Monday, 2 July 2018

I just spent a long time at christianbooks.com looking at their sale items... linked to from an email I decided to check out.  I am a sucker for sales, but I am also getting better at resisting them... most of the time.  I like to put all the things I might want to get into my cart, then I go through them at the end and decide how much I can spend, if I want to spend anything, and then go through the re-evaluation process.  This did take me some time... there were 9 pages of 50 items there... and I made the decision to go through all of them to see what they had available.

If I didn't have a budget to deal with, I could have ordered quite a few items there tonight.  I discovered they have "product videos" about the books, which I liked... good idea.  One was the author, another was more of a narrated story... but, I decided I like that idea.  I also discovered their version of a sneak peek... and checked out the table of contents for the books, and the text sample on some.  It also helped me to see if I REALLY needed to have that item.  :-)

Some of the things I noticed along my way were the topics shown, the number of pages, the years of publication, and the titles.  I really became aware of how important the titles are... in the process of choosing which ones to explore, the titles were about all that I had available unless I knew the author.  I didn't know too many of the authors because I never buy new books and don't follow all things Christian in the world.  Now that I am working on my own first book effort, these things had a lot more meaning to me.

I suppose it was more like research into the Christian market.

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I didn't really browse the BANKER TO THE POOR book over the weekend.  It became something I didn't feel I needed to know in total.  I am kind of still in the process of exploring it randomly.  I found something called the SIXTEEN DECISIONS on a page and liked them.  I want to explore them more... I got "distracted" by other things today.  So I keep the book in view to prompt me in the direction of my goal for the book.  I think I want to copy the list of 16 items so far.  They seemed interesting.  I may go ahead and share them with you on another day... after I read that section of the book at least.  :-)

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Time gets away from me when I get focused on something.

I do think I have a lot to get done. So I will get to bed now and see if I can do more tomorrow!

Until next time,
In Christ,

Deborah Martin
work2gather.us


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May GOD hear my heart and answer my prayers.
May the world find its way back to goodness.
May our lives mean something more than selfish consumption.
May we find our happiness in helping others with less than we have, with more needs than we have, and within our abilities.
May the days be warm and not too hot.
May we have the food we like to eat.
May we always share.
May our minds grow, our time be enough, and our hearts full of love.
May GOD help those who look to Him for their survival.
Amen.

Monday, 16 October 2017

Another Monday...  I seem to catch up with household duties on Mondays...
I went food shopping yesterday, so there is a lot of food prep to do.  Things like washing veggies like carrots and celery, making them into things to eat like salads and veggies for eating with cream cheese, freezing what I can for later.

I worked on my menu plan before I left for shopping, and now the situation is even worse!  :-)  I still need to eat the old food I made (chili and veggie soup), which don't freeze well.  Plus I have new perishables that have to be watched, made into things, and eaten before they spoil.  Buying food means I have food items I haven't had in awhile, which I want to eat up right away and mess up my plans.  The chickens are going to be feasting for a few days!  (haha)  Today I have to make a list and figure out how fast I can use it all.

We went to an asian market yesterday.  I found a melon I haven't ever seen before, so I have to discover that.  I saw a Jackfruit, whole and in pieces!  So amazing.  I have no idea how they eat it, cook with it, etc.  I am still remembering the size of the whole fruit, and the size of the seeds in the open pieces!  I may never be able to grow one of those, but I want some of those seeds for my collection!!!!!

I could have spent a lot more time and money there, exploring all the shelves and foods that would be strange to me, but we weren't able to do that.  I did find the bags of sesame seeds I wanted, and some spices in small bagged portions, and some new things to try out.  I found a bag of small bok choy in the produce section, so I decided to try it out.  I am now trying to figure out what I can make with that much bok choy, or I will have to freeze it for later.

Going shopping once a week is really a better plan.  In my menu planning I am trying to figure out how many servings of the food groups I already have so I can make sure I just buy enough to get to the next shopping day.  When you don't have control over the details of your shopping efforts, it changes everything.  I bought everything I could yesterday, breaking into my savings for more bus tickets, more postage stamps, and household items I need.  I feel broke now, and I still haven't finished my list.  I forgot the canning jars I wanted for my food storage plans.  Such a pain!

In my record-keeping, I made a new list of the things I still need to get.  By the end of October I will have a better idea of how much I can recover of my savings.  I have a few dollars left of my food stamps, and some farmer's market money for fresh veggies and fruit, so that will help cover any needs I have until I have my funds for next month.  It's an ongoing process.  I keep getting better at it, but you still have to find a way through today.

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I found some great quotes in my reading this morning, but don't have the time to share it here.  I may make a Facebook post later.  Finding the best way to share these things is what I am working on right now.  I know how I would like FB to work, but I don't know if it is possible. 

I may get this book finished by the end of the week, or sooner.  I am looking forward to starting a new book, and to reading the Joyce Meyer book on how our battles start in our mind... in our thoughts... in what we put into our thoughts.  As I get better at this process, I will be able to share more details about my spiritual discoveries, how I see the topics I come across, and what I think matters in godly issues.  I live to share my thoughts... I wish I would have started writing books so many years ago.  It just never seemed possible, now it does.

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My Christian programs are still on.  I have a hard time doing anything that requires mental processing when I have my programs in the background.  Some days I turn it off, some days I wait until they are done.  I am learning that I need my favored silence to do what I like to do... but that seems to be impossible to find anymore.  So I pray... sometimes for GOD's judgment of the guilty parties, sometimes for the ability to understand what it means to our world.  Technology is heading further into the realms of pain and suffering for innocent lives.  I don't know how we will survive, if GOD has a plan to help us, or if this is something we have to endure because of the free will choices of those who choose to hurt others.

I hope to re-start my daily Bible time soon... soon... very soon.  One day at a time, right?  Right!

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My survival duties are calling me... I'll be adding posts as needed, but working to make one post a day on Monday thru Thursday.  That is my plan right now.  It is an ongoing process... changing as my life changes.

In Christ,
Deborah Martin

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May GOD bless the day of those who love Him, who seek after His Will for their lives, who want the world to be a better place and glorify His Name more.
May our hearts be pure and wholesome and godly and ready to see GOD.
May we all reach out to those who are suffering.
May our lives have balance, finding the place where we have neither too little or too much, being content with GOD's desires for our lives.
May today be the first day of our happiness.
May all those we love be saved by grace and find us in heaven.
Amen.

Friday, 29 September 2017

Here I am again...  :-)

I finished the book by Marie Frost.  It was good... maybe an ending to go with the preface, a summary of some kind, would be nice.  It ended with a chapter story.  Maybe I need to read that one over and see if that was the summary.

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Been working on my product development today... trying to figure out chocolate... how to use it and make it look good.  I see lots of practice ahead of me.  Good thing the holiday season is upon us!

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I finished a loaf of Orowheat bread today and decided to check out the calorie count.  I had to laugh at the name of the manufacturer ::  BIMBO Bakeries USA Inc.  --  :-)  In my youth, BIMBO was not a nice name... for a woman, I think.  I don't know if it's still in use...  I hope the owners are some of those people who gathered together and started a CO-OP, employee-owned, company with a cause.

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I have been controlling my caramel consumption pretty good so far.
Now to overcome the exercising problem...

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I opened the CD package with Joyce Meyer's 12 Power Thought strategies.  I just started the 3rd of 4 disks.  It will be good to have as a revival message when things get confused by the enemy of our souls.  I will check out the book over the weekend... it is nearly my Sabbath... that will be good to do on the Sabbath.

Our lives are deeply affected by our minds, our thoughts, what we see, what we hear, what we feel... we need to control what goes into our mind because it affects our life... what we choose.  When things enter my life against my will, I sometimes close my eyes and be still, letting my soul talk to GOD through the Holy Spirit.  I pray out loud.  I distract myself, look away, close my eyes, or change something about my situation... go to a different place, get up, go do something else, talk to GOD, pray and wait.  Technologies that have made our lives better have also become tools of evil... we have to find a way to deal with them, keep our faith in GOD, and trust that God is able to walk with us through every problem we face.  Keeping our minds on scripture, on good things, on the power of God, and prayer will help us.

I don't know what all the categories are yet (for her strategies) so I can't share them yet.  Maybe on Monday I will include some of them.

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I will try to find a solution to the photo problem for posting here.  There are a lot of photos I would like to be including here with my text.  I just have to find the help section for that problem... I hope!  :-)

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I need this rest... I hope I get some.

In Christ,
Deborah Martin

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Thank you, Lord, for all that we have and are able to do.
Protect those who love You, who trust in Your Word, and believe You are in control.
Bless this weekend, make it restful, fun, joy-filled, meaningful, and special.
Thank you for what I have and often take for granted... food, shelter, life, rest, etc.....
Bring us to your heart, Lord... help us to know your will for our lives... provide for us.
Amen.

14 September 2017

I was watching NBR and they had a segment on San Francisco wanting to tax robots because they take away jobs... desperate government... beware!  The people discussing the topic were also wondering how this would work... what would be next... how they can justify this approach.  I think we need to get rid of all taxes except ONE... and sales tax is the only one that would apply equally to all income levels.  TEN percent, maximum, forever.  The government would have to learn how to budget, and they wouldn't be able to bargain for votes... maybe... but it would also tie every decision they make to the health of the economy.

I write about this when I can... I'm sure it is somewhere in my blogs, and on Facebook, and on Twitter, and.... who knows where else.

Imagine no income taxes or property taxes or estate taxes or capital gains taxes or foreign taxes or lots of other taxes... many I don't even know about.  It would mean a seriously reduced government payroll... and office overhead... and policing.  I suppose the government would still be able to investigate businesses, but personal lives would be more free.  No reporting, the business would be linked to the government... no receipts, records, etc.  No need for tax incentives, subsidies, limits on your retirement accounts, sudden incomes, expenses, dependents, and....  You pay your tax bill when you buy something, it gets adjusted when you return something, the government shares the collected funds equally (federal, state, county) and international costs get their own 1%.  Everyone pays the same amount... no more fighting over loopholes, rich and poor, middle class, etc.

I get more convinced it is the best future for America (and everyone else, eventually) every time I think about it.

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Rain is coming this weekend and staying for awhile!  Today I started cleaning up all my piles of yard debris by different areas.  What a big job, tiring, and more than I expected... but, I am going to do as much as I can before the rain gets here.  It will be nice to see what it does for the plant life, and if we still have a small river passing through our yard still... :-)  The groundwater here is something I have never seen before in my entire life.  I'm waiting to see what it does this winter.

Part of the area I am cleaning out is a path where the water is suppose to go... pre-sewers, it runs in gullies, downhill, in large and small amounts that depend on the rain.  The area has well water, so when I first saw how much water came above ground, I thought it must be from a full well.  I know nothing about these things... no real details, just big picture concepts from city life.

I think we need to make this problem work for us... make little pools of water for the gardens and animals, create electricity from water wheels or something like that, maybe a water-feature for the beautiful effect it has.  :-)  I love water features.

Last winter the chicken cage was in a spot away from the broken pipe area in the yard, which was blamed for everything involving water.  The poor chicken had clean feet even when it didn't want them... I never saw a chicken with feet like that... and when I had to pick it up for some reason, it was so strange.  The chicken space has moved now, so I am wondering how they will do this winter.

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The weekend is near.  There's a list of things to do.  I'm working on how to get it all done.

My FIMO projects are coming along.  I have been filing them down and they are beginning to look really good.  I am getting excited.  Once I have the process figured out, it will be easier to get them done, faster.  I will spend more time on pre-bake details so I don't have to fix the designs after baking.

My salt dough efforts are beginning to figured out.  I see painting as one of the issues for these possible products.  I may tackle that this weekend... maybe.

I want to mail an auction donation to OREGON RIGHT TO LIFE for their annual auction, and that has to be done soon.  I am trying to get something finished and mailed to them by the 20th or 21st.  I am not sure I will make it, but I am trying to see what I can make that would be good for their auction, within my meager talents, developing skills, and limited supplies.  :-)   I can do this!

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Well, the terror of the hurricanes is leaving our attention span and other tragedies are replacing it... another school shooting, government debt ceilings and walls around our borders, elderly people dying needlessly while being housed across the street from a hospital... that's all I can remember right now.

You have heard a goldfish has a longer attention span than we do... sad, don't you think?!  Sesame Street has been blamed for that pathway.  Now it is technology... or maybe technology just encourages it.

I read my book one chapter at a time... as a daily goal... do you think that counts as a short attention span?

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Time to go.
Enjoy your weekend.
Spend time with your loved ones.
Give to as many needs as you can afford to give to.

In Christ,
Deborah Martin

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May God bless our efforts to care for each other.
May life be good to us, and may we be good because of it.
Help the world to slow down, to enjoy the people that matter.
May our goals be God's goals for us.
Amen.