America - Election 2024

This week I have been thinking about all the money issues we face as individuals, as a nation, and as a global economy now.  

Today I decided to go shopping to get out of the house and then watched my budget get destroyed for this month.  It was a reminder for me about government budgets.  I have to do without for the rest of the month when I make a mistake with my money, the government seems to print more money when they overspend - which is like using a credit card and causes inflation.  

This is the crisis we face.  It seems to be the same cycle major civilizations in history have faced and lost over and over again.  We don't seem to learn not to do this path.

I have been watching a lot of videos at YouTube on government budgets, spending, and survival.  

• One highlighted how the government manipulates the statistics they use to make us think everything is just fine.  I have known this was happening but had no way to prove it.  Unemployment and jobs is just one example.  (Noted below.)
• One video was on how the government manipulated new job creation and unemployment.  It seems that when an unemployed person gets a part-time job of any kind they are removed from the public statistic on unemployment and may be moved to the list of underemployed people who never get counted for the public statistic.  People who have been unemployed for five years are also dropped from the counting process.  These people are considered not looking for work.  --  This means many people are not counted so we don't really know how bad the situation is.  
• One video was on how over fifty major US cities spend more than they take in through taxes.  This puts them in danger of bankruptcy, but on the way to bankruptcy are all the social problems not having money creates.  (Like trash pick-up and police/courts/jails and transportation and libraries and public healthcare and any other services provided by the government.)  The list of cities included the city where I live, Los Angeles and San Franciso areas, Chicago, New York, and Houston.
• One video was about the gold standard.  I did discover one interesting perspective from this one.  I always thought people were promoting gold and silver purchases as a simple way of prepping.  This video said governments all over the world are buying up gold to prepare for a new financial system after the collapse of what exists now... to have funds when they start over, when gold returns as the foundation of money. 

There were more videos than this, but it would take too long to share every important detail.  The main idea was our nation, and other nations, are in trouble.

===========

Who we elect as President this year will be the man behind saving our country from financial collapse, or leading us through it.  We have to choose, either Trump or Biden, unless something changes our options between now and then. 

Every election will matter.

I keep wondering what GOD is trying to tell us.

If you know, please share it with me in the comments.

In Christ,

Deborah Martin

https://work2gather.us

FAITH FRIDAY :: 24 SEP 2021 - Housing ideas and Faith in GOD's will for our lives

Well, I almost forgot it was Friday again!  :-)  I was browsing videos at You Tube.  Housing is a big topic for me.  I watch a lot of Tiny House videos, and found one by a channel called Invisible People.  I think they are in the Los Angeles area of California, but that was only a guess.  I made a very long comment about the isse, which I kept for my records, but I think I will share it here.  I mentioned several of my own ideas on housing and government... maybe one of my readers will be able to use them to help the homeless in their area.

Let me know if you think any of these quickly shared ideas has any hope of being implemented !!

=====================

Well, just going to add my comments to the conversation... not sure they will be seen at this date.  I hear comments only register right after posting.  :-)

I heard Santa Monica so I am guessing it's a CA location.

I heard safe zone is only for COVID reasons.  Where will she go as restrictions are lifted.

I wonder if there are any worthwhile updates about her situation... housing, job, future?

I read some of your materials but relying on the government to be all answers to all people is  not going to help the nation.  Taxes can only go so far.  The government has promised too much, abused the funds it has already received, and doesn't seem to think it will ever go bankrupt because, after all, the people can pay more, right?!

The options that are available need government approval, not always funding.  That is a long hard and sometimes futile process.  People like you can make changes on your own.  You are a charity.  Raise funds for housing projects.  Buy land and build a community for the people you are advocating for.

Tiny Houses are legal in California... see what you can do with them... will you make decent housing or just something to cover a human from the elements?  Rehab old trailers, RVs, make cheap containers into housing, create something like a KOA for a small homeless community - they would house tents, cars, campers, and even include cabins for some. 

I think a quarter acre is right for a family, but urban housing often exists on a tenth of an acre.  Buy them all over the city, by transit for poverty transportation needs, and create single living spaces.

I think homeless options exist on the top floors of parking garages.  They have water pipes (for fire requirements) so they can be divided by parking spaces and be modified for cooking and showers and laundries.  Parking garages are generally by transit I think.  Security options can be created to protect all.  The idea is to STABILIZE, so no time requirements... duplicate the options to include more homeless people.

Churches have been a resource for centuries.  The problem is zoning... again, the government needs to approve changes that don't cost money.  Porta-potties seem to work for this option.  Electricity can be worked out.  Help can be found in the congregations. Some churches are by transit.  Some church members have skills that might help a homeless person or family... like mechanics to fix cars or trucks.  Once a church finds out if the person is worth helping more, there might be more opportunities for the individual or family.  Time is always a good thing when people are good people.

Find out what exact properties the city (govt) owns that might be available for use.  Make sure you get an agreement in writing that says the project is forever or there will just be another problem in the future.  Make a purchase of any land by transit or some life need.  Create housing there.

I have the idea that housing needs to stop being a subsidy for the developers and become a small income source for the government.  See if you can get them to establish a new home ownership program where the payment is the traditional government charge of 30% of income... it will change the future for everyone in the whole USA once it gets going.  It becomes non-tax income, but there needs to be a fund in place to pay for the property when a new buyer is created, which would be a pre-approved homeless person.  The seller would see an income from their efforts to improve their property over the years of ownership...maybe use that to buy a new home for themselves.

Look for ways to house people that will take them off the streets and provide for their human needs...spread the efforts all over the city so all the homeless are not in one general space like Skid Row... FIND places, look for things you can do, what other non-profits can do, what the homeless can do for themselves.

viewed  24 SEPT 2021  [probably about 10pm]

COMMENT on this video  ::  https://youtu.be/nT3VGI0V5Rs

Homeless Woman Has a Masters in Mathematics and Engineering

2,174,807 views Apr 21, 2021  -  50K hands up  -  1.1K hands down

Invisible People  -  986K subscribers

===========================

Other than that, I have been fighting the battle to survive myself.

I finally did some experimenting with my resin supplies yesterday.  I am happy about the experience.  I now have to decide what to do with the pieces I made.  With resin there is a layering process.  I am trying to create things I can sell at my ETSY or EBAY shops, or provide as a benefit to my PATREON supporters.

I haven't been doing good with my ART efforts the past couple of weeks.  Been busy with other things.  I cut about three watercolor paper pads into sections to use.  Now to use them.  

Eventually, I will find the crafting directions I want to focus on.

FAITH... it's been a slow path recently.  I think it seems to follow the amount of struggling I do in my life, the harder it is the more I seek GOD.  That seems to be the way it goes for all of us... we just see the suffering, GOD sees the lesson to be learned... or the part of His plan that needs to be accomplished... or the consequences of our sins or someone else's sins.  

I have always figured GOD is up to something if I can't find a way out of what is happening.

Maybe it is my life He's working in, or maybe it is someone else's.  I have to trust Him either way... look for the answers, and wait if I can't find them.

I shared an old photo I found recently on one of my Patreon posts.  I think I will end with it here.  I pray GOD is close to us and helping us to find our answers.  GOD is the only person I have ever had to trust in.  I think I will keep my focus on Him.

Thursday, 16 November 2017

So much happens in every day that can be shared as thoughts that provoke, that change, that need to be expressed, but I get here and the current moment is just a small piece of time.

I really need to write a book about the purpose for Working Together.

How many chapters?
How many words?
How many pages?

How do I fit a lifetime into print?

*
I read a news item today about the increasing delinquency rate for auto loans... and that people with bad credit scores "don't have many options to get money to buy a new or used car and often end up getting a subprime auto loan that comes with an interest rate of 15 to 20 percent."  So their lives get worse with every effort to make it better.  I know the feeling.

Since learning that GOD also charges interest when people borrow their tithes, my goals for financial programs has been deeply affected.  When I first started planning some way to help members get through their hardships, I decided to offer member credit towards WT products, programs, and events... with an interest charge of one percent each month on the unpaid balance, thinking it would encourage quicker repayment.  This would be a maximum of 12% a year if the balance continued.  Right?  (I'm not a banker, I was just trying to find a fair option.  I didn't want to charge more than would be needed to pay for the program's overhead and expenses.  Automatic increases with each membership year were planned, as long as the previous balances had been kept up to date -- a minimum payment of $5 was expected to show that the member was aware of their debt.

I haven't figured out the jubilee effect yet.  That is still being decided.

Now I have discovered that GOD charges a flat 20% fee for borrowing the money we are expected to give to Him.  I am trying to work that out in my plans.

You can see how different the world would be if we operated with GOD's plan.  My school loans started at about 30K dollars, they are now in the 150K range.  If I don't win the big lottery prize or sell a lot of products online, it will just keep increasing until I die... and then who knows what the government will do.  My current income is less than $400 a month, plus food stamps and government medical.

I don't know why GOD hasn't provided the income I needed to get Working Together going, but I can't change the world without a decent amount of start-up money.  I guess the banks will win this battle, too.

*
I have also been trying to contact local government offices about low-income housing that is in jeopardy of being sold to the highest bidder.  The government sees the program as a burden because they can only see it as a subsidy program... that means it costs them money they just don't have.  I see homeless housing as part of the low-income program, with the government owning the land and the resident owning the "improvements" on the land.  Using the same 30% of income formula that the government already uses for subsidy payments, a poverty household could begin the ownership process and eventually sell their property to the next low-income resident when they are able to purchase their next house.

A lot of changes would happen between the first payment and the last... depending on the property the government sold to them.  Government apartment complexes can become housing associations of owners.  People will have the stability they need, and not be afraid of being kicked out, and be able to slowly improve their future options.  If people have problems that will keep them at the same income level, like senior status or disabilities or other problems, they can still be owners of their homes and have something to build on.

Poverty isn't going anywhere, the people who are poor will just change as each generation passes through this life.  Isn't it better to create a permanent, positive, financially sound program that earns the government an income instead of adding to their subsidy burdens... and the change in direction will allow the program to create more housing options as the years go by.

*
Tax reform is overdue, but the government will never do what is right.  Expecting them to reduce their wages, cut off their power strategies, eliminate bad laws that just encourage their re-election, or enforce laws that protect our future, is unrealistic.  I don't know how it can be done, but to save America we need a complete change of direction in tax perspectives.  ONE TAX is what the government needs to live on... ONE reasonable tax that is forever limited, restrained, enforced.  I realized there was only one tax that could be applied at a global level - and divided fairly among our three primary government levels - so I have been advocating a 10% sales tax since then.

Ten percent can be collected at 3% for federal, 3% for state, and 3% for county governments.  Our international commitments can be paid with the remaining 1%.  This covers all the internet sales issues, reduces all the various overhead and oversight issues with the IRS and other tax agencies, allows taxes to be collected and adjusted in real time, allows for arrests with illegal activities by tax evasion, eliminates income tax, property tax, estate tax, and other taxes - which will greatly stimulate the economy, AND it will tie every single decision government makes to the health of the economy.  I just remembered that this limited tax structure would still allow each government to enter into partnerships with the others (for roads and things like that) and would also still allow the creation of government bonds, which investors seem to like.

I'm sure I have mentioned other things since I started sharing this concept, but that is all I can remember tonight.

Imagine how different the world would be.

*
I guess I just wish my life would have allowed me to implement some actions toward these goals... get them going, I guess.  The financing changes would disrupt the current practices.  The tax changes would disrupt the government and make it better after a bit of an adjustment period. The housing changes would set the government on a path toward creating its own income instead of always resorting to new taxes, increasing taxes, and abusing tax funding. 

I hope someone will get these things going if I am not able to... but, as I am still breathing, I will keep trying to move in these directions and others that I want to see done...like prison reforms, education choices, business development for the poor, and more...

In Christ,
Deborah Martin
office@work2gather.us

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.

*
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.

*
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.

*
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

*
*
*
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.

*
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.

*
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.

*
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.

*
Time to get going.
Until next time,

In Christ,

Deborah Martin

*
*
*
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.

Thursday, 5 October 2017

Another week is nearing an end...

I hear more about Christmas when I watch TV.  So many people and businesses are depending on the giving season to survive.  I think it was someone on NBR that said businesses are expecting a better year than last year.  I don't know if they ever say it is going to be a bad year.  

The rumor of tax reform is said to have made the stock market go up, but the value of the dollar is barely over 90 cents...
How do these things work like that?

Businesses are struggling to find qualified employees, but one woman quit her job to go into a home health aide position.

Billions of dollars have been authorized for hurricane relief, and more is expected to be needed. This is just the second installment payment, in billions.  The fires here in the western part of the country have already cost nearly 600 million... which seems so paltry in comparison...  but you don't rebuild a forest the way you rebuild a house.  It takes a LOT of years to grow a new tree, and ecosystem, and tourism, and beautiful scenery, and recreation income....  In the poor country we are responsible for helping, I think it was Puerto Rico, they have less than 10% of their electicity restored, with the number expected to reach 25% in a month... millions of people suffering there.  We just don't realize how expensive disasters are.  Without flexibility in our budget, they can kill our economy... our money system, I suppose I should say.  That is why the debt has to be reduced.  We don't have a financial cushion to take us through the unexpected.  Think about poor people who have no one to help them, who rely on charity, who have no options... that is what happens when you don't have a financial cushion.  I have been there... but I couldn't print my own money.

*
A fun thing happened today when I discovered my son ordered the containers from 21-day-fix!  The little handout that comes with them is really wonderful.  It has food suggestions for each color.  I really had problems with the Healthy Fats container foods.

At only $8 through Amazon Prime, I asked them to order me a set for myself!  I have wanted to buy them for ages and ages and ages... I can do $8.  I had guessed the container amounts per size from exploring them online at many sites.  It's the colors that really make it work.  I found substitute containers to do my portions, but I can see they are just not the same as having the original colors.  :-)  I loved them!  I can't wait to get my own.

The issue of ordering gifts online came up when I asked to have them shipped to me, with my own email for the ebook that comes with it.  I've been trying to deal with this myself, for a long time.  You end up making separate orders for each person... so you can do a ship-to change.  The problem is even worse for digital sales.  I have this problem at Etsy, too.  If you plan to give a digital item to someone, there needs to be a way they can contact the source for replacement issues... especially if something goes wrong in the process.  I want to have my gift registered.  If I buy two copies, do I get one copy with permission to share, or do I need two copies registered to the people they are intended for?  My son ordered two sets, each with a digital ebook, but only received one file copy of the ebook... so does he have a right to copy and share?  How does all that get transferred?  There has to be an email for each file...two copies... but how to register ownership... that is the question.

Again, if I would have had the funds, I would have figured this out long ago...

*
I hate to report that I ate FIVE  (5) caramels today!!!   I just couldn't stop.  Messed up my healthy food quest for sure, but it tasted so wonderful.  :-)   I LOVE CARAMELS... soft caramels.  Once I figure out the best way to make them, I will be selling them at Etsy... watch for it!

*
I read through some materials online about neighborhood preparedness for disasters and really liked it.  I sent for copies of the materials, and read some of them online.  I learned some good things.  I hope to include them in my efforts to prepare for the unexpected.  You really don't understand how poverty restricts your ability to do things like that.  I saved water in old milk jugs, which was really important.  But food is not really an option... I guess it would depend on what time of the month the disaster happened... you might have food or might not.  These recent efforts have been the first time I could get ahead like this.  So I hope the disaster I might face doesn't take them away.

Are you ready for the things you see on TV news to happen to you? 

I'm from California, the Los Angeles area, so I know about earthquakes.  I never suffered complete destruction from one, but the fact that you never know when something like that will happen has never left me.  I suppose that is why saving water has always been a priority for me, especially when I was with children.  Here in Oregon they are expecting the BIG ONE to happen, too.  The fault line goes all the way up the west coast, to Alaska I believe.  If we make it through the main event, maybe we will be able to survive until things get better.

*
I was reading about how to put photos into the blogs.  I will have to try it after I figure out how the instructions work at my blog site.  Maybe by next week I can share photos of some of the things I want to talk about.

*
Guess that is about all for now.  I may start adding posts whenever something needs to be shared, but I haven't decided on that one yet.  I would be too attached to the process... that changes the dynamics of this effort, and I have other things to get done.  It may evolve as I get older.

Until next time...
In Christ,
Deborah Martin

*
*
*
May GOD watch over us and lead us in His Truth to the best that we can be.
May our hearts be worthy of His Love, and our lives express the goodness of our hearts.
May we all find peace and joy, love and forgiveness, time and meaning in our lives.
Amen.

4 September 2017

Labor Day...
We have so many holidays they tend to become meaningless now...
Which ones should be the ones we really care about... all of us... as a nation?
I have my own favorites, but I respect some other ones.

I think there is a global calendar somewhere online.  I know I have raced by it in the past.  It had so many holidays listed for places all over the world.  I think it was a business aid, to help people who sell in other countries.

I do miss celebrating the real holidays... instead of the convenient Monday ones.

*
This has been a long weekend, but I have been reading some new books, finally baked my very first FIMO shapes, tried out a salt-dough recipe, went shopping for some supplies to do other things (projects), and more... This week should be busy, too.  I may actually get a new sales listing posted at Etsy or another one of my sites by next weekend.  I'm trying for that.

*
The DECEMBER Membership Drive for Working Together is also progressing.  I have to work out a few details, and then it may be nearly planned.  I need to learn about email list collecting, decide what social media ads I want to try, figure out scheduling posts at my main efforts, decide on the pricing, work out the payment process, and pray that GOD will finally bless this effort.

Membership is the foundation I planned for Working Together.  It's been a difficult challenge finding a way to connect with other Christians and build it up, but maybe this time we can overcome that hurdle.  Poverty is a canyon that isn't easily jumped!

What does membership mean?  It means we can connect across denominations, build up financial resources, protect what we have, create a path through the future unknowns.  It is how we can discover each other.  It identifies us as a group, and begins a conversation about what we need.  It is really the only way to move forward as we begin to suffer the effects of an ungodly civilization.  Our collective funds become the bank we need to grow and share.

It's hard not to keep talking about this, but I will.

*
I like the book I started by Pastor Cho of South Korea.  It is an older book, and it is about an organization he was a part of that has changed a lot since the founder died.  I don't even know if Dr. Cho is still alive... I heard about their Prayer Mountain awhile back and was very impressed.  The book is his speeches as leader of a group called Full Gospel Businessmen... I assume it is the same Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship I was familiar with in those years.  I know I put a link on my resource page at work2gather.us -- and that I had trouble getting it to work.  I am finding it very interesting to read the voice of the ministry, even though it is from a time when he was younger.

*
We have lots of smoke from local fires tonight... very choking.  I hate to think of being out in this air. 

Some posts on the internet, at Facebook most likely, were angry that the flooding in Texas was getting all the attention... and money.  As the future begins to be too financially burdensome, local areas will need to take care of their own disasters.  We don't have the money to cover them, at any governmental level, but someone will have to.  Local banks and business people will need to work out a plan to recover their areas.  Churches and ministries will need to meet more needs.

I am always amazed at the disconnect in the issue of taxes.  We talk about Federal taxes, State taxes, etc., and see it as separate funding, but it is all taxes... it is paid by the same citizens.  When a federal program has funds for clean up, it is our tax dollars.  When a state program has funding, it is our tax dollars.  County, city, roads, gas, building, property, driving, everything... taxes are all from "us!"

It seems like we are raising different taxes, but we are just raising taxes... nationally.  Changing the tax structure is something we can't avoid.  Sooner would be better than later.

*
Well, this will have to be it for today.  I don't want to get going because serious topics really make me want to talk.  It seems like the big issues are the same issues over and over.  I need to find a way to share them here, without being too repetitive.  :-)  It is beginning to be organized, but it will take a little more time.  I am hoping these issues will be figured out by the end of this year.

In Christ,
Deborah Martin

*
*
*
May God watch over all the suffering people tonight.
May He find a way to touch their lives to let them know He understands their pain and is walking through their valley with them.
May we all discover the need for local involvement, for changes in how we do things, for better answers to our many problems.
May the finances we need to build, to build again, to build better, become available to us.
May those who have share with those who have not... to see their blessings as from God, to share the loads of the suffering, to find ways to meet needs without destroying the dignity of others.
May our world become more focused on solutions than expansions... wiser than faster... merciful than selfish... giving than greedy....
May we love one another so people will not be desperate to survive.

Help us to find answers.  Amen.

28 August 2017

What a weekend... massive natural disaster in Texas, so much sorrow.  May God watch over those who trust in Him, may He bless as much as possible those in need, may He help us all to recover from this natural event and prepare for the next. Amen.

*
The immediate area around the house where I live had a power loss due to a pole down... and it took about 24 hours to get the power back on.  It reminded me of how hard it is to live without our luxuries... and helped me to resolve to keep less perishables and find a way to make food when this happens again... I think I may get some of those little propane tanks with the stove attachments... that would help.  More candles, too... and get all this stuff into one place!!!  I wondered how I was going to find my candles and batteries in this overnight blackness.  I still don't know where I put them... I am still moving things around and finding a permanent place for tools and supplies and projects.

My small distress made me remember hard times in the past, and the hardships of those in Texas right now.  Nothing much you can do when disaster strikes... we recover the best we can.  I hope the homeless and poor are able to find relief.  People with credit cards and bank accounts and cars and places to go don't know how hard it is to be homeless, even without a disaster.

*
This is a good place to share one of the pages I discovered as I sort through my things...  I probably shared it somewhere, but don't recall where right now.  It is called the Seven Steps to Poverty.  It is dated 29 September 2014, with a note about the source being World Vision on a Focus on the Family program.

1.  Imagine only 1 outfit to wear, no other clothing.
2.  No electricity, no power.
3.  No clean water to clean, cook, bathe.
4.  No house.
5.  No food.
6.  No doctor or medicine.
7.  No hope for the future, for tomorrow.

Some other notes on the page...  If you make $40,000 a year, you are in the top 1% in the world.  Three-fourths of the people in the world live on less than $10 a day... which would be about $300 or less.  My current income is Social Security Retirement Benefits of $382 a month, with about $200 in Food Stamps in addition to that...  I am rich by those standards, but would be barely surviving on the streets if I wasn't living at my son's house.  Another note says that most of those included in this global reflection live in a 10 x 10 mud hut with a dirt floor... for the whole family, whatever their size.  Those without food are forced to eat from garbage piles, which makes them ill or kills them.

*
Another thing I thought of when I was in the darkness was the solar lanterns I have seen on Facebook and would love to purchase... LuminAid, I think that's the name.  This event makes me want to get one for sure... just to have it in case I need it.

*
On a fun level, I also found this handy tip again... I can't wait to try this one, too.  From an old 2010 Woman's Day magazine, and Whitney Cobb ::  Marshmallows---stuff one in the bottom of an ice cream cone to heep it from leaking, or drop one in with your brown sugar to keep it soft.  I was impressed with the ice cream cone part.  :-)

*
I don't have a TV of my own... well, I did buy a monitor hoping I could use it for an antennae TV and VHS screen and possible computer monitor... it didn't work very good as a TV because the reception was limited to intermittent activity.  I go upstairs to watch on my son's TV (with cable) when I can, but nothing regular.  So, all of that to say I haven't seen news today.  I hope to find some reports later.  I can only deal with so much pain and suffering... so I like to check on what is happening and then I have to let it go.  It's emotional overload for me.

I was thinking of that today, as everyone want to solicit funds for their program... ministry, etc.  How can we make this better for everyone... make our money stretch as far as it can... make sure it gets used for what we give it for.  I don't know yet, but I am thinking about it.  These are the lean months for ministries... summer.  In bad economies, donations disappear even more.  Our nation is suffering the same lack... money.  We have to find answers that will help us all survive together, without wasting what we have.

That is one reason I worried about my perishable foods in the frig... I can't afford to throw anything away... it would have to be replaced, somehow.  Preparing for things we don't know will happen takes time and money and planning, something I have tried to do all my life with little to no resources. 

Our nation is like a large family.  Its budget is created with our tax dollars.  If we don't spend these dollars wisely, we suffer for it later... well, someone suffers.  It is a pattern of the government to increase taxes, create new taxes, barter taxes for votes, and blame others for their bad choices.  Our current debt load has made us more like a poor family than the wealthy one we are use to being.  We don't want to give up special habits we have, in programs that can be modified or reduced or eliminated for other community partnerships.  As a poor person, as a senior now, I see the repeated pattern of blaming the poor and elderly.  Like our veterans, the poor and elderly cannot survive without some source of financial assistance.  How to meet these needs, fairly, is the challenge in my view.  Blaming people who can't fight back is cowardice, not politically expedient.

In our fight against the national debt, natural disasters are also a threat.  We can't afford them.  We never know when they will happen, and huge disasters like Hurricane Harvey are beyond planning for.  How can we manage our financial problems and include a margin for unexpected expenses like this when our debt is out of control?

I don't know if I like the budget choices of President Trump, but I know we have to reduce our spending and change the political priorities we have lived with too long.  We talk about Federal taxes, State taxes, County taxes, gas taxes, harbor taxes, road taxes, building fees, fines, regulatory punishments, property taxes, income taxes, retirement taxes, unemployment taxes, earning too much, not paying enough, rich versus poor, business versus environment, international trade deficits, import taxes, subsidies, guaranteed loans, tax bargaining, and... you see the trend... it's too much. 

We are a nation of citizens ruled by our politicians... we have lost sight of what is right and good and fair.  Before we lose our lives to the tax battles, we need to find a better way to fund our government, to limit the government to only what a government needs to be involved in, and to change the balance of paying its costs.  I have already shared some of what I think is fair.  Before it is too late to recover from all these political decisions that are not good for us as a nation, I hope we find a better way through this debt problem.

In poverty there are no choices... you struggle just to find the basic needs of food and shelter, everything else is like a gift. 

If the government is economically poor, what would our basics look like?
What is the government really responsible for providing for us? 
How can we replace what the government provides with community supports? 
What rules and regulations are truly necessary for our group survival? 
If we had just ONE TAX, which one would be the best, and how would you limit it permanently, and what would be a fair amount for everyone to pay? 

Will the government decrease itself? 
I don't think it will... so how do we create a new financial foundation for an old country?

In Christ,
Deborah Martin

*
*
*
May the GOD of our universe help us to make the right decisions.  May He show us what is truly important, necessary, and critical to our survival.  May His Hand of Protection be on those who are striving to honor Him with their lives, and choices, and actions... with the wisdom of Truth and Faith.  May we all begin to help each other and not rely on the government to do it.  May churches begin to grow by the needs of those who search for GOD at their doors.  May our nation find a way to pay down its debt and create the financial cushion we need to survive unexpected emergencies, natural disasters, military conflicts, and anything else we need money for.  May our hearts find rest in our efforts to be better than we think we can be.  Amen.