I finally got up somewhere after 1pm... still wanting to be in bed. Not sure if the long time laying down was the habit that was hard to break, or if I really needed to stay in bed, but I got up and started thinking about food.
I'm not saying what happened to keep me in bed all day and night and morning... it seems to have gone away. Hopefully, it will stay away.
It's almost 8pm now... time flies when you are busy with your bookkeeping! haha
I was working on my June budget the other day, and I said about my TITHE... I need to figure out where I am at for the year! So when I started working on my June budget again today, I remembered that!!! It's a possible way of saving my low income dollars and still being right with GOD!
It's also a real example of what happens when incomes go down...
I always say the TITHE is the first thing to go in most families... not sure why, but I assume it is the idea that we need to be "responsible" and provide for the kids first... good human excuse, right? :-) That's how it looks from human eyes.
The eyes of FAITH say that we better make sure we honor GOD's Tithe so we can depend on Him to take care of us. He has PROMISED to do that! If He doesn't, He becomes a liar.... and we know GOD is not a liar.
I think every church and ministry was talking about their lack of funds when the buildings got shut down. We are going to need a "Plan B" soon. I don't know how things will change, but there are already long reports about what MIGHT happen in the coming months and years.
When you see things with the eyes of the world (and Satan), the events we encounter look very different than when you see them with the eyes of Faith... prophecy, sin, End Times.... all those parts of Faith.
I think GOD is trying to show us some changes need to be made.
I've been praying for some things all my life, and it seems like GOD is powerless to provide them, to help me, to protect me, to take my life to the place I believe GOD wants it to be... sometimes I pray for GOD to glorify His Name with the actions I see needed. Other times I just plead for His interventions and hope that He will provide. Faith is hard.
I keep trying to think of the stories in the Bible, how GOD works in them, what He actually does... I'm nothing in the span of time, but His Plans will be accomplished. I have never been able to decide if I am one step toward them, or a resting place, or a pivot point... some kind of part of the way to our collective Christian future.
Without GOD providing a LOT OF MONEY, there is little I can do to start the changed I see needed... finding the right Christians to do the parts they know how to do... etc. So, I just keep doing what I can and hope GOD finds the right hearts to see the needs we face.
I heard a report where major online conversation pieces are limiting Christian conversations... because they don't agree with the content, which is not objectionable in any way. If the common household websites are all we have to choose from, what does it mean for the conversations of the future? Not Truth, not debate, not freedom of speech... so how do we change this problem?
I have ideas... and I am sure the Christian Community will come up with others. We have to decide. Is this the time in history where we need to "come out and be separate" from the world?
So, I am working on my writing projects to ask these questions in a PDF or a Kindle Book (to see what happens) or an Etsy listing, which I know is biased against Christians... and maybe a print option to see if it can be shared.
Our time in this world is closing. Soon the world will have what it thinks it wants -- a world without good people, moral people, Christians and Jews, no GOD, no hope, no order, no spiritual enemy, no global charity, and more... they will have themselves, and will discover that evil is not very nice.
We need to start protecting the vulnerable among us...
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Well, I have a few extra dollars to use in JUNE... I am way over my "required" Tithe. :-) This is a rough month, but I am working through the issues and hoping for GOD's Help.
If you want to help me, you can donate to my "tip" account ::
https://paypal.me/work2gather
If you want to help Working Together Inc, you can donate to its "tip" account :: https://paypal.me/workingtogetherinc
Otherwise, I continue my efforts to increase my sales listings at
ETSY https://etsy.com/shop/work2gather
and
EBAY https://ebay.com/usr/work2gather
and my main prayer and financial goal ::
my Patreon page
https://patreon.com/DebsRetirementPlan
I hope to see your names at my selling spaces.
In Christ,
Deborah Martin
work2gather.us
and more
29 May, 2020
28 May, 2020
Bad day... see you tomorrow
I've been ill all day, in bed most of the time, and I don't want to just write a post to fill the space. I will work on this post tomorrow, God willing.
Prayers welcomed.
Thanks.
Deborah Martin
work2gather.us
and more...
Prayers welcomed.
Thanks.
Deborah Martin
work2gather.us
and more...
22 May, 2020
11:30pm - running late again...
I have been watching videos about retirement issues on YouTube tonight... several. I think I started with titles about the Middle Class... struggling in some, having too many things in another. It was very interesting, most were a bit dated, from the years following the housing crisis in 2008.
We have a lot of problems in America, and I don't know if we have any way to solve them. Crisis seems to be the "opportunity" the government likes.
I don't know if I will be around for the crash of the Social Security program. I hope not. What happens between now and the estimated time of bankruptcy is the real issue. We never know what the future will hold. Who knew we would have a global shutdown, which has become a death toll for business and jobs... increased the debt beyond reason so we are now looking at higher taxes again.
PBS News Hour, which I only watched in segments for today's report, talked about the increasing number of retail stores that are ending in bankruptcy or quitting the effort to stay open. I watched it twice, at least.
In some of the other videos I watched on related topics, the loss of work with no hope for new employment was changing the dreams of many people. I was struck by how many years some of the example stories worked for twenty, thirty, or more years before one day seeing their company go away. One person had the company she worked for disappear twice (two jobs went away) and was looking for work again.
Millions of people... no work. The older people, still needing to have income to meet their current expenses, could not find work. The devastation it had on families was included in the interviews. Blaming someone was the answer for one family, and it was the dad without the big wages anymore. The kids not understanding what was happening, and fearing it would happen again.
It's strange how crises affect family dynamics. It's the money that seems to create your value. I don't think that is a good value system. In families with addictions, the person who gets blamed for everything that happens is called the "scapegoat." In crisis, I suppose that is how we seem to see the world... we need to find someone to blame.
These financial issues are high on my list of things I'm thinking of these days. The debt, the stability of Social Security, life challenges, hopes for the future. My life has always been poor, so it is always hard to see the effects of economic disasters on people who have always had large amounts of money to live on.
One woman had a salary near $100K each year... yet she had no savings for an emergency. It was just spending money. I think she went on food benefits, but I can't remember for sure, I know they went from a large (nice) house (a rental, not a mortgage!) to a basement apartment. It is hard for me to even think about wasting that much money in their lives. We think life will always be the same. She said she planned to retire from the company that died.
I didn't learn any money lessons in my childhood, I had to learn them on my own. I never had that much to budget so I don't know what I would have done if I did have a lot of money.... then. Now I would be better able to deal with a large amount of money.
When you have nothing, or just a little, and you see pictures of the lives others lead, what they have compared to what they need, it is a serious problem. We are a consumer driven economy, and that is why our nation is falling apart. The News Hour segment, or maybe it was another video on retail, said that our consumer spending is down by half and that the normal level of consumer spending as part of our economy was 70%... Imagine if your monthly budget depended on what people spent... I guess that is why retail is being devastated right now.
What will replace those jobs? I have no idea. Food, shelter, and work-related necessities... those will need to survive. Shelves and shelves of toys, clothes, and other things we consume will go away.
This might be a good thing.
Change is hard... it will be painful... but the President is right when he says we will get through this. It will pass. That is what life is. We suffer through hard times and find a way to the future. My personal saying on the process is something that helps me remember everything goes away, eventually.
I have shared this before, but it is a good thing to share again. I was watching a river one day, as a homeless person, and I realized that life is like a river... no matter what happens, it just keeps going. Whether we like it or not, it just keeps going forward.
I hope this won't be a long hardship.
In Christ,
Deborah Martin
work2gather.us
and more...
We have a lot of problems in America, and I don't know if we have any way to solve them. Crisis seems to be the "opportunity" the government likes.
I don't know if I will be around for the crash of the Social Security program. I hope not. What happens between now and the estimated time of bankruptcy is the real issue. We never know what the future will hold. Who knew we would have a global shutdown, which has become a death toll for business and jobs... increased the debt beyond reason so we are now looking at higher taxes again.
PBS News Hour, which I only watched in segments for today's report, talked about the increasing number of retail stores that are ending in bankruptcy or quitting the effort to stay open. I watched it twice, at least.
In some of the other videos I watched on related topics, the loss of work with no hope for new employment was changing the dreams of many people. I was struck by how many years some of the example stories worked for twenty, thirty, or more years before one day seeing their company go away. One person had the company she worked for disappear twice (two jobs went away) and was looking for work again.
Millions of people... no work. The older people, still needing to have income to meet their current expenses, could not find work. The devastation it had on families was included in the interviews. Blaming someone was the answer for one family, and it was the dad without the big wages anymore. The kids not understanding what was happening, and fearing it would happen again.
It's strange how crises affect family dynamics. It's the money that seems to create your value. I don't think that is a good value system. In families with addictions, the person who gets blamed for everything that happens is called the "scapegoat." In crisis, I suppose that is how we seem to see the world... we need to find someone to blame.
These financial issues are high on my list of things I'm thinking of these days. The debt, the stability of Social Security, life challenges, hopes for the future. My life has always been poor, so it is always hard to see the effects of economic disasters on people who have always had large amounts of money to live on.
One woman had a salary near $100K each year... yet she had no savings for an emergency. It was just spending money. I think she went on food benefits, but I can't remember for sure, I know they went from a large (nice) house (a rental, not a mortgage!) to a basement apartment. It is hard for me to even think about wasting that much money in their lives. We think life will always be the same. She said she planned to retire from the company that died.
I didn't learn any money lessons in my childhood, I had to learn them on my own. I never had that much to budget so I don't know what I would have done if I did have a lot of money.... then. Now I would be better able to deal with a large amount of money.
When you have nothing, or just a little, and you see pictures of the lives others lead, what they have compared to what they need, it is a serious problem. We are a consumer driven economy, and that is why our nation is falling apart. The News Hour segment, or maybe it was another video on retail, said that our consumer spending is down by half and that the normal level of consumer spending as part of our economy was 70%... Imagine if your monthly budget depended on what people spent... I guess that is why retail is being devastated right now.
What will replace those jobs? I have no idea. Food, shelter, and work-related necessities... those will need to survive. Shelves and shelves of toys, clothes, and other things we consume will go away.
This might be a good thing.
Change is hard... it will be painful... but the President is right when he says we will get through this. It will pass. That is what life is. We suffer through hard times and find a way to the future. My personal saying on the process is something that helps me remember everything goes away, eventually.
I have shared this before, but it is a good thing to share again. I was watching a river one day, as a homeless person, and I realized that life is like a river... no matter what happens, it just keeps going. Whether we like it or not, it just keeps going forward.
I hope this won't be a long hardship.
In Christ,
Deborah Martin
work2gather.us
and more...
14 May, 2020
Thursday is here...
I am moving into giant print for my writing... I hope it helps in the reading.
There is so much I am doing, mostly getting caught up in research linking, I am not sure what to share today.
I found a small note I took from watching a sermon about the virus lockdown and all the issues related to it... It was said to be a well-established, historical theory about how change happens. It was paraphrased to say ::
(Create) PROBLEM
(Watch) REACTION
(-missing word-) SOLUTION
(I think it was about making your own solution for the problem so you can change the pattern of society...)
The speaker said he thought it was what the virus was created to do... If you think about how much has happened in such a short time, for what seems like our annual flu season, with possibly orchestrated events, the effects are astounding... and they are still with us. Poor people can't do much... they can't fight back... which is why people who want to control large populations keep them poor and afraid.
I don't know what we will do to survive this... I am poor so I can't do anything. (Theory validation.)
My life has boundaries forced on me.
If I could.... this is my theme.
It might have killed me getting a heavy flu at my age... I never had a problem with it before. But now I have age and a compromised body... the things that happen with aging.
I am sorry for anyone who lost loved ones. I am not trying to make light of their pain. I just wonder if we will ever know the "TRUTH" about what happened.
Other than the virus issues, life has been online mostly. I have a lot of things to read, been checking on new links, looked at some amazing land parcels the other day... so I am praying even harder for GOD's blessings... :-)
I have been "distracted" from my primary focus and need to get back on track. That's the plan for the next week.
I shared a free desktop wallpaper with my Patreon Challenge tier... I'm working on my benefits for supporters. Only $5 to get your own copy and support my CHALLENGE...
https://patreon.com/DebsRetirementPlan
You can also get any or all of my designs so far at my ETSY shop... I changed my MAY discount to a DIGITAL SALE so all of the digital items can be purchased for $2 each.
https://etsy.com/shop/work2gather
What all those distractions accomplished was not getting new designs listed at ETSY. I'm not sure how to do digital sales at EBAY yet. Once I figure that out, I will list them at EBAY also.
I have been trying to survive on my stored foods, not going to the store all month, since shopping last month about mid-April. It is really getting to be a challenge now. I find when I don'thave a regular diet, my body rebels when I start eating all my old foods. I may try to eat too much too fast as well... I am hoping to avoid that this time.
If all you have is dried foods (beans, grains, onion bits, etc.) the menu gets pretty tight. I watched a Prepsteaders video on eating soup made with hard tack, pemican, and survival dried broth... and foraged "veggies" like dandelions and clover and other things I don't know about. When you are hungry you get very "creative" for food.
I remember movies of plane crashes and survivors trying to make it through the wilderness to civilization of some kind. A movie with a teen had him eating bugs. A movie with adults had them trying to catch fish by hand. I don't remember all the survival scenes/movies I have seen, but it is always an interest of mine because of WT and the goals of surviving as Christians... to be self-sufficient in life needs, food, water, shelter, etc.
Prepsteaders.com is on YouTube, at Patreon, and has the website that it uses as its name. I decided to see what she did at Patreon so I am supporting her at the minimal level... $2 per video. I devoted $10 a month to Patreon creators to find out more about the system. She is the only per video person I signed up with, but I didn't know it was per video until I saw the billing. It's a learning experience. I have seen some of her videos, but not all of them.
The realities of a life of faith are always big in my life... it has been very hard and you wonder what GOD is doing. It makes you try to see how GOD deals with the problems in our lives, how He judges those people who hurt us in their sins. When you think a long time about the familiar stories we hear all the time... the hidden details begin to show up.
We pray for our needs, but GOD never promised to give us all the things we think we need, what we pray for. What GOD promises, He does. GOD never promises something He isn't going to do. So GOD NEVER PROMISES THINGS HE WON'T DO. It changes our ideas about what we pray for and what GOD will provide... Who is the One in charge of our lives... How GOD judges sin.
I have been thinking lately that the worst judgment GOD can do is take your life before you are saved. It doesn't matter how old you are, if you die before you are saved, you have only one destination. I have thought of the rich man who wanted his Lazarus to comfort him with water to ease his pain and torment... and to warn his brothers. The reply was that the time was too late... the rich man and his brothers had their whole lives to do what they knew was right, but they walked by Lazarus every day.
It's very significant. We all do it at some point. Some of us don't have the ability to help people like Lazarus, but a rich man could, with ease.
I wish the realities of GOD were not so definite. We don't like to see them, we don't like to talk about them, we pretend they don't exist. When we get to judgment, when we die, it will be too late to change.
I studied in Revelations once and noticed that one of the final acts of GOD in judgment was a similar judgment of suffering in eternity... the time when there is no death and the scorpions sting inflicts pain over and over again. I realized it is like the torment promised in the Lake of Fire... forever in pain, no death, no escape.
In my sufferings, I see the boundaries of GOD, how He can help and how He cannot. I see the results of my sin, the sins of others hurting me, the long ripple of consequences that make our world what it is, our lives what they are.
I wish I could have made it different, but there's never a guarantee it would have been better. GOD has a plan for each of us. I have discovered important things in my sufferings, and now I wonder if they will ever help me... if GOD will use them to build WT, or if there was another purpose, something I don't know about.
This VIRUS CRISIS has changed a lot of things... and it may cause more devastation before it is over... many people don't have enough money to make through months and months of no income, reduced income, and no jobs to find.
I keep saying, What is GOD trying to show us?
Think deeply about these things. They may help you change the next several months or years of your life.
In Christ,
Deborah Martin
work2gather.us
and more...
There is so much I am doing, mostly getting caught up in research linking, I am not sure what to share today.
I found a small note I took from watching a sermon about the virus lockdown and all the issues related to it... It was said to be a well-established, historical theory about how change happens. It was paraphrased to say ::
(Create) PROBLEM
(Watch) REACTION
(-missing word-) SOLUTION
(I think it was about making your own solution for the problem so you can change the pattern of society...)
The speaker said he thought it was what the virus was created to do... If you think about how much has happened in such a short time, for what seems like our annual flu season, with possibly orchestrated events, the effects are astounding... and they are still with us. Poor people can't do much... they can't fight back... which is why people who want to control large populations keep them poor and afraid.
I don't know what we will do to survive this... I am poor so I can't do anything. (Theory validation.)
My life has boundaries forced on me.
If I could.... this is my theme.
It might have killed me getting a heavy flu at my age... I never had a problem with it before. But now I have age and a compromised body... the things that happen with aging.
I am sorry for anyone who lost loved ones. I am not trying to make light of their pain. I just wonder if we will ever know the "TRUTH" about what happened.
Other than the virus issues, life has been online mostly. I have a lot of things to read, been checking on new links, looked at some amazing land parcels the other day... so I am praying even harder for GOD's blessings... :-)
I have been "distracted" from my primary focus and need to get back on track. That's the plan for the next week.
I shared a free desktop wallpaper with my Patreon Challenge tier... I'm working on my benefits for supporters. Only $5 to get your own copy and support my CHALLENGE...
https://patreon.com/DebsRetirementPlan
You can also get any or all of my designs so far at my ETSY shop... I changed my MAY discount to a DIGITAL SALE so all of the digital items can be purchased for $2 each.
https://etsy.com/shop/work2gather
What all those distractions accomplished was not getting new designs listed at ETSY. I'm not sure how to do digital sales at EBAY yet. Once I figure that out, I will list them at EBAY also.
I have been trying to survive on my stored foods, not going to the store all month, since shopping last month about mid-April. It is really getting to be a challenge now. I find when I don'thave a regular diet, my body rebels when I start eating all my old foods. I may try to eat too much too fast as well... I am hoping to avoid that this time.
If all you have is dried foods (beans, grains, onion bits, etc.) the menu gets pretty tight. I watched a Prepsteaders video on eating soup made with hard tack, pemican, and survival dried broth... and foraged "veggies" like dandelions and clover and other things I don't know about. When you are hungry you get very "creative" for food.
I remember movies of plane crashes and survivors trying to make it through the wilderness to civilization of some kind. A movie with a teen had him eating bugs. A movie with adults had them trying to catch fish by hand. I don't remember all the survival scenes/movies I have seen, but it is always an interest of mine because of WT and the goals of surviving as Christians... to be self-sufficient in life needs, food, water, shelter, etc.
Prepsteaders.com is on YouTube, at Patreon, and has the website that it uses as its name. I decided to see what she did at Patreon so I am supporting her at the minimal level... $2 per video. I devoted $10 a month to Patreon creators to find out more about the system. She is the only per video person I signed up with, but I didn't know it was per video until I saw the billing. It's a learning experience. I have seen some of her videos, but not all of them.
The realities of a life of faith are always big in my life... it has been very hard and you wonder what GOD is doing. It makes you try to see how GOD deals with the problems in our lives, how He judges those people who hurt us in their sins. When you think a long time about the familiar stories we hear all the time... the hidden details begin to show up.
We pray for our needs, but GOD never promised to give us all the things we think we need, what we pray for. What GOD promises, He does. GOD never promises something He isn't going to do. So GOD NEVER PROMISES THINGS HE WON'T DO. It changes our ideas about what we pray for and what GOD will provide... Who is the One in charge of our lives... How GOD judges sin.
I have been thinking lately that the worst judgment GOD can do is take your life before you are saved. It doesn't matter how old you are, if you die before you are saved, you have only one destination. I have thought of the rich man who wanted his Lazarus to comfort him with water to ease his pain and torment... and to warn his brothers. The reply was that the time was too late... the rich man and his brothers had their whole lives to do what they knew was right, but they walked by Lazarus every day.
It's very significant. We all do it at some point. Some of us don't have the ability to help people like Lazarus, but a rich man could, with ease.
I wish the realities of GOD were not so definite. We don't like to see them, we don't like to talk about them, we pretend they don't exist. When we get to judgment, when we die, it will be too late to change.
I studied in Revelations once and noticed that one of the final acts of GOD in judgment was a similar judgment of suffering in eternity... the time when there is no death and the scorpions sting inflicts pain over and over again. I realized it is like the torment promised in the Lake of Fire... forever in pain, no death, no escape.
In my sufferings, I see the boundaries of GOD, how He can help and how He cannot. I see the results of my sin, the sins of others hurting me, the long ripple of consequences that make our world what it is, our lives what they are.
I wish I could have made it different, but there's never a guarantee it would have been better. GOD has a plan for each of us. I have discovered important things in my sufferings, and now I wonder if they will ever help me... if GOD will use them to build WT, or if there was another purpose, something I don't know about.
This VIRUS CRISIS has changed a lot of things... and it may cause more devastation before it is over... many people don't have enough money to make through months and months of no income, reduced income, and no jobs to find.
I keep saying, What is GOD trying to show us?
Think deeply about these things. They may help you change the next several months or years of your life.
In Christ,
Deborah Martin
work2gather.us
and more...
07 May, 2020
Today was the National Day of Prayer in America!
I stayed up until midnight last night because I signed up to pray then... I ended up entering a prayer on their Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/presidentialprayerteam/posts/2801431366571318?comment_id=2802480463133075
Then I went to bed and did a lot of house stuff when I woke up.
That was my prayer in the middle of night. I don't remember what I was doing but it may have been my thoughts about the world when I donated to Polar Bears International at Facebook earlier. I shared how the world is an eco-system and we have destroyed a lot of that ecosystem already, because of many things, a lot of government "permission" … I don't think I was feeling very good about our government when I wrote my prayer.
And I worry about the Christian Body every day.
I just finished watching the replay of the National Prayer event at
https://billygraham.org/live/national-day-of-prayer/
… twice, at least. I may watch it again tomorrow.
I'm not sure GOD will change all the big problems we face, but the ones we need Him to help us with in our small part of the BIG PLAN might be eligible for His interventions. When our leaders pray, there is a bit of drama in it... and they can't really call out the really hard needs we face, but I find it very good for my faith to see them praying.
I always wondered if I prayed "the right way" in my Christian life... maybe because GOD didn't provide the things I thought He would. Now, I'm not sure there is a right way. I think GOD already knows what is in our hearts so we are just sharing it with Him. I wonder if our honesty in our prayers matters. Whether we are trying to "bribe" GOD with our requests.
I think I have heard this bribery effort in a lot of sermons... we all seem to think it will work. :-) Our hearts cry out for the thing we want, and we are willing to say and do anything to convince GOD that we will "pay" for it. I think we use this tactic in our lives, too... bartering for favors, looking for a sale, kids and parents.... :-)
That really isn't how GOD works.
Today was a big day for me in the food department, too. I only had less than a teaspoon of yeast left so I decided a cup of flour would work with it. It's a good thing I only used about a quarter cup of warm water proofing the yeast! That was all I needed for the one cup of water. I left the very wet dough to rise without kneading. It made a great small piece of FLATBREAD for today. Next time I will try a whole teaspoon of yeast and see what happens, make a thinner flatbread, and make a pizza out of it. This is great for me. I have wanted a small amount to make so there aren't a lot of leftovers. This experiment today is just the start! :-)
I also wanted to use my extra polenta today, so I made it into the creamy stuff and spread it thin on a pan, with lots of oil. (Well, not LOTS of oil, but more than I would normally use. -- must be my drama gene talking. :-) I don't know if I needed the oil on the pan, but that's ok... I wanted to make sure it didn't stick. I had written the cooking instructions wrong on my jar lid so I almost cooked it for 30 minutes instead of three or so. I had just bought a Red Mill bag of polenta because I want to try some ways to make it, so that saved the day.
This is actually the FIRST time I have eaten polenta. I saw some videos on YouTube and decided it would be a good pizza option for the food choices I was trying to change. It was pretty good... with all the stuff I put on it. :-) I eat Malt-o-Meal these days, sometimes, and it reminds me of that. Maybe Malt-o-Meal is white corn grits. Polenta is yellow corn grits.
I am trying to use up my food stores... so that is why all these crazy food options.
I am making MUNG SPROUTS right now, too... trying them in a larger jar this time, and trying to get them to grow longer. I tend to eat them before they get big like they have in the stores. I was watching a YouTube video on growing micro-greens this week and the link to their supplier was amazing. I discovered people actually sprout some of the grains I have that I have been trying to figure out how to eat!!! So I started a small jar of BUCKWHEAT SEEDS and some GREEN LENTILS.
I have a new bag of MASA now, so tortillas are in the near future for me. I have never used masa before, that I can remember anyway. I have always wanted to try it, but don't think I actually bought a bag before now. I like flour tortillas better, but I decided to see how hard it is to make these.
I'm not sure when I will go shopping... I am trying to decide how long I can go with this quest to use up my stored foods. I may have to move again, so it's a way to empty my jars and pack them away.
I ordered some video making equipment from AMAZON finally... I'm thinking about what to try first. I need to make my Introduction video for my PATREON page... but I want to edit it before I upload it if I can. There must be a way to do that... I have to find it !!
I am really not looking forward to getting in front of a camera, and I am having a really hard time thinking of what to say. Everyone I see at YouTube does it so well...
I know we all have to start where we are.
I'm thinking of audio only until I get use to it. :-) [I think they call this cowardice or escapism... I'm sure there's a "category" for it somewhere.]
I guess that's enough for today.
Yes... you can pray for me.
:-)
In Christ,
Deborah Martin
PS : No stimulus check for me yet... Where could it be ?!?
https://www.facebook.com/presidentialprayerteam/posts/2801431366571318?comment_id=2802480463133075
Then I went to bed and did a lot of house stuff when I woke up.
That was my prayer in the middle of night. I don't remember what I was doing but it may have been my thoughts about the world when I donated to Polar Bears International at Facebook earlier. I shared how the world is an eco-system and we have destroyed a lot of that ecosystem already, because of many things, a lot of government "permission" … I don't think I was feeling very good about our government when I wrote my prayer.
And I worry about the Christian Body every day.
I just finished watching the replay of the National Prayer event at
https://billygraham.org/live/national-day-of-prayer/
… twice, at least. I may watch it again tomorrow.
I'm not sure GOD will change all the big problems we face, but the ones we need Him to help us with in our small part of the BIG PLAN might be eligible for His interventions. When our leaders pray, there is a bit of drama in it... and they can't really call out the really hard needs we face, but I find it very good for my faith to see them praying.
I always wondered if I prayed "the right way" in my Christian life... maybe because GOD didn't provide the things I thought He would. Now, I'm not sure there is a right way. I think GOD already knows what is in our hearts so we are just sharing it with Him. I wonder if our honesty in our prayers matters. Whether we are trying to "bribe" GOD with our requests.
I think I have heard this bribery effort in a lot of sermons... we all seem to think it will work. :-) Our hearts cry out for the thing we want, and we are willing to say and do anything to convince GOD that we will "pay" for it. I think we use this tactic in our lives, too... bartering for favors, looking for a sale, kids and parents.... :-)
That really isn't how GOD works.
Today was a big day for me in the food department, too. I only had less than a teaspoon of yeast left so I decided a cup of flour would work with it. It's a good thing I only used about a quarter cup of warm water proofing the yeast! That was all I needed for the one cup of water. I left the very wet dough to rise without kneading. It made a great small piece of FLATBREAD for today. Next time I will try a whole teaspoon of yeast and see what happens, make a thinner flatbread, and make a pizza out of it. This is great for me. I have wanted a small amount to make so there aren't a lot of leftovers. This experiment today is just the start! :-)
I also wanted to use my extra polenta today, so I made it into the creamy stuff and spread it thin on a pan, with lots of oil. (Well, not LOTS of oil, but more than I would normally use. -- must be my drama gene talking. :-) I don't know if I needed the oil on the pan, but that's ok... I wanted to make sure it didn't stick. I had written the cooking instructions wrong on my jar lid so I almost cooked it for 30 minutes instead of three or so. I had just bought a Red Mill bag of polenta because I want to try some ways to make it, so that saved the day.
This is actually the FIRST time I have eaten polenta. I saw some videos on YouTube and decided it would be a good pizza option for the food choices I was trying to change. It was pretty good... with all the stuff I put on it. :-) I eat Malt-o-Meal these days, sometimes, and it reminds me of that. Maybe Malt-o-Meal is white corn grits. Polenta is yellow corn grits.
I am trying to use up my food stores... so that is why all these crazy food options.
I am making MUNG SPROUTS right now, too... trying them in a larger jar this time, and trying to get them to grow longer. I tend to eat them before they get big like they have in the stores. I was watching a YouTube video on growing micro-greens this week and the link to their supplier was amazing. I discovered people actually sprout some of the grains I have that I have been trying to figure out how to eat!!! So I started a small jar of BUCKWHEAT SEEDS and some GREEN LENTILS.
I have a new bag of MASA now, so tortillas are in the near future for me. I have never used masa before, that I can remember anyway. I have always wanted to try it, but don't think I actually bought a bag before now. I like flour tortillas better, but I decided to see how hard it is to make these.
I'm not sure when I will go shopping... I am trying to decide how long I can go with this quest to use up my stored foods. I may have to move again, so it's a way to empty my jars and pack them away.
I ordered some video making equipment from AMAZON finally... I'm thinking about what to try first. I need to make my Introduction video for my PATREON page... but I want to edit it before I upload it if I can. There must be a way to do that... I have to find it !!
I am really not looking forward to getting in front of a camera, and I am having a really hard time thinking of what to say. Everyone I see at YouTube does it so well...
I know we all have to start where we are.
I'm thinking of audio only until I get use to it. :-) [I think they call this cowardice or escapism... I'm sure there's a "category" for it somewhere.]
I guess that's enough for today.
Yes... you can pray for me.
:-)
In Christ,
Deborah Martin
PS : No stimulus check for me yet... Where could it be ?!?
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