The Beauty He Creates

 Happy Sabbath

I just had such a time looking at some videos of nature and hearing songs of praise to the Lord.  The videos were made for general meditation.  I turned down the sound because I just wanted to focus on the imagery and I am just blown away at everything that God has created.  I saw beautiful lakes, blue flowing rivers, snow falling softly and shimmering in the beams of sunlight. Forests and tropical scenes.  Birds and flowers. Hills, valleys, rocky terrain and tall mountain peaks.  God created all this beauty out here and yet so many people want to live in cities with concrete everywhere and almost every bit of life wiped out.  I don't understand.  

I will be heading to Carolina tomorrow afternoon and hope to spend my birthday in the middle of nature.  My family, my son, and the bulk of my food and clothing went on a head yesterday and arrived there early this morning.  I will be there for a week helping with getting the homestead together and I was able to set up a zoom so my son could connect with his friends and myself this morning for Sabbath school.  I have not been there since last year and I look forward to it.  But yes, God created this beautiful earth and though it has been marred by sin and we have not been taking care of it, there are still many places that remain untouched and I am thankful for technology that can allow us to see all over the earth.  Need to get me a new drone.  My son has a drone toy but the thing malfunctioned and stopped working after the first few uses.  

I had a good week.  I worked hard and got what I could get done DONE. I have to work tonight and after I do that, I will get the last few things together and get on my way down there.  God is good. He is amazing and we need to give honor and glory to Him.  I hope that you are able to take some time this weekend or over the next couple days to go out and spend time in nature and experience the natural beauty that He made...for us.  Draw closer to God and He will to you.

Happy Sabbath :)

Never Forget

 Happy Sabbath,

I have had a good week but I forgot some things and had to ask for forgiveness.  Never forget what the Lord saved you from. Never forget what sin is and what it does.

I am having a hard time with my son this very hour.  He is becoming more and more disrespectful to me and disobedient and I have to figure out a way to fix it before he gets out of control again.  He has come such a long way and I don't want to see him go back to what he used to be (on the verge of getting expelled and having tantrums at school when he was 4-6 years of age at school).  I have to turn this around and need prayer.

I also need prayer about the people I associate with.  I received a call Friday and didn't recognize the number but assumed it was a client or agency reaching out with a question.  I answered the phone and the person on the line said they used to work with me and shared that they liked me and wanted to go out on a date since they no longer are working in my field.  I thought for sure I blocked him and never imagined he would call again, definitely not out the blue 2-3 years later.  

That person who hit 8 points on my ten list? Yeah, that one.  

 

He was the one who I said had to have a specific name, other abilities, be from a certain country, a certain height and blah blah blah.  He missed on the following: he said he had three children and he is a Christian but not Adventist.  I believe he said the children had two different mothers. Those were the two points that cancelled him out.  Well he called on Friday and said he liked me and wanted to go out on a date and said he was a good guy and African as well.  I don't know why he would bring up the fact that he is African.  Most people when stating their qualities don't say what nationality they are when trying to sell themselves and I never told him that one of my specific items for the man for me was for him to be African.  Seems a bit fishy here, like there is some divining mess going on, spiritualism to figure out my likes and dislikes, the devil is out here trying it since I had a problem earlier in the week.  I think it's the third one to be honest.  No body decides to call someone out of the blue 2-3 years later after being clearly blown off.  He texted me on Whatsapp and I was on the app and saw it and he knew that I saw it and I blocked him on the app so to never get another response from him.  I do have numbers from people that I don't talk to but after a while, I go through and delete what is not current or being contacted.  

So I need to be careful about how I answer my phone.  People from the senator's campaign texted me by phone and used my first name.  Even something I signed up for back in 2006 (I had wanted to donate bone marrow and registered back then) people all of a sudden are getting this new number and texting me and I am being as careful as possible to not put my personal information out there. How are they getting it?  October is a hard month man, but with the Lord, I will push through it and come out triumphant.  Everything going on is being offered up in prayer.  God knows what I am praying about.  If He does not answer, I cannot proceed with anything.  I will not make the same mistakes I made before.  I will not give the enemy another shot at this.  I will never forget where I came from.  

Never Forget.

TEN TEN TWENTY TWENTY

 Happy Sabbath and Ten Ten Twenty Twenty

It's a cooler day today but still lovely and comfortable and I am thankful to be home, alive and in reasonably good health.  I was feeling a bit off this morning. Perhaps it was the cooler weather, I don't know.  I hope it is not COVID.  My week was challenging but the Lord helped me through it and I had a great Friday afternoon and woke up well this morning.  I spent a good portion of the afternoon yesterday cleaning around the house. I tackled laundry that I needed to do for about 3 weeks (don't ask), cleared more items out of the fridge, cleaned the disaster that my son left in his room and was able to vacuum and get things in working order.  Since it is raining all day tomorrow and Monday, I will not be mowing the lawn so that will give me more time to do things indoors.  My sister gifted me with a beautiful shirt via fed ex and a few hours later I get a text from her that a book I asked for had arrived via Amazon at my door.  I look forward to reading it tomorrow. Amerie had talked about a few books included in her book club list and I found excerpts online through an online library and got so deep in the story I was hurt when I got to the last sentence and told I had to either borrow the book or buy it online.  I looked at an older one and newer one and my sis purchased the one that just was released this year so I really am looking forward to snuggling up in my room and getting into that.  

Also this week, I received some more Adidas items in the mail and got the hoodie I really wanted for myself for my son.  So this week is really the gifting week, weeks before my birthday.  We went to the park and the tide had receded enough for my son and I to walk along the beach of the creek.  It was absolutely beautiful.  We went down a path we never took before and deer were on both sides of us.  The dirt path came back to the paved path and we were almost out of the wood when we came upon a swarm of yellow jackets so we turned around and as we did, there was a small snake on the path (right in the middle).  I took about 3-4 pictures sure it was going to move, we were too close up on it.  I am not sure if it was playing dead or if one of the bicyclists ran over it since they use the paved path through the woods.  We ended up going the other way on the paved path, cut through a field because my son was upset I didn't want to go through the yellow jackets (he had thicker clothing and a hood; I was wearing a thin jacket and track pants and would surely get stung up).  We went off the path and through the clearing behind a baseball field fence and my son started picking up those briar berries that stick to your socks and he was wearing mesh sneakers so they were sticking to his sneakers and stabbing his toes.  

 

That was the end of the good part of our outdoor adventure.  

 

I spent a great deal of time trying to pull the briar berries off his shoe laces and socks and pulled a splinter from one out of his toe before we got to the car.  That was Thursday afternoon. 

My hometown park is so beautiful.  I encourage anyone to go and enjoy the great outdoors.  I never expected to see such natural beauty; it was so peaceful and colorful with the changing leaves of autumn.  I have almost no desire to go to any other park now there is so much to explore and see in my own backyard.  I thank the Lord that I am here. I thank Him that I can enjoy it with my son who will remember these times and they will be good memories for him as they are me.  From the stream (or brook...maybe that was a brook) to the creek, the deer, the other wildlife.  It was amazing out there.  If you are having good weather and want to try something different, go out for a walk with the Lord. No music...or you can have some nice Christian music, but I recommend no music. Nothing but the natural sounds around you. Make it a prayer walk and spend time talking to God and listening to him as you walk through the woods, along the beach, or what ever other place you know you will not have the disruptions of life messing with you.  Make sure to bring your Bible with you and find a nice place (rock, tree branch, ledge, etc..) to sit and read and pray. 

Happy Sabbath to you :)

October

 Happy Sabbath

I am thankful for a beautiful Sabbath morning.  I am thankful for a restful and wonderful Sabbath evening to start.  I had a successful work week.  I am thankful for the part time job I have.  I was certain that they paid me by accident for the days I missed in September because I was flagged by the COVID survey everyone has to take before reporting to work.  I checked and learned that it was not a mistake.  They not only paid for me to stay out in case I had COVID but they paid me more than what I typically earn and for that I am thankful.  I am thankful that I could pay off one of my credit cards this week. I am thankful that I could get groceries and go to the store and buy different things and don't have to worry that I am going to run short. 

I voted yesterday.  My ballot came in the mail yesterday and I filled it out and headed straight for the building where all ballots in my county are returned to to be counted.  They had armed guards outside and I saw a ballot mail box in front so I dropped it in.  I probably could have went inside like before but my son was with me and he touches everything and doesn't listen.

October is a month that doesn't sit well with me.  Two events cast a dark cloud, a shadow over the entire month but I am doing what I can to see the positive in each month, in every season.  My birthday is towards the end of this month. I haven't done everything I wanted to accomplish this year but I am thankful for the way things have gone so far.  I am still working from home. My son has school from home and I am able to jump in and assist him.  I am planning on going on vacation the week of my birthday and am looking forward to getting away for the second time this year (more than a day trip).  After my birthday passes, and my church sis' as well, then this year is a wrap.  My church sis' daughter's birthday is today, such a sweet little girl. 

 

I am thankful for health. I am thankful for peace. I am thankful for the Lord providing the things that I need.  

 

Happy Sabbath