FAITH :: Remembering the past and changing the future.

Hello, everyone... it's about 12:30 am now... I just finished watching the very old version (1936) of SHOW BOAT... in two parts.  Today was a YouTube and search result movie day. I'm not sure how I ended up with the old version.  I really LOVE the 1951 movie version of the song OLD MAN RIVER and tried to find a way to listen to it.  Now I have it saved at my YouTube space so I can listen any time I want. 

Old movies really are different from what is made today.  I suppose they were considered too revealing in their time... but it's a big change to watch singing and dancing and stories and then today's idea of "progress" is to watch people having sex, swearing, hurting each other, and more.

This week I watched a replay of a talk about MORALITY. It is a forgotten concept in our time.  We don't fully understand what this means to our society, our laws, our relationships.  I see it online, but if you don't have moral boundaries, what do you base your decisions on?  Right.  Nothing... "Just Do It"... If it feels good, it must be good... and other phrases like these.

I remember when I was a teen in the 1960's - during the "sexual revolution" and Woodstock and bra burning... and women's lib. We don't see the consequence of these changes until it's too late.

I have had the thought that "reality shows" are just the newest version of breaking down the values that protect us.  I don't watch them... don't want to.  I remember checking on some shows a long while back and thinking it's just a way to "watch" people, push them into bad places, and see how far they will go.  

In watching the old version of Show Boat there was a scene with "black face" and I wondered if there would be an uprising to rid the world of this old movie... like taking down historical statues because you disagree with the times that they represented.  

Our world is really in trouble... we can't respect our history.  It is important to remember what the past was like so you can make a better future.  

I didn't like my past, but I can't change what it was. I can change the parts I didn't like, make new decisions, learn how to do things I didn't know about back then, and work toward better results. 

This is the essence of Christ's forgiveness. It doesn't erase the past, it helps you to overcome the habits and choices you had so you can build a new future.  I think I have shared before my idea that Christ erases our criminal record, but the results of our sin and bad choices don't go away, we still have to deal with them.

How to keep from making bad choices... in a world with little ability to engage with it and not have it forced on you somehow.  I might watch a G-rated movie but the ads that go with it are more like porn.  It's something I am trying to find answers for these days.

Right now, I am torn between wanting to buy copies of all these old movies I love, that aren't explicit, rated R, filled with things I don't want to see or hear, and realizing I won't be here much longer so I guess just watching replays is enough.  

I think I will be happy just to be able to listen to OLD MAN RIVER when I want to.

How do we survive with our morals intact in this time in history?  What do you do to be at peace with GOD in the midst of things you cannot control?

Let me know.

In Christ,

Deborah Martin

work2gather.us

and more...

PS... I updated the website a bit, on the homepage.  I am getting it ready for the DECEMBER Membership Drive... the Membership info and links will be done by December, GOD willing.  :-)   Who knows WHAT the rest of the year will hold!

Moving Forward - Challenge Update - 5 MARCH

The week seems like a month! but I am moving forward in things.

I am in the process of remaking my Patreon page, but I am keeping the CHALLENGE the same.  In all my searching for how to do this, I am learning a lot of things to try, and some are very good.

The biggest issue to me is finding enough funding to purchase all the equipment and supplies I have needed for year... my whole life, it seems like... and to be able to access the help I need for each project.  Deciding how much I need is always the problem.  I have researched prices for years and years and years. I have an idea of how much I need, but not an exact number, or the information on exactly what equipment and supplies I want to buy.  From my view, what I buy depends on how much money I have.

In reading some things recently, the link between THANK YOU benefits and projects seems to be very important and the special part of a financial relationship with those who choose to help.  I was thinking of general areas of creativity (like ART, JEWELRY, RECYCLING) that I want to develop.  Now I am thinking in terms of individual projects (Silk-Screen prints, silver and gold, melting plastic into useable products).

I really like the ability to limit participation from my end.  I can only make so many art prints by hand, make so many metal castings, experiment without space to do it in.  The only tier that really has flex in it is the CHALLENGE tier, which is why this year means so much to my whole life, past and future.  I really hope and pray that you and GOD will make it into a pivot point for everything.

Jewelry seems to be the most difficult area of my goals to estimate.  What I want to do and what I can do with my current budget are very different things.  They always have been.  Hence, lots of problems reaching a profitable life.

I knew I wanted to use the individual project format, but couldn't find the right way to do this.  Now I think I am going in the right direction.  I have notes and I am still working on the exact projects to do, looking for the costs to share, and planning how to share it with my PATREON audience.  It is very exciting for me to reach this point.  I am not yet at the S.M.A.R.T. space for making my goals, but getting there.  :-)     -----  SMART goals have time limits... I don't have those yet.

I will begin changing my Patreon page as soon as I find the right details to share.  It will most likely be a slow change, but I am not sure... I tend to be a marathon person with things like this, once I get going, I never want to stop until it is done.

Keep checking for the new tiers, and all that is related to changing them.

I am making a lot of samples at PRINTFUL so I can see the actual products before I invest my time and money promoting them.  I made the design above just to try out one of the poster choices.  Change is hard.  We all struggle with it. Finding my path to the future has always been a difficult walk.  I don't know why it had to be so hard, but it did create in me a vision of what needs to be done.  I am hoping GOD will provide the finances to finally start getting things done.

Pray with me for that blessing.

Thanks.

In Christ,

Deborah Martin

work2gather.us

patreon.com/DebsRetirementPlan

#My2020PatreonChallenge

Wednesday, 28 November 2018

I was up until 3am this morning working on my website ideas.  It takes me a long time because I am not an official website creator and I want to use html right now.  So I have to try a code and see what it does, change the way I put the codes and then see what it does.  I wanted a website in the early 2000's so I had to learn the basics on my own.  I have to re-learn it all now!  It has been so long !!  :-)

I am not sure what the first of January will bring for my site, but I am working on some way to give each program its own space (webpages) and figuring out how to create the income sources for each program.

In making my links to my new 2019 pages, I realized how neglected all my blogs and other pages are.  I will have to find a way to get then updated and ongoing, too.

Just me... this is a challenge!  If only I would have won that big lottery prize !!  :-)

Today has been rain, rain, and more rain... but I went out and swept some leaves and raked some leaves to keep from sitting at a computer all day and night.  The marathon last night/this morning was a bit much.  Tonight I will try to get my stuff done and then get to sleep for at least a little while.

I am thinking about GOD still... about how He contains His power, His anger, His judgments.  I think it is amazing.  Human beings seem to thrive on their anger and payback... controlling everything that opposes them.  I don't know what I would be like if I had that much power, but I hope I would be able to understand the nature of people and be merciful.

I am thinking about GOD's ability to change our lives in a moment.

I haven't decided if Satan changes it to hurt us, via the world around us, and people he controls.

I guess I was thinking more about lottery kind of wins that change our lives.

When I went through the trials of my life, I also discovered the way life can change in a moment... basically, in the twinkle of an eye.  Accidents, mistakes, tragedies, life and death, things that you don't plan and have to find a way through.

These things change our lives.

I suppose they could have destroyed me as a person if I didn't have my faith, didn't know about GOD, didn't see that the future will bring answers I might not know now.  I think some call it bitterness.  It makes life just one big anger episode.  GOD helps us to find a way through all that.

GOD raised me for Working Together, for the different path it will take the Church.  I feel that He will provide for it, but maybe not in my lifetime.  I don't know.  If GOD raised me to be this way, He is raising others to be this way, too.

I am fighting impatience.  I am fighting the feelings that the end of each year brings to goals and dreams and plans.  I am fighting the deadline for my DECEMBER MEMBERSHIP DRIVE !!!   :-)  I suppose someone somewhere has a name for this normal process in life... probably a terrible sounding psychological trauma... and addicting meds the only cure.  YUK!

I guess I will go for now.  I just turned on the computer a bit ago, checked my emails, and now will share this post.  I have to work on my priority list for tonight.

Pray for me!  :-)

Until next time,
In Christ,

Deborah Martin

work2gather.us
Working Together Inc
Building for the End Times

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May GOD be kind to me and the rest of the Christian world.
May we find a way to gather our power and solve our differences.
May life become better than it is.
May GOD find us "working together" to provide for the future.
Amen.

Thursday, 19 April 2018

My goodness... 

I decided to download Open Office for my workload... I just don't want to pay for OFFICE 365 right now... I hate the idea of the cloud, but I really don't even know if Open Office does the same thing... I hope not.  I have to find a way to do computing the old way and still be able to function in today's internet.  Is that possible?  I don't know.

I'm getting use to my new computer system... trying to find my CD for the printer I have.  It is a challenge to fit everything into this space.

My food supplies seem to be OK for now, I'm using soft (bottled) hand soap for shampoo because I wasn't able to buy my regular shampoo.  I did buy a huge substitute bottle, but I am going to give that to a mission when I can reach one of the downtown locations.  It is just not my "flavor"...  My laundry is done... It is going to be warm soon.  I may get to wear some shorts without "leggings" to keep me warm.  :-)  I think I am set for the weekend.

I downloaded a PDF on writing from COMPEL, via an email I get from them.  One of my sons in jail has been saying he wants to write things, so I will copy it and send it to him.  It seems like writing is a relatively easy thing to do, but it isn't.  I think this will help him decide if writing is really what he wants to focus on.  People in jail are desperate to succeed, and grasp at anything that might work.  I know that feeling... poverty, homelessness, etc., can create the same feelings.  Finding something that will work is harder, but better in the long-term.

I have so many economic issues myself that it is hard to help anyone else.  I try to forward info when I can... on social media as well.

I received an email on selling things online that had a link to video/s, too... so I watched some of them.  I think the best option for me is to find a good "drop-ship" product for some of my selling efforts... where to put it, I don't know.  The videos I am watching today are a series on AMAZON selling.  They had several web links, YouTube links, etc.... the main one is ASM, amazingsellingmachine.com --- I think.  :-)  I need help with my listing creations, and I think this kind of information helps at any selling site even though it is specific with Amazon.  I got some great hints.  And I found out the photo dimensions I need for that website.  Their fulfillment option is a lot like drop-shipping, but a bit different, and a little more costly (a problem for me).

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I had to go do something, did you miss me?  :-)
It is kind of funny how you can start writing with one train of thought and then just go off in another direction... when you come back to the keyboard! 

I am trying to get better at making links with my posts... so readers can go check out the things I am discovering.

It is almost midnight again... I get carried away with the online tasks and lose track of time.  This new computer is really a challenge to discover.  I had to search for the screensaver, and then I wasn't able to put in the words I wanted to have on it.  A big disappointment.  I have my  logo/mission statement on my old computer... it wasn't a problem there.  (One God, One Bible, One Christ, One Salvation, One Body)  I decide to have "Change the Future!" on this one... that fit.  I think this unit allows 20 characters... and the display choices were a pain.

I wonder what brand new ones allow you to do.

This weekend should be fun... getting my routines back to as normal as they can be.  I have a lot to catch up with.  I can't wait to get my new (used) food documentaries... I haven't even seen the GMO one.

Well, better go for now.

Until next time,
In Christ,

Deborah Martin
work2gather.us

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May GOD bless our lives, our country, our world, with the greatness that comes with truth, mercy, love, kindness, goodness, and joy.  If only we all could be the people that GOD meant us to be... and "work together" to help each other.

It may seem selfish, but I continue to pray that GOD will provide the finances I so desperately need to make Working Together established before I die.  There is so much I wanted to do... and there's so little time left.  May GOD have mercy on my dreams for helping as many as I can.

Amen.

Saturday, 24 February 2018

It is past sundown... the official Sabbath is over.
I am not sure I do the Sabbath "right" - like the Jews -
but, I do it the best I can.

My desire for the Sabbath and Working Together is to make our community food space into a fellowship space for the biblical Sabbath... with a pot-luck like eating option.  That would be a great way to get out of the house and away from housework and into an activity that is good for all of us... sharing time together and having fun.  Whoever wants to come can come.  No pressure, just the option being available.

I suppose there will be a lot of details to figure out, but it's the best I could do... trying to make the Sabbath a day of rest and fellowship.

Changing to a Saturday Sabbath, like the Jews, is difficult.  It puts you in-between the traditions of Christians and the traditions of Jews... the biblical version of the Sabbath.  It was hard to change from being a Catholic to being a biblical Christian, too.  It takes years to change fully.

Today was a day of "what should I do...." activities.  I ended up on my tablets, listened to the audio Bible I have on my tablet (Revelation... about six times while doing other things)  I would hear familiar passages and remember them... sometimes I sat down to listen again to them.  The core passages I talk about in my booklet - What If There Is NO Rapture? - and want to revisit and expand my thoughts about the topic and biblical references. 

I have had some trouble with my Bible time for some years now, so listening is at least a little help. My concern is the ability of techie people to alter our resources without our knowing, and destroying the Truth of GOD.  I know I have heard programs on the Christian radio station with errors that seem impossible for the person speaking... so, I just try to seek GOD about it.  We know Satan hates the WORD... we have to expect these things in a tech age, but I also don't know how we can deal with them... especially poor people like me... especially non-technical people... especially when the internet can be hacked from anywhere in the world.  The internet and terrorism are ushering in a global government, and there isn't going to be a way to stop it.

What would someone like John the Baptist, all alone (as a preacher) in the desert, do to remedy the attacks of his time... well, I don't know.  We can't ignore the implications, but we all don't have the capacity to fix these major issues.  Even the government/military is struggling with internet hackers and the damage they do.  I hoped to have found the people GOD wanted to protect us by now... but I wasn't able to.  If the world depended on me, that would not be good.  I depend on GOD.  I expect He would provide for these things if He could.

This is why I am always debating about the effects of "free will" and predestination.  So many ways of looking at these giant spiritual issues.

Now... I guess I will try to do some crafting. 

Until next time,
In Christ,

Deborah Martin
work2gather.us

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May GOD provide for His people, those who love Him, those who seek to serve Him.
May our country find its way back to GOD.
May our churches find their way back to the Body of Christ.
May our families be protected from the assaults of Satan and his emissaries.
May our lives be true to His Word... and to each other... and to the salvation of the lost.
Amen.

Billy Graham has died

I have been wondering when this day would come.  We all will die, but some of us impact more people than others.  GOD chose to use him in a long and winding way through more than one generation.

I have felt it would be a turning point for the church when Billy Graham finally left us.  We have preachers, but no one has come up that is like him.  Since we are in the final days of our existence as the Christian community, it is significant.  I have wondered if GOD created Working Together as the next step in our walk toward Heaven.  I don't know, but our times are very different than any time in the past.  We are heading toward the Mark of the Beast... that will mean survival on a day-to-day basis and increased persecution will reign in our world.  Evangelism will look different... the needs of the church will be different... we will be different.

I have been deeply impacted by Billy Graham in my life, too.  When you search for answers about GOD and the Bible, you can't avoid getting to know Billy Graham.  He kind of stands in-between all the denominations we have created.  Maybe that is why GOD chose him.  When you are not raised in the church, your faith is different than what you find in them.

It scares me to think of what lies ahead for us as Christians.  Billy Graham leaving us is like the turning point I see in 9/11... America and GOD are becoming more distant... GOD is no longer responsible to protect us as a nation.

Pray that we, as a nation, are able to discover GOD's next steps for us, and for our world... to protect the ones we love and want to find in heaven one day.

Tuesday, 6 February 2018

It is already noon, and I am finally sitting down to update my blog!  Time... it just flies away!

I will admit I went upstairs to rest and check what was on the TV... I decided to watch "A Matter of Faith" -- which is about the ongoing battles between secular Evolution and biblical Creation... and how our Christian youth enter a world they don't always understand at a secular university.  I didn't like the trailer for the movie so I wasn't planning to watch it.  I decided I better check it out, at least watch the start of it, and then decided to watch the whole thing.

Yesterday I rested and watched GIFTED on Netflix.  That was a different kind of movie, but it was something to think about.  It's always hard for poor people to understand why rich people even have problems... so, this movie kind of shared what happens in rich families.  It made me cry.  One part I really noted is how the State can take your life away, your kids away, your world away, any time they want to, and there's little you can do about it.  It was a movie about a family's tragic loss of family ties.

After I returned to my room later last night, I wanted to finish some of the other films on my list, so I put on ROKU's PBS option and chose "(A/The) Fish on my Plate" - which was really a strange documentary, but had some great details in it.  I forget what year it was made, but the "wild caught" preference was in it.  I keep remembering my view on ocean foods from a place that is filled with nuclear radiation, medical waste, sewage from so many sources, plastics killing innocent creatures, and whatever else I can't remember right now... like chemicals and pollution.  It made me want to build a farm even more.

My life with documentaries seems to be going into the emotional dungeon.
It is depressing to discover the truth, it is more than a challenge to try to find a way to live through it, find a better path, and make a better path to the future.

I think I will end for now... and come back when my mood is better.

In Christ,
Deborah Martin

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May GOD win the battles with those who prefer their sins to the goodness GOD teaches.
May I be back here soon, with a rested body and a better attitude.
May the world survive.
Amen.

Monday, 6 November 2017

My goodness... what a weekend.

Just a bit ago I started reading about Patreon as a funding source.  I get email newsletters from someone that has a Patreon account and is building up to $1000/month income for her goals.  I followed the link she has at the bottom of her email to see what her page was like.  Then I linked to some of the Patreon information to find out how it is done.  The examples ranged from over 35K a month and I think one was over 85K a month (for someone with over 5 million YouTube followers.  I am amazed.

I have occasionally seen some Tiny Home traveling videos with Patreon supporters... but never really checked on it until now.  This is a long-term and serious form of support... without a lot of the hassles of crowdfunding... the ones I have discovered so far.  These seem to be online delivery efforts, too... podcasts, videos, animations, etc.  I am assuming there are artists in there somewhere.  I am wondering if it would be an option for me.

If you know anything about Patreon firsthand, share it with me in the comments.  I haven't decided what funding route to go in yet, so this will take a bit of time.  Again, there is a video requirement... so that is a problem with me so far.  I am working on it, and plan to learn the other forms of sharing listed above, but it is a bit in the future still.

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I heard more on tax reforms (proposed tax reforms) in the news today.  I got angry again about the topic.  It really irritates me that the government thinks our money is really their money. 

I remember now, it was a report on leaked off-shore account holders, which included the Queen of England and Madonna, but the liberal democrat-focused media only wanted to fry someone in the Republican trenches that had the vaguest association with a Russian business through a fund of some kind... I think it was a mutual fund that has stocks in multiple companies, but it wasn't really clear.

Our nation is nearly on life-support and the media only cares about the Democratic agenda.

It was the commentary about lost taxes that created my comment on the government above.  They think any money made by any American is rightfully theirs, income they deserve to have just because a corporation or wealthy individual possesses it.  When there is talk about tax reform, the Democrats talk in terms of lost taxes, loopholes they would also take advantage of but only highlighted because there are Republicans involved.  Taxes are too HIGH, they are unreasonable, they need to be reduced to a level that would be fair for everyone... including the wealthy, who have EARNED their money the same way others can (if it has been done honestly). 

Every day I grow more and more adamant that the maximum tax the government should have of anyone's money is ten percent, which needs to be divided to cover all our tax categories... federal at 3%, state at 3%, county at 3%, and international at 1%.  Sales taxes are the only tax we need, and it will cover everyone at the same level... the poor will pay less, the rich will pay more.  If we get rid of income and property taxes, estate taxes, and all the other taxes that have been created to build up the government budgets, we will also have less labor costs for government employees, less overhead for government offices, etc.  The government will have to budget, change their high salaries into minimum wage earnings, have everyone on the same government medical plan, open social security to the general public, create revolving loan funds instead of loan guarantees, become part of the process so they don't make ridiculous regulations that can't be enforced, implemented, or productive.... and the changes go on and on and on.

We have to change this system if we want to survive and thrive, be great again...be America.

I guess that had to be said.  It does so little good.

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Every death is a tragedy, someone loses the rest of their lives, people lose the ones they love... and big media tragedies are manipulated into political causes.  I have, so far, cried every time I see the news about the church shooting from Sunday.  It has been turned into gun-control and domestic violence, religious persecution, and/or mental health funding...another "worst" for America... added to the international carnage that we keep seeing.

People are suffering all over the world.

Why are they killing themselves, killing others, filled with anger and hate, demanding that the world believe their form of truth "or else"... and innocent people are the victims.  We thing money will solve every problem... raise taxes so we can offer more funding... but it never seems to work out that way.  The problems get worse, and no amount of money would be enough.

Our lives have no foundation to stand on...no moral compass, as they say.  Getting rid of God leaves a vacuum just like getting rid of a brutal dictator leaves a political vacuum that can be filled with someone much worse.  The absence of God means the increase of Satan.  I can't find one good thing about Satan in the Bible, or his followers.  Why do people want him in charge?  I sure don't know.

One family lost so many of its people...children, mothers, fathers, unborn babies... the father was left and two daughters were left.  Losing so much of their close-knit group will change their lives forever.  Will the media be there to discover the results in 10 years, or maybe we will have to relive this moment every year. 

I still want to cry.  I can't even imagine the pain that is being processed as we continue with our lives.

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Life is like a river...no matter what happens, it just keeps going.

I wonder what tomorrow will hold for the rest of us.

In Christ,
Deborah Martin

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May God touch the hearts and lives of those who are hurting tonight, not just in a small town after a mass shooting, but in every place they live... big cities, small cities, homeless, in mansions, with jobs, without jobs, lonely or with tons of people around them.  May God comfort them with blessings that can only be from Him... and the awareness of His Love for them.  May we all remember that hard times are part of every life and they go away, we just have to hang on, trust God, and keep going.

May time heal the scars we carry from the tragedies we have faced.
May joy find its way into our hardened hearts and busy lives.
May we find a way to cope with all the misery we discover every day.
May our hearts be able to stand the strain, and stay warm, be able to keep loving, not see fear at every turn.
May we share what we can with those who have less than we do.
May we seek to find better answers for the things we can change... and try them.
May our priorities be humanity, life, sharing, giving, loving, lifting others up, being real, truth, compassion, time....
Help us to all find a new purpose in our life that helps the world become a better place.
Amen.

Thursday, 2 November 2017

I would like to ramble on about the tax issues in America, and the problems with both the, all the parties, but I won't... not today, anyway.

There was a lot of concern over the change in the leadership of the Federal Reserve today.  I keep wondering who profits with this low interest.  I keep trying to understand how inflation has a bearing on the level of interest the FR decides on.  I keep wondering how we are going to find a way out of this money pit we have dug for ourselves.

Yes, I am part of the problem, but not because I want to be.  Welfare, food stamps, Medicaid, now Medicare affordability issues.  It wasn't the life I planned.  I kept trying to find a way out of it.  If it wasn't available, our situation would have been worse.  I keep looking for better solutions from my perspective, and people in charge of the process, in Washington (DC) and elsewhere, are looking for ways to end poverty programs.  Everyone has a part of the picture, but no one sees the whole puzzle.

That may be why puzzles are so big on my list of favorite things... relating them to the parts of an issue.  I recently bought a silicone version of a puzzle to see what I could do with it!!!

One of the speakers in one of the news reports I was listening to today said that very same thing... that each affected group will be attacking Washington legislators to defend and keep their particular special interest item.  It's always like that.  No one seems to care about the whole of America, what is right and wrong, what principles need to be encouraged, who needs help and how to get it to them, etc.

Naturally, I have my own view in that mix.

I keep wondering if I am really a special interest group of one.

Do I just want poverty programs, do I want a balance that will help as many as possible, or do I only see my needs... I don't know.

I have written about my views, given my suggestions, tried to reach that "someone" who would be able to do what I can't afford to do... in my income level you are just a victim of everyone else's decisions.

My ONE TAX proposal is an example of what I think is fair, right, necessary, important in our tax issues. 

When I saw the new proposal for tax levels, heard again the "soak the rich" argument, listened to the party arguments for and against the changes, I got angry.  This is not what our country was created to be.  The government needs money to operate, but how much is enough?!   We are all citizens of this country, we need a tax that is paid by everyone, at the level of their wealth, but fairly.  When did we decide the rich are more responsible for the survival of the country than everyone else?

I guess I did run into my tax anger anyway.

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Christmas Bazaars start in November... the first one I can get to is this weekend.  I may go.  I hate the rainy weather these days, so I avoid it when I can.  I lost my wonderful raincoat one day and haven't replaced it.  I want to check them out this year as part of my plan to sell in the future.  I am looking for one Christian venue and one community venue.

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I keep seeing these Facebook posts about people making thousands of dollars selling things... drop-shipping, I think.  I have no idea how I can find a product or products to drop-ship, but it is definitely on my list.  I am trying to pick up the process a little at a time as I go along with all the other selling options.  One of these days it will all come together and produce income for me and for WT.  Right now I just keep trying to find the way I can reach that goal.

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I didn't get as busy as I wanted to today.  :-)   I decided to re-polish my fingernails and that turned into a nightmare!  I will be getting to all those things this weekend.

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Time to get going.
Until next time,

In Christ,

Deborah Martin

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May God be kind to me... and help me to reach the goals I have been working toward.  :-)
May this weekend be filled with good things for all of us.
May our lives be better than they were.
May the mercy of God, the love of Christ, and the salvation of souls be plentiful.
May our lives be our own.
May time show us the wisdom of biblical principles.
May life be filled with goodness and joy and peace and all happiness.
May we find our purpose in this life.
May heaven be the place we meet.
May God provide what we need.
May we need only those things that are important.
May our values be true.
May we make the right choices.
Amen.

23 August 2017

Today was a busy day... and I could probably stay up for hours doing more, but it is nearly time to end this day.

I watched the grout get put on the backspash for my kitchenette... the grout changed the look of the backsplash, it makes a big difference in the effect.  It made a big mess, and still needs more cleaning up tomorrow.  I wondered how it was done, so watching the process was good for me.  Seeing how things are done takes the fear of doing them away.  Just watching it get done helped me to see ways I would do things different if I install backspash in the future.

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Somehow I ended up watching a You Tube video later in the day and wound up spending hours with art and crafting lessons on some projects I plan to do.  If I wasn't so tired, I might stay up and try them out... I think tomorrow would be better.

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Six letters mailed today... short, but part of my ongoing efforts to connect again with people in the family and old friends.  It is a challenge to go back into the past and find out what everyone is doing.  I don't seem to get any responses for my efforts, so I always wonder if my letters actually reach their intended recipient.  Writing monthly letters, via snail mail, is my plan for this year.  By the time next year gets here, I should have the details figured out. 

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Trusting God for the details about the changes we make is a bigger commitment than most people ever know. 

In my earlier years, I discovered we assume way too much!  We think the world should do what we think it should, or God should always move on our behalf because we need Him to.  When our expectation doesn't happen, and we have to deal with the consequences, we blame something other than us.  I can still remember my response to some of the unexpected struggles of my life... I assumed things were one way, and I assumed wrong.  After a few of those events, I decided I better stop assuming and start checking out the details of things that mattered, things that caused consequences that messed up our lives.

I'm too tired to remember them right now, but I remember how I had a big "aha!" moment about it.  I guess it would be like assuming we are going to heaven because we are good people, when the reality is that the Bible says you have to do specific things to get into heaven.  The only way to know for sure what GOD says is to read the Bible yourself.  After that change of mind, I didn't assume so much, I tried to check things out, to make sure my expectations were right.

We often suffer the choices of other people, becase of things that are beyond our control.  We learn real faith when we leave the details to GOD, when we wait, when we trust, when we suffer, when we wonder why.  Faith is a very hard commitment... and it has to be renewed every day.  Realizing that other people suffer because of me as well as me suffering for other people was a hard time in my growth.  It has all kinds of little side issues... like my kids, my work, my survival.

In my growing understanding of the Bible and GOD, I began to realize that we can't retaliate for the wrongs others do... or we become guilty of new sins that God has to judge.  It is very hard to let our "rights" go by, and trust that God knows how to deal with the situation.  We can see how Jesus modeled that attitude, but not how we can do it ourselves.  The justice we want for ourselves doesn't always happen in a moment, sometimes we never see it.  It's the "turning the other cheek" attitude, or the statement of Christ on the cross... to forgive them because they don't understand the enormity of what they are doing... and "they" were people who thought they were doing right, protecting their faith, obeying their god.

I discovered how hard it is to know the difference between some rights and some wrongs... and what consequences were needed.  It became the best solution to leave those details to GOD and just keep plugging along.  I had enough of my own problems to keep me busy...  I didn't need to be the guardian of the world.

So, trusting God for more and more became my choice.  It is still a learning process as each problem tests my faith and the needs I have.  The past helps me to be stronger in today, and I hope to rely on a stronger faith tomorrow.  I wish it was easy, but it's not.  Being a Christian is hard, and the best thing that happened to me.

I hope you discover all these things for yourself.

In Christ,
Deborah Martin

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May God help you find the answers to the hurts in your life... to trust in His wisdom, His power, His love, His mercy, His Plan for you.  May you learn more about Him as each day passes.  May you grow strong in Him and always win the battle of Faith in your life.  May you forgive others as you forgive yourself, and understand that we all have hidden pain... we all suffer, we all need help.  May you find the humanity in every person, and be able to forgive yourself.  May we all keep getting better, and become the best we can be.  Amen.

Friday, 19 FEB 2016 :: Sharing my thoughts on global persecutions

The internet is a spiritual battleground and I don't know how to protect my online efforts for myself or Working Together, so I keep trying to work with what I discover there.  I don't know if Etsy is against GOD as a business, or if it's employees take those actions on their own, but it has an active population of sellers and administrators who thwart those who love GOD as often as "legally" possible.  I am not saying this to detract from the business site that is Etsy, because I think it is a very great possibility space for anyone who does crafts and wants to sell online.  I am sharing this today because I have decided to share my Bible Verse post for today...  because I never know if my entries will be deleted. 

The internet has made our world a global neighborhood... which is very different from what we know as people who live in a house in a neighborhood in a town or city in a county in a state or province in a nation.  We use to only have to deal with the people in our small group of friends and acquaintances, the schools we went to, the stores we purchased at, the church we attended...  now we are monitored without our knowledge by people who live on the other side of the world, affected by strangers who can destroy our lives and never be held accountable for their actions, told our opinions have become political attacks toward someone who exists somewhere and disagrees with us -- and wants everyone want to submit to their ideology.  It is a different world.

In the beginning... I tried to share my small booklet, "What if there is NO Rapture?" as an Etsy listing and someone decided it was "anti-gay" and refused to let it remain available.  There was nothing I could do or say to make it not so... someone disagreed with my opinion.

These are the methods we face.  "Politically correct" invades the spaces we live, the businesses we operate, the freedoms we once had.  We will never know the extent of how our lives are affected on the internet by those who disagree with our beliefs and feel they have a right to do to us what they would not want done to them.  These attacks, this rising power, feeds itself and grows.  The ones who choose this method of battle do so without considering the message it brings, the effects it has on all of us, our freedoms, our process, our individual and corporate rights.

We, all of us, all of us living in the world, have to find a way to blend (to exist in one place at one time) our individual rights in a global environment.

I hope to find a better way to create my own income needs on the internet, at a personal level and as a business.  Etsy and other websites have been an important lesson for me about the internet, about selling websites, about the power employees have, about what we face in the future, and about how little we know when we contact a business. 

If GOD will allow, I also hope to find better solutions for the Body of Christ through my efforts on behalf of Working Together. 


Right now, I have decided to share this post here.  There may be more to follow, I don't know yet.
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https://www.etsy.com/teams/21913/chitchat/discuss/15608919/page/49

Friday, 19 FEB 2016
Been making my THANKFUL posts here at the Etsy forum threads, but avoiding my BIBLE VERSES here... sorry for that.  Today I will just share a Psalm to get back to you with some thoughts...
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God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.     Psalm 89:7 KJV
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I have been thinking a bit about the fear of the Lord in the past many years, not sure how we can reflect that in our lives.  The fear that the Bible tells us about is a healthy fear, a realization that His power cannot be matched or thwarted...His judgments are firm once they are made, and we can believe in His prophecies because He does not lie.  It is a tremendous awareness for us when we understand that GOD is merciful toward us in so many ways.  When I hear about mainstream denominations going against the Word of GOD, I feel that they have lost their fear of Him, thinking they can get past the line that GOD has established for us.  I don't know what the future holds, but I pray that I will be able to stay true to the truths that I know.  I pray that you will do the same.