CHRISTMAS

What other time of the year do you know can being more people together? No Super Bowl, World Series, rock concert, no event can leave people feeling more charitable or warmer inside than Christmas!!! And why? Most people think of peace on earth as being just that. And not acknowledging where that peace came from in the real sense of doing that every day not just Christmas. Keep Christ in Christmas seems like a hokey  but it's true. Really keep Christ in Christmas, love one another, bear with one another. be kind to one another.

I'm Hungry

And so it begins. I am hungry for junk food. What is it about the holidays that screams chocolate, or cookies, or hot chocolate? It's wonderful isn't it. I know that's what always made it one of my favorite times of the year growing up. So glad I had that opportunity to understand that eating is part of the joy and part of the love. God loves us, feeds us, gives us treats so to speak. So glad for His heart and love and kindness

TAKING CARE OF ME

It's time to take care of me. I have for the past twenty years put my mom's needs first to mine, which is what I should have done but not neglected myself. When she passed I went back to old habits of eating for comfort and not exercising. Now it's time to take care of me. It's time to regain control of my life the healthy way and to make better choices in terms of my health. It's definitely time. My back is a good signal for that. My blood thinner level is a good indicator as well, neither of which is satisfactory.God wants me to make the choice to take care of me. I love Him for giving me the opportunity to make those choices and for giving me the opportunity to make the right choice.

Family

It was the second month since mom passed. On the 19th of Novemeber, there was a bit of a cloud over me. No apparent reason. Just a cloud. And then I remembered the date. And I got gloomier because there is a finality in this. Mom's not coming back. She's not visiting with Brian or going on a trip with her AARP group. She;s not coming back. At the Thanksgiving celebration something was missing. She's not coming back. I look at an empty bed. She's not coming back. I think that is what is staying in my mind as if to prove to my soul that she's actually gone because quite frankly I can't believe it. And what hurts is that many of my family have been in that situation of not coming back. Over the past 27 years I've lost people that I loved and were family. And bits and pieces are missing because those guys won't come back. And what lives on is memory. Bittersweet memory. I am grateful for the family that was given to me, to make such pleasant memories. And I am also sad that those who are gone are not coming back.

Veterans' Day

Here it is another Veterans' Day. I praise God for those who served and serve and keep us for the most safe. I am mortified by those who choose to make a huge deal over standing and kneeling and other actions during the playing of the National Anthem but are really meaning to protest the treatment of blacks by the police. Folks, that's not the proper venue. Not at all to protest the police brutality. It is the venue to say that while we have our racial and social issues as a country we are free. there will always be discrimination, and race-hatred and gender hatred, but the flag symbolizes that this country at least in theory is a country that grows and learns from its mistakes and has come a long way. I love my country. And if someone wants to say that this person was a bigot or that person fondled them or whatever well I am sorry but because of the the constitution those guys are allowed here too. Are you going to tear down all the laws of freedom just so that you can be treated fairly. The law is set to treat all fairly. Some things happen that fall through the cracks but it essentially works. Remember our country is not perfect. But it is God given.

I love animals. Of all sorts. It's the sole reason I became a veterinarian. The dean of the vet school I attended said I needed to have a better reason. Not sure what he meant by that, I suppose he meant that I needed a purpose for being a veterinarian. And when he asked me again why I wanted to be a veterinarian I repeated I love animals. Inclusive in that is that I want to care for them.

God loves me. For no other reason than He just does. I am awkward for sure. Just listen to me play the piano and you'll see that. As such many of my professors just weren't thrilled with the way I performed tasks.Unless it was in the lab, then I was fairly proficient in preparing slides and identifying organisms. But that lack of skill never ever makes me feel as though God doesn't love me. He loves me always. And that is His promise to all of us. Mother was of Juliard quality as a pianist. My brother was brilliant. And God loved them both although they never truly acknowledged Him.

My God may I never forget You are in control.

1 month anniversary

October 19th was the 1 year anniversary of mom's passing. And life goes on. A soul left this earth to be with it's creator. And the earth is still spinning. And while I feel pain at times, loneliness at times, please understand that for the last year maybe two our communication was "What would you like for lunch?Would you like to go out? I will pay. What football game is on?" When I lived as a young lady in New Orleans at my parents' home, our conversations were a bit deeper than that. Almost teacher-student. Why do you think Cervantes wrote Don Quioxote as being a thin man and Sancho Panza as being a fat man? What a terrible existence it must have been for the patients in the Snakepit. And so forth. We also had many a discussion over grapes or strawberries. And I helped mom dust and wax and do clothes and sometimes cook. We eventually had conversation about Jesus, as when people left a tract at her door about how to get to heaven. And I saw her pause for the first time in her life. I made her think. And that meant more to me than any other time we talked. I reached into her soul and made her consider something she never thought of before, no matter how many times she'd heard the story. I made sense to her.

GONE AND YET NOT GONE

I finished donating mom's things today. The last of what needed to go. And all of a sudden, I felt this oneness come over me. I now have no mom or dad. I have truly been forced to grow up. And rely on myself. And not the kindness of strangers. I noticed that mom's legacy was paperwork and detailed at that, vacation and other special photos, special mementos from vacations, video tapes of vacations. And her fiesty spirit hidden under blankets of quietness. And that's what I love most of her and dad. Dad never gave up without a fight and neither did mom. No whining even when sick, and they didn't say anything like that to me but showed me in their strength of character. I am so blessed to have them both and intend to carry that legacy onward.

Moving on

So I have been slowly taking mom's affairs and giving away what I can, keeping what I think I might need or want, crying tears over a box labeled for me with memories of family trips.Bit by bit everything is getting cleared and all that is remaining are memories. I can look at various do-dads like small ashtrays, little photos, perfume bottles that were so old the perfume was concentrating to the bottom, and just think of mom and dad and events in my life that transpired to make those memories come alive. And then I ache. I will begin shredding her paper work soon and when that is done the physical vestige of Olga Guillot will be gone. I will give away her bible study books and the physical vestige of Olga Guillot will be gone. But I can look at the family picture and there she is...as though nothing happened. And as long as I remember and tell the stories of her life she will remain

Loss is gain

I lost my mom this week. And throughout the process, I believe that her Spirit jumped bodies from the broken down body of a vert geriatric woman to the not so broken down body of an aging woman. I have been confronted with a sister-in-law who, bless her heart, seems fit to give me advice on any topic from how I run my business to how I run my personal life. At mom's funeral I was introduced as Brian's (my oldest brother) sister. I piped in to say I was mom's caregiver for the past 20 years. I felt saddened by losing mom, glad that she went peacefully and oddly enough emboldened that she taught me well and fixed things for both me and my brother so that none of her expenses had to be paid by us. So I rejoice in the gain of renewed strength of belief that God works in everything and through everything and I am praising God for giving me His peace and allowing me to be bold. May God bless all of us.

The LOVE OF THE LORD

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, we were much like the animals that we say are aggressive and cruel. Now we see we are much more so because we know what we are doing where as an animal can only reason on one level. Thank God for God and the love He continues to show not just me but the entire universe. He controls the universe but He is not a control freak. The heavenly Father is a great loving God and my prayer is that He continue to look with favor upon us because we chose Him and love Him. I praise Him that He loves me. Not for what I do but because of me. And He is awesome.

Wait!!!

The Lord is good. He promises that over and over and always comes through. The Lord is great. He proves this over and over. He made the sun stand-still, a fish to swallow Jonah, He sent me to Vet School. He made me who I am. And I adore Him. More powerful than everything. It's time to wait for whatever is going on in the future is under no one's control. Only God knows what is going on. I leave all in His hands. May God bless!

Storms in our lives

In my life there has been Betsy, Camille, Frederick, Fran, Floyd, Andrew, Hugo, Katrina, Rita, and many more after. Not the least ending with Harvey. And storms can range from just spits of water in our faces to immersions and destruction of personal property. And none of it is fun. So how do I keep going. And going. And going???? I really don't know, except the heavenly Father is always there to give me a life preserver and life raft and act as both compass and flashlight and I can steer and swerve hither and yon. God is a great and merciful and powerful calmer of storms and He has done so many times before.

HEAT

Heat is kinetic energy. Pure and simple. It is the movement of molecules/atoms given a space and the faster they move the warmer it is. You could also say the warmer it is the faster molecules move. And you would be correct. The truth is, and not many people know this, is that cold is just the absence of movement of molecules in a state we know as heat.  So what we perceive as cold is merely a decline in speed of molecules, resulting in a reduction of heat. What we measure as freezing is the reduction of heat to the point that there is practically no heat. So what is evil, the absence of good? i think that's why evil and good are in degrees. and why God chooses to be good. May we all be blessed by such a God.

BROKEN AND MENDED

I have always been amazed at how broken people are, but never more than when I went into business for myself and never more than this year in particular. I have seen demanding people, nervously energetic people, people with obsessive/compulsive disorder, depressed people, and some that I would call toxic. And I hurt for them because I am just as broken as they, maybe not in the same spots but still broken nonetheless. I am always blessed by the phrase "there but for the grace of God go I". God is merciful, graceful, marvelous beyond description. And I praise Him and His healings because no more than this year in particular have I learned that I am broken, I am just mended. Not only am I mended but God knows that even some of the mended parts take time to cement and function with the other non-broken parts of me. Christ was literally broken, for His sacrifice entailed the meal in which the bread of life was broken and shared/ So while he was not broken at the knees, as other crucified people were, He was indeed broken for our transgressions. What heals is not ourselves, it's not in having no boundaries and pushing the limits, it's not in the perfect body, the sweetest smile, the best student. Mending the broken us is God. And only God. He heals on His time, not mine or anyone else. And His is always best.

Half a year gone!

And so it is the end of the first 6 months of 2017. What has happened to the year? I will say for me a tumultuous amount of blessings and bains and most of all seeing animals that mean very much more to me than income. Father God is a wonderful ruler and King and we all need Him and I am so glad He is in my life. My prayer is that we all get on our knees and thank Him for another day and another year. I thank Him for this country. Even though most people think we are being run into the ground I believe a lot of what has come to the surface is the stuff that 8 years of giving things to everyone brings. My goal in life is to help those but it's not helping to always give people what they ask for. My goal is to be discerning.

May God always bless all of us in placing us where He needs us.

Ahhh People

And so it is as I type these words that I have two boy cats that I cherish. One I suppose would represent the life I had in South Carolina. Older, survivor of many trials and issues, making many mistakes but having friends to protect me by their wisdom. And the other represents the new life I have in Kentucky. Much younger, surviving many things and making mistakes but having friends to protect me by their wisdom. I have been so blessed to have so many friends and I love them all and thank God for them and thank Him for acquaintances that well quite frankly I could live without but God put them in my life to learn that it's not all roses and kalli lilies. Sometimes thorns are there and sometimes you can dodge those thorns and sometimes you can;t. That's what antibiotics are for, May God bless us all in our relationships always.

WHEW

I thought it quite appropriate this week that a kitten named Speedy was adopted. I was thrilled for him but he represented the ever increasing need to produce produce produce and it made me think that this was what life was like during the Industrial Revolution, a time period with so much impact on the world that it changed the color of an otherwise camouflaged moth and allowed birds to devour them and die since the moths that were otherwise camouflaged were poisonous to one particular bird. I can only breath in the short lapses of time that I have between taking care of a demanding 94 year old woman who would otherwise be in a home and miserable because she was no longer in control and my business which is trying to thrive but for caring for mom. And I am just at wits end. This week will prove to be a busy one, I have one like this about once a month. I am glad to have those weeks. But I am exhausted by the end of the week and my mom is still looming large.I do thank God for her. I would not be where I am without her. So thanks mom, and you are 94, I believe you've earned the right to have your say at least in some things/

REST

One of the few times I have ever taken a nap was this afternoon (Saturday) after I fed me and mom and my furbabies. It wasn't a long nap but nevertheless I woke up refreshed from it. I haven't had much sleep time lately, which is ok. I am not complaining at all. I have been busy at work. And my 94 year old mom is so dependent emotionally on me that I finally checked out for a few minutes. And me and my cats napped. It's important to realize that we all need rest. We all need activity but rest prepares us for activity.In a word, we must put the oxygen over our mouths first before we can help our child sitting next to us when the cabin pressure falls. We have to take care of ourselves before we can care for others. God blesses us but He cannot continue to do so if we allow what we have been blessed with to wear down.

NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN

So it's been easily two months or longer since King has come into my house. King is a brown and grey tiger striped (although he is listed as tabby) and cute, cute, cute. But he is a young cat. And Robert is much much older so it's been an interesting road at best. But one thing I noticed right off the bat, King listens. If you tell him "no", most of the time he moves away. He is really trying hard to be good.

We as humans, most of us, are a lot like King. We try hard. We fall much more than King ever has but for the most part we try hard. Most of the time if we don't, it's because we don't want to. God doesn't expect us to succeed. He just wants us to try. And if we do try and our heart is their He will bless us always.

TODAY

Today and this weekend indeed will be busy for me. My first job is to care for my 94 year old two year old mother who believes that every ache and pain is single to her. She also craves for my brother to call just to chat and so she runs to the phone (as much as she is capable of doing on a walker) when the phone rings. She is capable of walking and getting water from the fridge and feeding herself amoung other things that perhaps other 94 year olds can't. But she also likes to whine and say I don't know what she is going through. And there's the rub of living with my mom and my biggest prayer to God that I don't turn out to be a cry baby like that. BTW she has always done this. Always. Except now she has someone who she thinks will listen to her. When the complaint is legitimate I do listen. There is the judgment call.

My second job will be busy with pet calls and doing quarterly taxes and accounting and yes the Saturday activity of what I like to call "my blogger". The two jobs sometimes run into brick walls and sometimes I feel way more tired than if I had one or the other. However God is awesome, He provides the rest and stays my tongue when needed. And I love Him. Praise Him because Today is His day!!!

Ycch!!

The ycch of society is over-represented. Just look at politics. And in days gone by, our examples were find upstanding men and we followed them. Sometimes in peace, sometimes in war but we followed them. We learned they had flaws and we still followed them. Now there seems to be no one to follow because the flaws outnumber the ethical/moral qualities so desired in a good man. And what do we learn from all of this. Dependence on man sucks. Man will let you down. Dependence on God will never fail you.

Dad

My dad was wonderful. Kind, kind-hearted, took care of his family, looked after his friends, known by many. He was a loving husband. He fit my mom perfectly. And he changed her without forcing her to change. And she mellowed quite a bit. And he changed too, for the better. He was content with what his children (3 of us in all) wanted to do, but still wanted the best for them. And if they chose to go a harder route he discussed with them first before they made their final decision. Then it was their choice. And I was so glad he loved me enough to let me leave and come first to Kentucky then to North Carolina then back to Kentucky. Although he didn't live to see me make the last move to Kentucky I know he would have been happy because I was happy. Thank you Daddy for your example.

Nowadays

It's so know to tell the truth about things nowadays. I suppose it boils down to Pilate's question to Jesus, "What is truth?" The truth is there is only one God. Whether one chooses to believe that, the one true God has given us the choice to believe God and what His Word says or not. Truth further be known there are several subsets of people. There are those who believe in God and follow His Word as their standard for living (remembering that God loves all of us even when we fall flat on our faces). There are those who believe in God, believe in Jesus as His Son, but don't follow His Word because they were raised to believe His Word says what leaders of churches say it says. Then there are those who don't believe that His Word is the ultimate standard and that well God is not as powerful as He says. And finally there are those who don't believe in God and believe that this is the only life you get. Which are you? It's not for me to judge, Christ says that in John, "Judge not, or you will be judged by the measure you judge". God will judge those outside of His body. (I will leave that one for another post) but those who do His will and are righteous will according to 1 Corinthians 6:2 judge the world. Why? Because God judges all of us, whether righteous or not, and because we have His Spirit we are His judge.  And Christ warns us of this in John 7:24 not to judge by mere appearances. Which takes a modicum of wisdom and reasoning and prayer because the truth is that only God knows the whole truth.

And now it's time

I know some people who are insanely critical of the fact I don't watch news. I keep up from time to time on brief radio broadcast and perhaps local news from time to time and catch up on the internet if I really want to know what;s going on but quite frankly, I couldn't give a rip. All I want to do at the end of the day is relax, watch old series or movies on TV, read a good book and sleep. My friends think that obtuse, but I am a free citizen last time I checked. So what should it matter to anyone how I lead my life. Thank God He loves me for who I am and not some image I am supposed to be.

And Here's to you!!!

A toast to those who made it through yet another work week. A toast to you who have grimaced and toiled and been asked to do just one more thing. A toast to those who had emergencies crop up when the tightness of a schedule didn't compensate for that. A toast to those multitasking successfully even if it meant disappointing some and making others angry. A toast to those with enough heart to say yes even if your brain says no. A toast!! May you be blessed always!!

Mother's Day

Mother is 94. That encompasses the Spanish Civil War (no that was not her household growing up), World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, two Gulf Wars, the 9/11 incident, the Murrah building disaster, Charles Manson, Albert de Salvo, numerous presidents both good and bad. It's not hard to see that in this world of negativism, in this world that seems always to be at war for the better part of 94 years and in fact probably for the better part of the existence of man, it;s quite easy to get caught up in it. God gives us the strength and the power to rise above those clouds and see His light, but it is our choice to use that in order to lift ourselves out of the negativism into the positive state of His love and grace and glory. May God bless us all in this effort.

Laughing all the way

Laughter and joy and peace are definitely the best medicine to any situation. Quiet and calming is best medicine. Not abuse and not violence, not being mean. God expects us to peacemakers. Many times, that's our first instinct: to hit back. I pray we learn to love,

WHEW

What is it about Christians or at least some that they love to spout quotes from the bible without trying to love people? I think people are scared to step out on faith. I think people like lists and chalk lines and directions. What God gives us is a very simple command, Love me, Love my God. A knowledge base is a wonderful thing. But it is not the end all and the be all. That is love. That is the end all. We can know everything but without love we are nothing. God wants us to love. Love Him and others. If we love Him we will want to know more of Him and His desires and principles.May we never be caught choosing knowledge over love.

You never know how sacrificial your giving is until asked to do a favor. I was asked last week to foster a cat with behavioral issues and another cat with epileptic/neurological issues. I had to really think about it considering I have an 18 year old cat that has been by himself for a little over a year now. I found room for both. I was asked to donate to the missions' yard sale at church. In my closet are clothes I will not wear, clothes that were given to me as donations that frankly I don't like and shoes that are quite pretty but I don't wear flats. Again I always have to consider mom, who lives with me and who thinks ALL charity begins at home. Since the stuff was mine or given to me it's all going to the  sale. I praise God thatI am able to help. And pray that I can always do this.

It's All Good

I feed my cat Robert 5 times a day because of his and his health. He always cries for more hoping some kind human gives in or that mom will feed him tablescraps. Which more often than not happens unless I am within view. This week I had to work at night one night much to my mom's chagrin, I have to admit I don;t enjoy working at night but it does pay the bills of a caviar and champagne lifestyle my mom wants to live but cannot with me retired from the federal government and living on a stipend. So in her mind she was totally justified in feeding Robert again.

I was livid. It made me feel as though I didn't take care of my cat and ultimately didn't take care of her. And I was incensed until I realized that I wasn't going to change her by fussing. I wasn't even going to make a point with her. So I hid the cans of food where I knew she wouldn't be able to find them. And it's all good.

It's all good.

God loves me even if this is a crazy world!

There are times when I think that there is nothing I can do, or that everything I do is wrong. There are times I hate my job. My job as travelling veterinarian often brings me into situations where I have to help animals cross rainbow bridge. I absolutely hate doing that. No more than this past week. I had to put three animals to sleep, two which were kittens. And it is the worst part of my job. Then a friend told me that she was glad I was there for them. I never quite thought of it like that. That's why God sent His Son and allowed him to suffer as He did. God did that for us and I am awfully glad He did. While it was terrible to be God that day that Christ gave His life that we be saved it was joyous for God to see His Son sitting at His side once again. What an awesome God we serve.

Blocks of stone

When I write this blog, I see how much of it is ad lib. In fact it is all ad lib. And I see how much needs to go back and fit the title. I see a book in the future, but then again there may not be a book. I see good ideas that need reworking. And I see God with His chisel and me the block of stone that He is bit by bit sculpting so that I can be the perfection of what He wants. I as the block of stone never ever do what I do as a human, "God it's not so good this way I'm going this way". And while we may have to go through things that don't seem so good at the time, God's purpose is refinement and we would better serve our Lord to be blocks of stone rather than human. God may I always be a block of stone.

GOOD

I am here to tell you that I am not good. You are here to pronounce the same thing to me. Ideally what we do as humans results in prizes or penalties, in other words when we act there is an opposite but equal reaction. That is a law of physics and a natural law. When we do nothing or when we forgive though the Spirit in us goes above that law and covers those that have sinned against us. Do they have to forgive us? Nope. Christ went to His death forgiving those who didn't ask for forgiveness. I had a client that insisted I was incompetent to the point of taking it before the veterinary medical association. I forgave her many times over. And I have to confess I am still waiting to hear her say she is sorry and that I did nothing wrong. It may not happen. And I praise God for not waiting to hear the people of Israel were sorry before He sent Christ, That's what takes Agape love, that's what takes being His. May we all strive to be His.

And now we wait

Human beings by nature get impatient when things don't go according to their time schedule. And things don't. It would be as if the earth forgot it revolved around the sun and just stood their. The earth can't control it's revolution, any more than we can control our time. Only God does that. He is the only one that controls time, the weather, health etc. We are His stewards and our importance is determined by Him albeit He doesn't want robots. We just have to recognize who steers us and who we should consult for which way to go. May He bless us with wisdom and humility.

The Mirror

We all know about THE SHACK. It's been advertised for several weeks now and opened. A great percentage probably also read the book. I have not seen the movie but I read the book a several years ago. The take away message from that book, and hopefully the movie, is that we are all broken no matter what station in life we find ourselves. And we are all fixable, but if we want to be fixed forever we need to look to God and the manifestations of His being, as Father, as Son and as Holy Spirit. And the second take away message is that God as Father, who is all powerful and all knowing and all loving is not a typical father-type. He is the perfect Father. As such when there are fathers, and those come too numerous to count, who may not be exemplary and may be abusive, God can show Himself as being able to change the concept of father for all of us, to meet everyone's needs. We are not perfect, we all went through the fall as Adam did, but in Him is perfection and love

Is it safe?

So many people try to work. They try to make a wage. Then there are companies that hire them that are hurtful. They want to process regardless of what it does to the people that are hired. Now I am not for governmental controls over giving my money or using my taxes to fund programs for people who know how to work the system (not all programs and not all people do this so I don't want to give the impression I generalize) But when it comes to a job, people should expect for their safety to looked after and sometimes it doesn't happen. So ask yourself is it safe and see what safeguards can be put in place. And then you will be a servant, my dear...

Old is better?

I love old things. Old cats, old dogs, old TV series, old books, old movies. I am fascinated at the outlook, at what at a younger times older people are going through when they were my age. But is it better to look back and wonder what those things would do with today's technology and knowledge? It certainly has it's place, put a stamp on history and recurrence into the present of various events or people. And certainly proofs the point that history unless we are careful (which I have never met a careful human yet) will repeat itself. Our thought, our actions, even the freedoms we have are nothing new. Nor is the destruction of those. At any rate, the point given is not to focus too much on this time, past time, or into the future, because the reality is we cannot control any of it. Old may not be better. It's just looked through a different lens.

Who is in control? (Accent on who)

This week, yesterday as a matter of fact, I was scared that I wouldn't be able to perform a task. So I knelt before God in silence then I admitted how scared I was, and how I really wanted to be able to do what was asked of me. I'd done it before a different way and there are those that told me that was an unacceptable way so I tried this new method. Lo and behold it went off without a glitch. I love God I appreciate and thank Him for taking control and for being so much a nudger where I am concerned. I love Him. I praise Him

Freedom

Is freedom worth it? Freedom of speech, is it worth being unkind, destructive, or inflicting pain? Much as we may feel like hurting something or someone will make everything right, is that in fact truth? I am amazed at how many people forget their composure and like tigers in the middle of the jungle growl and snarl and take off after those that "offend" them. God took being offended out of my vocabulary a long time ago. But my feelings can still be hurt. Because you see taking offense at someone or something, that's selfishness on my part. That's me having to see something or someone out of my comfort zone and not being willing to allow another person or thing their existence as it is. But getting my feelings hurt that has to do with someone, whether intentional or not, taking something I've done or said and putting it through the ringer of meanness and crassness without regard to how it hurts me. The intention is to hurt me in fact, like a cold slap in the face. Realize sometimes I need this so I back off and go back on the straight and narrow. But most of the time people don't think about that but how much their blood pressure rises and they have to blow up at someone or something, rather than going before God and asking forgiveness or even "what do I do now" In this country it is actually those who choose to walk away from an argument, those who choose to say "I am not going to fight", those who allow others the right to say what they are going to say and then move on with their own existence who are actually free. As the Taoist says you have every right to express your freedom, but does that mean you should consider being destructive and mean behavior toward people and their property part of that freedom? Something to think about?

Answers

How to roll with the punches. God is marvelous. He is an awesome God. He shows us where He wants us, when He wants us there. He puts who He feels best suited when He feels those who are best suited should be there. He is in control always. And I will always love Him because of that. He gave me my animals. He gave me Henry, and Robert and Kit and Misty. In 1976 He blessed my family with Dolly and her three kittens, Frisky, Tony and Dawn. And two more a year later, Mama cat and Tweety. He blessed me with money to survive. He gave me relationships with friends I will always treasure and treasure and treasure. How to roll with the punches. Be thankful in all things.

God is everything

One thing we forget in all the issues of the election, and ISIS, and poverty and Recession and the high cost of living is that Adam and Eve were thrown out of the garden of Eden. Did we inherit those traits? I would say yes. We all want to do things our way, we all want to play God at some time or another. But God is God. Our thoughts are not His thoughts. And He is everything and in control. There are two things about events that occur; They are occurring because of God's will or because of His purpose or both. And if we try to put a handle on His thoughts, well let's just call it futile. All we are here for is to enjoy His blessings and glorify Him and magnify His love and peace.

WAITING

I hate to wait. It makes me cranky. It makes me feel boxed in. Worst of all it makes me worry. And when I worry I eat, instead of charging straight to God. I forget that He has everything under control. I forget that He dictated that the Allies would win WWII and that Hitler would rise to power. It may not have been His preference but He knew that because of world events and because of things that we had become Hitler was inevitable. We earned him. Instead of running toward God in times of trouble, we ran to Hitler. Until we realized how much a mistake that was. We earned WWI. All countries lined up against each other and war was inevitable. Again instead of running toward God, we ran toward war. Countries hate to wait too. Just like me. May God forgive us and may we run to Him instead of our own instant gratification.

Winter's blanket

Ever notice how each season blankets us in various colors? Winter blankets us in white, Spring in purples and blues, Summer in green and golds, and Autumn in reds and oranges. God is quite the artist, and all are perfect to what is needed to meet needs of livestock, other plants and forages and of course us. Which when those needs are met then then other needs can be met because growth always occurs. There are times we cannot see the growth, either due to our own blindness or the growth is so slow that it is not apparent. But in God all things grow toward Him. Like flowers facing the sun, all life turns toward Him, as if by instinct. May we all allow His handiwork within us to flourish.