The Future.

 

I guess prayer is on my mind.

This is a statement I made designs for many years ago. This design is from my Canva account.  I want to make more designs for this statement because it is an important thought.

It is about how GOD knows what we will be in the future, our value in His eyes, our place in His Plan, our meaning in this life.

Poverty and homelessness seem to make people into "less than" human beings.  Addictions, too.  I suppose a lot of things lead us to be judged as less than society would like us to be.  They don't tell what we might become one day. 

Money is a big reason some are not considered as good as others.  The Bible tells us we must choose between GOD and Money.  And I can see how all of our choices end up at this fork in the road.  As our survival needs get more serious, the value of money will rise in our minds.  

I listened to a State of the County speech tonight.  Where I live is one of the over 50 cities in the US that is living beyond its means.  I shared that in my last post, I think.  So, I made a point to listen to it. 

I didn't hear anything about the dangerous money issues we face, only about all the programs that are desired and in progress. Lots of general thoughts and praises for those involved.  None of these things tell me if the government is going to survive, or how.  And what will happen to all the people who live here? 

I digress. 

I guess the idea is that GOD knows our value before we do.  

My life has been involved in so many of the issues we hear are less than, but I am glad that I have lived.  Even though it has been a hard life, that others think I have no value, that my life was a mistake.

In GOD's eyes, I have a purpose.  

I pray for the souls of others.  This is another place where what we see now is not what we could become in the future.

Unborn children are also painted in words that give them no meaning, no purpose, no right to live.  We don't know what their future could become, but GOD does.

I filled my garden containers with soil today, and then planted the veggies I want to grow.  I hope I will have a good harvest, but I don't know if I will.

Life is filled with a lot of plans, goals, struggles, happiness, misery and joy.  I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but God does.  

FAITH FRIDAY :: 1 April 2022 - finding the goals for April

 Not sure what to write about tonight.  Faith is a problem when you are not sure what GOD is doing.

Today I was busy with my end-of-the-month and my start-of-the-month activities.  Trying to figure out where I stand in my budget... what I can do this month... how I did last month.  What goals are important for April.  How can I do what I want to do to make my life better than it is.  All with the idea that GOD is leading me to a place I have been heading toward for my lifetime.

The focus is growing on ART with minor focus on jewelry for now.  I need lots of stuff to do all the trial effort for things.  I think art would be easier, but I tend to need some variety in my days.  I switch my activities around to deal with several problems I have.

Working Together is my mission in life, but GOD has to provide the finances for it.  I am praying about how to go forward from here.

I don't know how much faith it is to just keep going.

Who do I compare my life with to decide?  I don't really know.  I haven't found anyone in this life to go by.

I guess that's all we can do until GOD shows up and we know the next step.

One of my new designs.

Going to list it at my ETSY shop as soon as I can.

I don't see how my life matters in our world... so I feel small.

Then I remember that one person can change the world if that is what GOD has called them to do.

I hope my place in the Kingdom of GOD is worth what has been paid to reach this point in time.

FAITH FRIDAY :: GOD and us - how does it work?

I am starting this post at 11:50 PM on Friday !!!  How could I forget it was Friday?!   :-)

Well, not looking at my daily to-do list might be one reason.  haha

It's been a long week of thinking about GOD and how He fits into our lives.  I wish it was easy.  We tend to think GOD is responsible for everything that happens to us.  I think there is some kind of separation between cause and effect, but I haven't fully decided what it is.

I've been getting up in the very early morning for a couple days... to care for some chickens where I live.  Summers mean early light and late dark.  Hard to dothese days as a senior.  :-)  I need the weekend to recover!  :-)    I also used the time for some yardwork.  The puppies where I live and the heat.  The chickens in the heat.  Sorting my room, my supplies.  And trying to make plans to reach my goals.

Everything takes time.  I find it hard to spend, so I am looking for ways to get the right things done... the 80:20 Rule I shared about.

One time I decided that tithing time meant using 2.4 hours for my time with GOD and spiritual activities.  Maybe Bible time and prayer.  I tried it, but it was a job just to keep track of what I considered GOD time.  It fell by the wayside... but is still part of my thoughts when I am working on my planning activities. 

One time I worked out the average schedule and needs of a person by the day and by the week.  I ended up with what we call our work week.  I was trying to decide how much time I would have to build my business. We have to eat and sleep and do the dishes and take showers and shop and lots of other daily tasks just to live.  I was actually amazed that the only time left was a traditional work week.  When I saw that, I also saw that goals need time that we don't always have, and how do we change our lives to do the things that need to get done...

I am still looking for that answer.

Today I found another idea for saving money.  I was at YouTube and found a video about using envelopes to save about $5K over a year using just 100 envelopes numbered 1 to 100. It's easy to save the small amounts, but the larger ones are a big issue with my budget.  Still, it makes the process different and more achievable.  I think I will try some version of it.  (There was also the 51-week challenge.)

Money has always been a large hurdle for me.  It will change my ability to reach my crafting and ministry goals.  I will be excited if I can save that much money.  Probably in 2022, but sooner if I can.

You might like to watch this video.  I shared it at my Patreon post.  It is about goals.  It helped me to remember the best ideas for reaching my goals.  It is part of my thoughts today, now, and until I can find the right things to list on my daily sheet, and do.

https://youtu.be/cKTtnhC6f0E

Let me know if you think they are good for doing.

In Christ,

Deborah Martin,  work2gather.us   

FAITH :: June is a hard month for me now.

I keep wondering what is coming for Americans who have a Faith in GOD, for the Jews, for anyone who doesn't agree with the more aggressive powers that are against us. 

In days that are very hard, I try to understand those who have suffered under other oppressive groups, including the Blacks and Migrants and Asians, plus those in other countries in the past and now. I have seen movies, news reports, books and videos, but that doesn't equal experiencing these painful moments myself. I have had struggles for various reasons, but not the violence of death for doing nothing but be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The Bible has examples, so this is not a new problem.

How hard it is to know freedom and then be forced to submit to those who are over us -- when we don't agree.  Obamacare was the first big US mandate that affected the entire nation.  Now we are dealing with COVID restrictions and increasing government control.  The methods that a conquering power uses are not always soldiers and guns, but I do think those were threatened or used in the mask issue.

When we think of the Antichrist, we can see what it will mean to submit to government... much like the people who were overcome by Hitler.

It is so hard to imagine America becoming a nation of mandated citizens, no longer free, forced to do what the government decides we must do, dependent on the government for our survival.

I don't want that kind of country.  I have seen how the government takes care of people.  It isn't good.  You don't want that to become the way we exist. 

This month is now a hard month for me.  All the PRIDE issues connected to the LGBT Community have made it a hard month now.  Every time I see their abuse of GOD's rainbow I feel their hatred of Christians... of GOD... of anything and anyone with Faith.  Life has changed into a constant battle to understand why, to fight the oppression of this group of people, and to pray GOD will reach their souls with His Truth.

How do we stand in our rights, our faith, in a world that is becoming more and more angry and violent against all that is good?

Today is a day when the rainbow is a battering ram against my GOD.

I feel the oppression.  I feel helpless to change it.  I feel lost in the reality of prophecy. 

I keep praying for answers to these questions, to find a way to stay me and not be attacked by those who disagree with my GOD.  

Have you found a way to do that?

Deborah Martin, work2gather.us

FAITH :: Updates at my posting spaces today... Continued prayer for me and WT

I've been busy with updating my blogs and will be going to my Patreon page next.  I think most, if not all, of them are at my WT homepage for now.  That needs updating as well, but will have to wait until I know what GOD wants me to do.

I think the post at my WTI blog is the most important. I hope you will read it.

Working Together Inc: WTI :: Praying about the future of Working Together (working-together-inc.blogspot.com)

Others already updated are ::

Crafts Explored  ::  https://crafts-explored.blogspot.com

Food to Live  ::  https://food-to-live.blogspot.com

Making Prisons Better  ::  https://making-prisons-better.blogspot.com

Eventually I will get to ::

Shelter for All  ::  https://shelter-for-all.blogspot.com

Political Rehabilitation  ::  https://political-rehabilitation.blogspot.com

and my Patreon page  ::  https://patreon.com/DebsRetirementPlan

I am working toward a goal of posting at each space a minimum of once a month, hopefully more.  I know the future will be better, hang with me as I seek GOD for help in these challenges.

This blog is for my personal path, but it is also linked to my efforts for myself, for Working Together, and for all things Christian.

In the times when I wonder what GOD is doing and why He doesn't provide what I know is necessary and for good purposes, I have to believe that what the Bible says is true, is true.  We just don't understand all the hidden details.

I could ramble on for hours about all the thoughts I have been having about our nation (USA) and the Body of Christ and the End Times and what lies ahead of us, but I won't. Not today. Today I am thinking about WT and funding and Christians surviving the attacks of the Enemy as the End Times get worse. 

The Bible says that when we are weak, GOD is strong.  

I think we have not seen the impact of "Free Will" on all of life... especially the growing darkness and persecutions we face as individuals and as believers.  We suffer because someone chooses to sin... others suffer when we choose to sin.  We see the effects of sin, but not where they started... I have been thinking about how LONG the process of change is and how slow the process of discovering its effects is. 

The last Presidential election was something that no one could ever have imagined happening in America, but it did.  Other things like that are growing.  People and denominations and news sources and things we have trusted are falling away from a foundation of godly character and integrity.  This is the process of evil growing.  The Bible tells us these things are coming.

I think the two final Witnesses will be Elijah and Enoch because they will be strong in the faith that will be required.  I don't know of ANY Christians in our time that would ever be able to stand like they did in the past, and will in the future.  We don't honor GOD like that.  I don't think I ever could.  

Faith that stands against the times it lives in is something I am searching for these days.  We have movies that affect our concept of GOD and Bible stories... I don't know that movies are a good base for faith, but they are easy to take in.  The Bible has been changed from one interpretation into a zillion study Bibles by popular preachers... all wanting to share their own version of what they believe the Bible says.  I don't know the original languages... I have to look at several versions and then pray for GOD to show me the Truth according to Him.  And then there is the fact that GOD doesn't tell us every little thing about His Plans.

Faith is something that isn't always clear.

I am trying to find a way to survive the changes we face on the way to the Antichrist... who will kill us when we refuse to take the Mark of the Beast.  I don't know if I can be that strong alone.  Finding ways to gather together is the only option I see... for life, for survival, for food, for helping each other, for fellowship and community.

What do you think?  Is there any other way to live in a world without money?

In Christ,

Deborah Martin

http://work2gather.us

FAITH :: Working on the changes...

Some days it is hard to decide if I have progressed toward my ultimate goals.  Other days I feel like I have done a LOT.  I'm not sure about today... it was a mixed deal.  I had to sleep a lot, and it is the SABBATH "rest" -- which I hardly ever do completely.  So, now I am up (AFTER DARK) and doing some of the things I would have done earlier, if I was up and moving around... like dishes, making food, going through MORE paper piles, planning, thinking, wondering what is happening in the world.  (I will check the "news" later.)

I went through some of my food topic notes tonight... moved the most important to one page I had with a generic grocery list.  Now I have all my food and shopping notes in my shopping envelope.  Eventually, I will re-do the information again... and decide what matters most at that point in my life.

It was a good reminder of what to focus my shopping and eating on.

Food changes after you age. 

One note I had said calorie needs decrease for every decade after 50 years of age... so I'm in the 80% range.  I have to figure out what that means for my calories and portion sizes...and weight loss efforts

I found some calorie counted foods in my notes.  I will try to buy the ones with the least calories and work on finding ways to eat them.  I don't have my notes right here, but I do recall some veggies were pretty low.  I hear fruits have more calories because of the natural sugars, but that is still OK.  I like a lot of the foods listed as good for the human body... I always have.  Cost has always been the challenge for me.

I was going to try for 1500 calories a day, which is low already, so I will ignore the 20% decrease stated above.  How to "spend" that amount is always the problem for me... and everyone else, I assume.  :-)  Portion control is my issue.  I'm working on storage ideas for my life... to keep me from eating more than I should.

I have been spreading my individual foods over more eating periods... like the one big red potato I made into a simple potato salad.  I ate that in three portion over the day.  If I can do smaller amounts, I will be full all day and not overeat.  It's a hope and a prayer and a real effort for me.

One note I found said one pint of ice cream was equal in calories to a LIST of other foods, like a gallon of greens, three ears of corn, several potatoes, and something else.  That was a big reminder about sweets I love... limiting them is better than eliminating them I think.  I'm at the tail end of life, so I will enjoy some of my favorite foods!!!  I have to find that special balance between ultimate health and human joy.  :-)   

Reducing the dairy and meat in my life is part of that search for a balance that will work for me.  Eating smaller portions and more frequently seems to be advice for seniors... to avoid binging on the foods you really like to eat.

Today I started trying to build my exercise level with the elliptical here at the house.  Very short times to start... but I hope to build them up over a reasonable amount of time.  Maybe I will be able to walk to the stores by summer.

Reducing my "piles" is a long job, but it is making more spaces for other things.  I am getting my belongings into places I can find them, getting ready to use up things that have waited too long to be used (like chocolate), and trying to decide what to do about Working Together's Membership Drive in December.  Only about a week to work on that.

I haven't checked in on the Presidential contest for awhile.  I suspect the final answer will be all over the news/internet when the decisions are finally made.  Legal actions take time.  I hope they lean toward TRUMP, so I don't see a lot of "truth" in the liberal media anyway.

There's not much I can do about the larger situations we face.  I am busy trying to survive my own life challenges.  GOD didn't provide for me... so it hasn't been my job to make things happen.  I hope "someone" is standing for GOD in our world.

Until next time,

May our GOD protect us from the attacks of our enemy, the evil one, who uses others to accomplish his goals... which are never good, and always against GOD.

May He help us to join together and begin to protect each other in our communities.  There is enough work to be done everywhere we live and work and pray for GOD's help.

May we live long enough to make sure the future is a prepped as it can be for those we love and who come after us and them... should it take that long for the Antichrist to get here.

In Christ...

Deborah Martin

http://work2gather.us

and more...

Thursday Update - 18 JUNE 2020

Wow!  I posted on social media about FATHERS DAY last Sunday, thinking I had missed it... and finally realized it is on the 21st... this next Sunday.  Ooops! 

I posted how I had forgotten it as a special day, noting that I have never really had a father, except GOD... If I can, I will try to find the link.

I tried to find a link address to share... found the post. No copy link option so I copied and pasted the text section... I was surprised by the NAME part !!

This shares the text.
I also added my "Servants" writing for the graphic.

Deborah Martin

@work2gather

·

Jun 14

I missed Father's Day. Must be because I never had a real father. GOD has been the consistency in my life, the Guide through all things hard, the One who showed me the best I could ever be. Those without fathers should find Him in the Bible. It changes everything.


Then I found this...
https://twitter.com/work2gather/status/1272408177305202689

This was the web address at the actual post.  It should be a direct link to the post.  If not, I will keep looking for how to do this.

FATHERS are so important to the growing up process... nothing can really replace them, or mothers.  GOD made the family to be that way... the nature's of the male and the female blend in different ways to make the whole of the family a special unit.

I have often said that the arguments of the gay family being just as "normal" as the nuclear family designed by GOD are not true.  It's impossible.  No matter how great a DNA MALE may look in trying to be a female, he will never possess the genetic and personality traits of a true female... he will remain a biological male with the appearance of a female.

The same is true for lesbians and women who try to "become" male.  It is a masquerade. 

Broken families create their own set of problems... messing up the people inside them.  It is a generational destruction of all that GOD wanted us to be.  It is also prophesied as part of the End Times... part of the demise of our existence.

Nothing is going to save us.  It is just a matter of time. 
What GOD says will happen, always does happen. 

Christians are like everyone in the world that is human... we want to find happiness, meaning, success in work and life, families, friends, and fellowship.  We want to find these things in a different space than the rest of the world.  We are looking for what GOD teaches is the best for the human being.  That is why all the study about GOD in the Bible and in our lives matters to us.


I don't really understand all the hatred of GOD except that it is associated with the battle between Satan and GOD... for our souls, for eternity, for revenge, for that big thing we call personal "success" and goals.  We are the victims in this battle between GOD and Satan.  

==========

I have been working on my budget some more... I need to go shopping for food again.  I keep trying to find a way to spend less and save more, buy the things on my lists, and grow my income.  

I was looking at my CHRISTMAS budget tonight.  I am trying to save $10 each month for Christmas spending.  My list of giving needs $300 minimum.  I need to work on ways to gift without spending cash.  Shipping costs could take up all my savings for the holidays.  Such a pain.  I will also be trying to save more cash, but my minimum goal is the small $10/month.

I didn't get a stimulus payment but I am looking for the ways I can figure out what happened to it and why, and go from there.  I may let you know what I find out in a future blog post.

My CONTENT PLANNING activities are getting figured out.  I haven't found the best way to chart all the details yet, but I am figuring it out as I try to make my draft forms work.  Maybe I will share the final version as an email list freebie.  :-)  Still working on that, too.

My OFFICE 365 problems are partially resolved.  I was able to connect to the website and do the "download" thing, finally.  I haven't worked out the new file issues yet.

In my planning efforts I am moving into the spaces where income might become a reality... art... jewelry... and related products.  They will ship the easiest.  I might be able to send them off from my home mailbox... or get them picked up by the USPS (online registration).  If I can get my label printing figured out, that will all become easier.

What else am I working on?

• More posting at other sites (Patreon tiers and blogs)
• FOOD options for emergency foods.
• Ongoing efforts to improve my recordkeeping.
• Looking for GOD to answer my constant prayers.
• Wondering how long I will live since I am planning so much.  haha
• Freebies to offer email list subscribers.
• Freebies for my PATREON supporters.
• Posting designs for now, the election, marketing...
• Products to sell for income and sharing my messages.
• Surviving.

There is always something to work on, but I also try to rest when I need to... and have started trying to do some yardwork for my blackberry patches.  (My potato is still alive... that is good!)

I hope your life is going well, that GOD is leading you into His Plan for your future, and you will be prepared for any unknown disaster we might face as individuals, families, communities, nations, or as the planet earth.

Until next time,

In Christ,

Deborah Martin

work2gather.us

and more...

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...

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

9APR Update - Continuing the #2020Challenge

Monday seems so far away... the days are full, so many little things.  Today is another busy full day, and I am tired.  :-)

I went shopping again later in the day today... some toilet paper was available, but I decided to wait and look for "my brand."  I got most of the other things I needed... except...   I guess I got enough for the current need.  

I do hope there are no people who are suffering in a serious way.  

I use to have to get food at community meal spaces.  And food boxes from those who offered them.  As time went on, the organizations got together to avoid the "scams" of those days.  I am not sure what goes on these days... and I hope I don't have to find out.  I was young then, and my situation is very different now.  I support food organizations as much as I can because I understand the need.

My 2020Challenge is slowly becoming a better plan.  I didn't know there would be so much to learn.  That is the way things go... we think it's easy, just a simple action, and the best results will be ours.  :-)  That's how life seems to catch us and take us forward... I hope it will be forward!!

The time it takes for everything is really a big learning experience.  The "list" becomes more and more important.  You have to "weed out" the things that really cannot get done.  Each day is a new list and a new priority.

It would be easier with more money, but this is the place I am at, so I have to deal with it.  We can only "start where we are" and keep moving.

I made a chart for the year way back in January... to keep track of the new activity and see how the progress went.  So far, it's a blanket of zeros.  That could be depressing, but I see GOD's Hand in what seems like failure... that is why I keep going.  GOD is doing something, I just don't know what it is... or who is involved.

This next week I am heading into more designs and more listings... the added listings are opportunities for income.  The budget this month is crashed unless I get one of those payments from the government for retired people on Social Security.  Depending on how much that is, I may be able to do more than I currently am able to do.  I don't want to plan any funding, but if I have it in hand I will then work on how to best spend it.  (I have lots of lists to choose from.  :-)

If I can, I also plan to update my Working Together website  (work2gather.us) -- it needs links to all its blogs and social media.  I am also working on how to make PDF links for the information and applications that are associated with each program.  Income is so important for the WT Plan that I am again organizing a list of income options for each program.  Then I will have to decide, again, which one to work on first... and that also depends on finances.

Where to put a link for building an Email List has been part of my decision process for some time.  As I update the WT website I will try to find the best solution for that.

I am currently trying to learn the new process for making ADOBE PDFs to make the links for WT and other projects I'm working on.  If I get a stimulus payment, I may go ahead and use it for the ADOBE subscription and see what I am able to do with it.

I am also thinking I will sign up for the Microsoft Office 365... which is less expensive... with my current budget.   I have been working on the options this past week... finding out where I am in my budget and finances and what I can "squeeze" out of it to pay for the subscription.  :-)   [think :: my piggy bank graphic]

I figure we can only budget the money we have...  I guess that is why I keep waiting for GOD to bless... and wondering why He hasn't.

That reminds me... I discovered a typo in my digital listing for my writing called SERVANTS, so I am doing that over and will relist it, and other things, as I learn the ADOBE PDF process.  I will go ahead and share the text here... because I love it, and because I want you to see it, and because it is a good reminder of where we stand in the process of life with GOD.  When I get it formatted, it will look a lot better and be ready to frame and display on your walls.  I may try to offer pre-framed options for gifting... again, that depends on money.

All these better options were (are) planned for growth activities when I got going.... I am still at the beginning.


Each moment, each day,
the mysteries of God unfold.
They surface in the innocent words
and complex actions
of those who share our lives…

Through our families, our friends,
through strangers and His tender
manipulations of our circumstances,
God speaks to us –
if we are willing to listen.

By the same methods
He uses us to reach out
to a lost, hurting world,
and to fellow saints –
when we are willing to be channels
of His mercy and grace.

In all things it is our choice…
to listen, to obey, to be devoted to,
and used by our Lord.

When we live in constant awareness
of the promptings of the Holy Spirit,
Life becomes an adventure
of enormous proportion,
and we become servants
of the One true God.


SERVANTS
by Deborah Martin
work2gather.us


I hope you like it, too.  I never get tired of reading it... even after all these years.


In Christ,
Deborah Martin
work2gather.us
and more.  :-)

12MAR - Marketing to find ONE MILLION supporters!

I actually spent $10 to buy a marketing ebook I saw on Etsy … yesterday, I think.  Time is so crowded I have a hard time remembering what I did on what day without my notes!  After downloading it and browsing the Table of Contents, I decided to see the Appendix topics, starting with building email lists.

That is one of my current challenges... how to do it, where to share the links to have people sign up, etc.  In reading some of the instructions, I realized I might just need my MailChimp (.com) account to do the "landing pages" I have read about elsewhere... big help!  I was trying to figure out how to make one! Soon I will head over to MailChimp and see what I can find.

The big problem was there was no publication date, and the shop was pretty deserted since 2018 or 2019, and the blog link had a top year of 2012!!!   So I left a message at the Etsy shop and will wait to hear back.  Knowing when something is written helps you to interpret the writing... if it is still useable.

ONE section shared the definition of "vulnerable" -- and that was very moving to me.  I would never have looked up the word myself, so finding this section was worth the book to me.  Her definition came by way of  dictionary.com (I search words now but I think it is still available).  Here are the three parts of the definition she shared ::

-- capable of or susceptible to being wounded or hurt, as by a weapon
-- open to moral attack, criticism, temptation, etc.
-- (of a place) open to assault; difficult to defend

It meant so much to me because of Working Together, the business-ministry I have tried to build for Christians in the End Times.  It meant so much to me because of all I have endured for some years.  It meant so much to me because our world is becoming more angry, more violent, more criminal, more unfeeling, more focused on "me" and money and whatever it takes to get "mine."  Some of the news stories I have been reading make me cringe...I can't imagine some of the things people are doing to each other, innocent kids, elderly people, people with disabilities, and more.

Right now I can't recall what she compared it to, but it may have been how vulnerable we are when we try to market our dreams to the world.   This section was on page 100, according to my notes.  The book is called "Marketing Playbook" and it is written by Lisa Jacobs.  --  It looks like it was published in 2017, found on a page when I was looking for her Etsy shop name.  :-)  I think you should be able to find her shop by searching her name at Etsy.

I still need to read the main chapters, but my mind is find ideas on how to reach that many people over this year.  It is such a huge idea, but I know others seem to do it.  I may not be worth all that attention, but I will still see what I can do.  I will try to read more over the weekend and find some ideas that will work for me.

I almost bought another older book about reaching people for support, but I need to read this one first... time is so full I hardly find time to read at all... well, important things, I guess.

I am finding the need for DESIGN software is becoming more critical.  It takes time to learn any program.  I worked in MAC when I first started using computers, at a college I went to. Then Microsoft took over my activities with creating things.  I have spent a long time now learning Open Office, mostly the spreadsheet option.  I think learning ADOBE may be the next step.  It seems to be necessary for all, or almost all, of my designing goals.  The "vector" image I have learned about recently is the one I have been needing for so many years... I think, I hope, I need to find out!  I will need to make a decision about that soon.

I made a design at Printful on a 6-12 month onesie to see what I could do for the baby clothes goals I am working on.  It is due to arrive tomorrow.  Here is the mockup of the design I made.  I hope it turns out the way I created it.

That's the best image I have so far. try to click on it to see if it gets larger for you.  I can't do that here.

I am trying to use the PRINTFUL design option and find a way to make it work for me better.  So far, text is the easiest tool to use, but it has great limitations. I tried one of their clip-art hearts here.

I want to find a way to create ONE design that can be placed on lots of different products.... it seems that vector images is that path.

In other moments I have continued my efforts to organize my notebooks and recordkeeping.  I am getting that done.  It's my effort to have my goals for review each day, my records of what I have to do and what I get done, my costs, my budget and how well I keep to it (or not)  --  I guess these are part of the whole year's learning curve.

My new Patreon tiers have helped me to find the place to put my goals... big goals and small goals.  I hope to achieve these and move into more of the things I have tried to accomplish all my life.  If  GOD  allows, I hope to reach a point where my "Bucket List" items are also checked off, maybe shared with my Patrons, and others.

Well, my head is full of things I am want to do and don't want to share with you yet. Pray for me. Help me to become who GOD made me to be.  Be a part of my efforts to save as many vulnerable people as possible.

In Christ,
Deborah Martin

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

and more
getting updated every week
hoping to catch up with this BIG Challenge  :-)

27 OCT 2019 - How GOD moves in our world

I finally decided to do this Bible Verse post at my personal blog... and will share the link later.  It has been four days since I found these verses, and I have been thinking about them and what they represent during that time.  I may post one of the verses with the link, but I am not sure yet.

I opened my Bible on Thursday to a page in Haggai...Chapter 1:10-11 was going tobe my daily posting challenge.

"Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.

"And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands."

I was impacted by this because of my interest in the End Times and how GOD judges the world in His efforts to reach it, to turn their hearts to Him and change their eternal destiny.  It is a very big topic, and there are so many verses to quote, I couldn't even share them in one post anywhere.

I also noticed Chapter 2:6-7

"For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;

"And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come : and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts."

And Chapter 2:9

"The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts : and in this place will I give peace."

I don't remember my impressions when I first read this section, but it seems to be about the next world... about the end of time as we know it... about the judgements of GOD.

Then I noticed across the page, in the book of Zephaniah (1:14-18) about the final judgments of GOD on earth and man.

"The great day of the LORD is near... the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.

"That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thich darkness,

"A day of the trumpet and alarm...

"And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD : and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.

"Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy : for he shall make a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land."

It's a scary thought, especially when the same message is repeated in so many places, and I understand they were shared many years apart.

GOD can bless or GOD can judge. It is something we have to understand and realize that we are not the ones in charge.  Ultimately, even though He has given us FREE WILL, He has the power to change things.

Drought is one of His tools, earthquakes can be one of his tools, floods can be a tool but not a global wrath, pestilence is listed as a means of judgment.  We like to say one of GOD's "lightning bolts" hit when we think GOD has judged someone we consider evil and deserving it.  I often wonder how GOD views my sins, my need for judgment, and how much His forgiveness takes away (an how much it doesn't - in consequences).

It took so many years of prayer and seeking and thought to find a place of peace about my own sins and forgiveness, to understand how GOD works in this world and our lives.  I am still learning, but I understand a lot more than when I first started looking for answers as a teen.  (I am now in retirement, past 65.) Now I search for answers about the End Times and the days of GOD's wrath in prophecy.

In my plans for Working Together, I knew that GOD had the ability to bless  one field over another, and food is such an important part of our survival.  Creating a separate community from our current world of urban conflicts seemed wise.  When I happened on the Haggai chapter as I randomly opened my Bible, I was struck by the difficult prophecies I know about, with famine and worse.  In times like that, we have no other resource by GOD... no human has the power to change our circumstances like this. We have one story of GOD providing overnight for one of His prophets, so there is a possibility of individual provisions whenever that happens, but I am not sure we can depend on that.

Who will be left on the earth when these things happen?  I don't know.  Right now, I am trying to recover my studies of the Bible and review all the foundations of my own decisions about End Time issues... because the battles have been hard in my own life. 

Whatever time I have left, I will continue to search for more answers, and to find some way to share them for the future.  I am not a scholar, just a regular Christian looking for answers.  We all have to find our answers.  We will all stand before GOD alone.

I a still trying to work through these passages.  I haven't spent a lot of time in my Bible for some time, so visiting these parts again is hard on my emotions.  I hate to see, think about, or know of suffering I cannot change, help, or eliminate.  Some things belong to GOD alone.  I pray when I can't act, and hope for His mercy on the innocent, and His provision for the suffering.

Christians will need to separate and gather to protect each other at some point.  I hope that time will be soon, all over the world.

Amen.