Politics as a weapon

 

There seems to be a liberal uproar over Arizona keeping an abortion law from the 1860's.  I am wondering why the law was necessary in that time of history.  I was never that great in history classes.  I remember a few things, major things, things that mattered to me.  I wasn't collecting details about abortion when I was young.

I have heard my whole life that abortion is about "saving" women from all the things that will be lost if she has the child she conceived.  The outcry is always about the adults life, not the childs.  No one in media or liberal politics talks about how a child can make a woman's life better.

When Trump was first running, the life of an unborn child was part of his campaign promises.  Now it is about "compromise" and finding a way to win.  I thought this was an important point in his platform.  I have been pro-life all of my life, not just because it is the murder of an innocent child that cannot protect itself, but because I was conceived out of wedlock.  

This is one of my designs for the statement it shares.  We can never know the impact a single life can have on this world.

I remember someone saying that when we kill an unborn child we may be killing a person who would have saved our world.

Many are aborted because there is some disability discovered through sonograms or blood testing.  It is true some children are born with physical or mental disabilities, but it is also true some become disabled during their lives.  We don't have a guarantee that any life will be without changes in health, struggle, pain, or unexpected events.

There is a verse in the Bible that says the weak are more important than the strong.  It took me many years to figure out why GOD would say something like that.  I realized the weak are GOD's tool to keep our hearts, as individuals and as societies, kind and caring.  They keep mercy and compassion alive in our world.

The Bible also says the love of many will grow cold in the Last Days.  We can see that happening more every day.  When I thought about this prophecy in my younger years, I decided it would be because of the media, which now includes the Internet.  I have been watching the topics on the internet becoming more and more frightening as the years pass.  There are so many stories of need because they are coming from all over the world.  We are becoming numb by the constant bombardment of all these tragedies.

The Universe is a very big place.  We like to think our planet is the only one that matters, and our lives the most important thing on the planet, but we are just a speck of dust.

It is important what we do as individuals because our lives affect others.  Abortion doesn't just happen to a woman or a child, it happens to all of us.

Once pregnant, there is no path back to not being pregnant.  There is a consequence, sometimes more than one.

The woman who gets pregnant has to choose between keeping the child, giving it up for adoption, or killing it through abortion.  They all have a lifetime consequence for both the mother and the child, and the father, and the rest of the family, and the world.  Abortion is not a simple solution to a difficult problem.

The Bible tells us that our lives have purpose.  Letting a child live, and find their purpose in this life, seems to be a better choice than killing it to avoid the consequences of our choice to sin.  Adoption is a better choice for an unplanned pregnancy than abortion.  It will be a blessing to the parents who want it and allow a child to find its purpose in GOD's Plan.

I hope you will always choose life for your child.

In Christ,

Deborah Martin

Another Update... Christmas is getting closer every day! :-)

Now that I am focused on CHRISTMAS, I keep thinking of what I need to get done, what I need to get it done, and how to get it done... 

I have spent way over my budget already, but everything is covered - so far.  I am buying supplies, starting to paint, getting out my crafting tools and other supplies.  Tonight I went to Etsy to check on the price and availability of something and stayed there forever.  A shop in China has a lot of low-cost items I want to try, but I am going to sleep on it and see if that is what I want to do.  They want to charge high shipping costs so the "free" option doesn't get here until September/October.  I am thinking about it... about whether it is worth the wait.

I will look for my own supplies and start with them.  I have to find them.  :-)   They are somewhere in my room... I hope.

If I can do the silk-screening, the jewelry supplies can wait.  I received my silkscreen transparencies for making designs to burn into the screens. I'm expecting my major order of supplies soon... it is suppose to go PRIORITY MAIL... so that means tomorrow, maybe.  I hope so.  I made the economic plunge because I have been trying to get the right equipment for a long time.  What I ordered is for small art.  I am going to work on my postcard designs, maybe some ATC's/ACEO's, small designs for baby clothes maybe, whatever I can figure out.  I only have about 10 screens to work with, of two types of screen material.

Next will be the emulsion learning curve... making my own screens to burn designs in.  I'm going to work my way up to poster sizes because that has always been something I wanted to do.

I watched some YouTube videos again... about the premade transfers that are available.  Some will do actual photos.  Some will work on sports clothes.  Some are for regular needs.  I am learning these things on my way to buying a heat press.

I was at a store tonight that had about 30K listings... that is a lot of listings.  I'm not sure I want to get that big... but if it's automated, it won't hurt.  That's a future decision.  Right now I just want to make a decent amount of money for CHRISTMAS.  I just remembered, as I was writing that last sentence, that my original goal was to make things all year and sell the most at CHRISTMAS, trying to make enough to pay for the next year... ahead.  :-)  I will have to write that down again.

I am debating (still) about PRINTFUL.  My eBay shop got disconnected from its integration with Printful.  I am thinking I might try manual sales for a bit.  I am getting ready to list some items with my phone.  I've been working in that direction for some time now.  I started taking photos and making social media posts this past week.  I started to make a listing, but didn't have my items planned for eBay out and ready to list.  I will be working on that this weekend, too.

I didn't do my prayer journals this morning.  The day just got away from me.  I will be entering them when I finish here.  I see how much better it is to get this done first thing in the morning, like Bible time.  I haven't had Bible time for a long time... it's been a long valley.  Today was a good thing... it has reminded me that mornings are important for some of the commitments we make.

I watched a video on making my own stickers, too... another goal.  I need one of those cutting machines to get that done right, good enough to sell.

Everything I want to do is based on the designs I have always wanted to make.

Awhile back I remembered the POLITICAL ACTION CARDS I created way back in the beginning of my quests for creating income.  They would be great for election issues like we are facing now, and will face in the future.  God willing, I might be able to get those done for the next Presidential election... it should be a major event for the US and the world because there will be two new candidates fighting to win the position.

We forget that our country is only as good, as healthy, as kind and merciful as the hearts of its people.  When there is no GOD to create moral foundations, sin and evil grow -- without the lost even understanding what they are missing.

I think the false media, powers that are bigger than us, try to make us think that Christians and Jews are dying.  It helps their cause... it makes us weak.

I wrote a letter to someone this week about deciding to sign up for AARP to get their "freebie" item... but not liking the politics of the group.  I remembered that one of reasons I wanted to build up Working Together was to be the AARP for Christians... to have the power that membership gives when it is large.  To stand against the rising evils.  To be able to organize protections and provisions for us.

I seem to be "remembering" my original goals these days. Mostly I just try to survive.  The things that mattered to me at the beginning seem pointless now, as I am heading into senior issues and death.  The foundation is good, the need is great, but the provision just hasn't been there.  I don't know why.

Sometimes I think it is the interference of Satan, but I don't think it would have been allowed this long unless there was a bigger purpose in GOD's Plan.

Sometimes I think the person, or people, who GOD wanted to provide for WT didn't do it.

There is always this connection with action in our faith.  I have shared it before, but one time I was in a church Bible study and a question was asked... I knew the answer, but didn't give it.  Then the Holy Spirit found someone else in the room to share the answer.  It was a lesson to me of how GOD works sometimes. When we don't do what He prompts us to do, sometimes He finds another Christian willing to be His vessel in a certain action.

Then I think of the times when there was no one else to be a substitute. What happens when we are the only one who can do something, and we choose not to do it?  It could be a minor consequence or it could be devastating... for us, for the church, for the Body of Christ... we don't know the effects of not doing GOD's Will.

I think of how different my life would be.  E V E R Y T H I N G  would have been different.  So, is this where we are all suppose to be?  Is this the time GOD will finally move on our behalf?  I don't know.

I guess I will just keep thinking about all these things... and trust that GOD is able to do anything that needs to be done, and I am just ONE tiny little cell in the global BODY of CHRIST.  Something is happening, I just don't know what it is.  GOD does.

Until next time,
In Christ,

Deborah Martin
work2gather.us
and more...

16APR - Trusting GOD for the details

It's been a long week since Monday's update at Patreon...  I guess this will be the only PUBLIC update... I may have to change the way I do things with my updates.  The goal is to make Patreon the only place for my Challenge news... but, then how will I find people.  It's a real decision-making process to try to overcome the info connections.  You'll find out when I finally decide.  This may be the APRIL decision.

I ordered a book by Phyllis Schlafly (The Power of the Christian Woman) and received it (finally) yesterday.  When I started reading it, I was amazed at how great she shared the details of being a woman in GOD's Kingdom... wanting to be a "Mom At Home" and happy there.  I suggested to the Eagle Forum they need to share the first chapter, at least.  (If they don't, I might.)

I haven't finished the first chapter yet, but I am working to get the book read.  I seem to be "distracted" by any little thing, and real needs.  I had to take two naps today because my body just wouldn't keep going.  I guess I have an irregular schedule... I end up being up in the middle of the night and sleeping small amounts over the course of each 24-hours.  I do what I can in the up hours, and take short naps.  The "distractions" are the main problem.  I have to find a way to get through them.

So, the book.  I am glad I bought both of the titles I did.  The other book was, "A Choice, Not an Echo" and it is about electing Presidents.  Some of the browsing bits I discovered are from before I thought of elections and what they mean.  As a child, my main memory of politics is a wonderful vinyl recording of President Kennedy's speeches.  I don't recall if I had it before or after he died.  I was very young when that happened.

I have seen videos or photos of her with Reagan.  I don't really know her politics.  I am not sure I will read that book right now.  Moms and the freedom to be at home are my interests.  I tried my whole life to be one... without poverty.

I just checked the copyright for the Christian Woman book and it was published in 1981... what was happening then...  I don't know.  I had two sons by then...  I think I was fighting poverty somewhere... maybe it was Lincoln City (Oregon) then.

My CHALLENGE is focused on PayPal.me right now.  I am wondering if it could work as my one-time $5.00 payment option.  It is a new payment idea for me this week.  I have to find out how I can make it work for my needs.

I was already signed up when I checked, but I hadn't been able to decide how to use it so it went out of my daily thoughts.  I guess you can just provide the link and anyone can make a payment to your account.  If you want to do that, my account link is  ::   https://www.paypal.me/work2gather     :-)

I have tried to contact PAYPAL.com for more information and to make sure my plans are within their general guidelines, and to make sure all my links go to the right accounts... but contacting big sites is like trying to fly from the west to the east without a plane.

I don't see posting it at Patreon will work... because of the fee issues, I suppose.  I still want to make it part of my selling options.  So far, I plan to post it on my social media sites with things to sell.


I had a problem with FACEBOOK MARKETPLACE this week... they decided my digital download for Etsy, SERVANTS, was objectionable and I am having to appeal that decision.  I mentioned that their actions are very unclear... they just tell you "it might go against their policies" and expect you to delete it.  I shared that when people get a ticket they at least know what law they have broken.  They need to decide what specific "Law" at F/B has been transgressed so that the persecuted can appeal the right policy.

I vaguely recall having another problem like this... but I think the same thing happened with ETSY and my writing about the Rapture to Christians.  There's no real appeal process at Etsy.  I have always hoped GOD would bless so I could create a fair and protected selling place for Christians... probably WT Members, but maybe open to the public.  If GOD provides the funds, I'll make those decisions then.

The main cause is the gay community, I think.  If it's not the employees, it's media pressure, which the gay community uses so well.... as they are doing with Phyllis Schlafly these days, and the rainbow, and Christian businesses, and....  No one knows how to deal with them... I call it Bible prophecy coming true.  They are bringing the future into being.  And this is why WT was created.

So, what else has been happening...
It's all a blur.   :-)  
I keep trying to keep my Journal up to date, but it ends up with lots of missed details.  I will work through this year, but may have to go back to my other style of keeping track of things.  :-)

EARTH DAY is next week.  I was looking at my calendar and realized how fast the month has gone by.  I like my tote design.  I keep trying to decide if I should get one for me, or wait until I design more and pick one of them.  I guess Earth Day will be lost in the VIRUS CRISIS as well.


There are only so many things one person can do.  The rest of the battle has to be put into GOD's Hands.  I know that one day GOD will make everything right... how, when, I am not sure... before we die, after we die... I don't know.  It's His decision.  My faith is in GOD.  I trust Him.

I have tried to find one way to explain how this works but so far DAVID is the only story I can think of... We wonder why he chose to sin with Bathsheba, but he did.  When GOD made sure there was no way to hide it, but the pregnancy, he thought there was some way to hide it.  WHY he thought that would happen, no one knows.  We can be sure the staff and lots of other already knew.  He chose to try to hide it.  That choice cost lives and took the Hand of GOD's protections from David and others.

Eventually, GOD sent someone to make sure David knew that GOD wasn't letting it go.  How long that took is not known --  I have never heard a real verified timeline.  What I like to say is that we also don't know if the judgment GOD made for David's sin would have been different if David had made things right with GOD before the prophet was sent to him.

There is always a consequence to sin.  It goes on forever I have decided... like the popular "ripple" effect (Think "'Pocahontas" movie for an example.) --- everything we do affects others... expanding into the future.

Maybe you can see it as the "domino fall" -- when you topple the first domino, the rest follow in quick succession...   Life is a domino fall that never stops... each day is a domino...


I guess I am saying I have to do my best to reach the future by GOD's path, and leave the details of that journey to Him...  It matters what we choose... as individuals and as families and as communities and as nations.  I guess business decisions are in there somewhere.  Money is not the right goal.  What is good is the right goal.  I have only found one place to know what is good -  the Bible.

I hope you read it and discover what I mean.

In Christ,
Deborah Martin
work2gather.us

19 MAR - The power of CHOICE

Blogging my way to the future... will that create a history of my life? Somewhere... until it gets deleted.  :-)


I listened to a Focus on the Family radio theatre program (Adventures in Odyssey) on losing a loved one tonight... and cried through most of it.  The theme was how families are a mixture of saved and unsaved.  It is so hard to think of the people we love not making it into heaven.  CHOICE is a very huge freedom that is often abused, at another's expense in so many circumstances... salvation, abortion, euthanasia, government, and whatever you can think of.

CHOICE is our word for GOD's gift of Free Will.

The power of our choices is always on my mind these days... lots of prayers about what it means to us in this age.  How DOES God judge our sins, individual and corporate?  We like to think He is the author of everything bad in our lives, but He is not.  Some just happens, some is caused by us, some by others, some by Satan... If I ever find the answers to my spiritual quest, I will let you know.


I have been working on my big plan for this year as I learn new things.  I have been revising some of my goal pages to find a better way to keep track of everything.  Been reading as many articles as I can handle, depending on the day.

I tried my ADOBE account the other day because I found a password from 2010... imagine, I was signed up for Adobe in 2010.  I still haven't signed up for Illustrator, or the whole suite of their products "in the cloud" -- but I will, eventually.  I can do the tutorials until then.

I may sign up for the Microsoft Office suite first, because it is less expensive. I need to make some of my writings into digital selling options.

It is such a financial commitment I find it hard to make the plunge.  I liked it better when you could just buy the products once and then they were yours.  I hate the "cloud" - a false vision of security in the heavens... it is just a big server somewhere.

Been looking at computers and prices.

I like dedicated machines these days. I am thinking of getting a Chromebook for all the GOOGLE products.  Not yet, but when I can.  Money is always the issue.



I came across some posts by Dave Ramsey about surviving a financial struggle like the COVID-19 virus restrictions.  I shared it with those I could on my social media spaces.  You may want to look for information on how to cut back and rebuild... try daveramsey.com for some ideas.  I love most of his "baby steps" in financial foundations.

Many people live "paycheck to paycheck" even when their income is huge.  I love the way Dave Ramsey puts it ::  It isn't an income problem, it's a spending problem.   I know the Welfare version of life, lots of poverty and homelessness, but I can't imagine having huge incomes and not having money for life.  I guess the problem is some version of PRIDE... wanting to appear better/wealthier than you are... keeping up with the "Jones'"  When Ramsey explains it, he says all the money is committed before it is even received because of debt payments... cars, houses, credit cards... thousands of dollars of credit card payments.

One day I thought about my plan to have a credit card with only a $25 payment.  I realized my interest rate would be that much, so I could only carry a debt of $100 to make a payment to fit my budget.  The whole situation became clear to me.  I would have that $100 debt forever because I would only pay the interest every month.

I may try for a reloadable card now.  :-)



With all my reading and trying to make the best options fit into my life, I am slowly finding a path through this CHALLENGE.  I may post one-topic updates at my PATREON page, and then do a mixture of topics here.  I am still thinking about it, but that is my latest solution.  One topic might be better for everyone... you, me, anyone who finds my page.



I have created a folder to collect notes about what to share.  Nothing in it, yet, but it is right next to my computer space.  It should work great.  I was so busy today I didn't even get time to make a list of topics for this post.  I hope you will stay with me as I transition to better writing.


Let me find a graphic to share for today, and then I will be gone.
Pray that GOD will  "plow the field" for me  (from INDEPENDENCE  DAY) so I can just get going with my dreams.  I need so much, I really hope you will help me.

In Christ,
Deborah Martin

work2gather.us
etsy.com/shop/work2gather
patreon.com/DebsRetirementPlan