is walking through their valley with them.
May we all discover the need for local involvement, for changes in how we do things, for better answers to our many problems.
May the finances we need to build, to build again, to build better, become available to us.
May those who have share with those who have not... to see their blessings as from God, to share the loads of the suffering, to find ways to meet needs without destroying the dignity of others.
May our world become more focused on solutions than expansions... wiser than faster... merciful than selfish... giving than greedy....
May we love one another so people will not be desperate to survive.

Help us to find answers.  Amen.