As you can imagine, I have not been able to do a lot of physical activity lately, so I have been watching more news on TV than usual. Normally, by about 11 A.M., I am done with the news! So over it! I know that you are aware already, but there is so much evil in the world that it seems to be overwhelming us. Part of this is because it’s just what sinful men do. Part of it is because we, as Christians, have stepped away from our responsibility to our world. Thus, I was driven to check out what the Scriptures say about evil and their end.

First of all, we are told not to get frustrated over all of the evil in the world. We should keep in mind that they will all die away, and unfortunately for them, for all eternity. The grass is turning green now outside the window by my chair. There are some patches of brown still, but soon it will all be green and the man who comes over to mow our grass will be here again. We are supposed to look at that grass and realize that though it seems to be plentiful, it won’t be there forever. Neither will evil.

Our job is just to be still, to patiently wait for the Lord. His judgment is coming, whether it be at the death of the wicked or at Judgment Day. Yes, the wicked schemes seem to be succeeding right now. The college admissions scheme absolutely infuriates me because each student admitted wrongly kept out one who had tried the right way. But, guess what? They were caught and I hope the consequences are severe. More, I hope that they repent before the Lord so the consequences will not be eternal ones. The lack of justice in Chicago makes my blood boil, almost literally. Honestly, every time the news mentions Jussie Smollett, my blood pressure rises. As far as I’m concerned, if I were the judge (thank goodness that I’m not), he would be in jail for one year for every time he repeated his lie about the attack. But, again, he seems to be getting away with it. But the Bible says although he may succeed here, he won’t succeed when he stands before the Lord. Think about it. Will you or I be standing before the King of Kings and tell lies and he will say to us that it’s all good, we can get into Heaven anyway? Of course not! Judgment is coming…perhaps not now, but definitely later.

I want to be like the Lord and be able to laugh at the wicked, knowing that their day is coming. But I can’t do that because my heart aches for them and the fact that they are lost and don’t know it. They will be lost for all eternity if they don’t repent and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, turn from their wickedness and walk the road of salvation and repentance and peace. What are the chances that this will happen? I have no idea, but now as I write, I am determined to pray for each wicked person that the news reports about. They need Jesus no less than I did and He showed mercy on me. I pray that is what God will do for them and all others who flaunt their wickedness for the world to see. I’m sure that God’s heart breaks over the evil in the world, too. Have mercy, and save them, O Lord! I hope that many of you will join me in this prayer so that together, our prayers can be an instrument of change in this wicked world. Blessings for a wonderful day and weekend!

Have you ever heard the old saying about staying somewhere too long? Most hosts don’t mind having you as a guest for a few days, but after that, they want you to move on, to let them get on with their regular routine. Some of us get stuck in a rut, that is, we stay too long in a place. Oftentimes, we are staying somewhere that God told us to move out of. I was stuck in this rut for many years. My rut was called bitterness; I was very bitter and angry with my husband for moving me so many times that by the time we settled down, the children were all almost adults and all of the childhood memories that I wanted to have of their being in one home were not possible. Thus I went through my days barely speaking to my husband and holding a grudge for many years. Then the Lord spoke to my heart and told me to move on. I couldn’t go back and re-do the past, but I could change my reaction to it and move forward into the future that God had for me. And that future has been a good one! I have grandchildren to spoil and more love than I thought possible from the man that I disdained for years. God doesn’t want us to stay in one place, especially if that place is not a good one for us to be in. He wants us to pull ourselves out of that ditch, that rut, that mountain that we think we cannot get over; He desires for us to move on!

Since God spoke to the Israelites and told them that they had been at that mountain long enough, don’t you think that He would likewise speak to us to move on? I think that there are many of us who get stuck, mired down by what we want and not looking for what God wants for us. Believe me, I speak from experience when I say that God’s plans are much better than your own and He will bless you as you move into His will and let go of the old, embracing the new. I hope someone needed this today. I know that I needed to remind myself of how far God has brought me. Blessings!

I’m not just saying this on my own. God’s Word has a lot to say about it, in that the Creator gives life and is also the One who should decide when or if a baby dies. That’s right! A baby! NOT “just a fetus.” NOT “just a bunch of cells.” God created that fetus and bunch of cells and gave them life. I applauded the governor of Kentucky this week when he decided to sign a law making it illegal to abort a baby with Down’s Syndrome. Of course, the ACLU is getting involved to protest the new law, but that’s the way things go in our country. Since I wanted to find out what the laws of the different states are concerning abortion, I did a Google search and came up with the following statistics. These are from Guttmacher.org.

If you want, you can go to this site and check it out yourself. You can also sign up for updates on the laws. I also recommend that you sign up on LifeNews.com for the latest information on laws and the abortion controversy.

Why am I so adamant to continue to beat this same drum? Because the little ones in the womb have no drum to beat! They are innocent little lives, dependent on adults to support and defend them. I choose to do so because I read my Bible and know that life is sacred to God. He gives the breath of life to each individual and we are all created in His image.

None of us totally understands how life happens. Yes, we know cells divide and reproduce and voila! A little human! Before the “voila” is our God who breathes life into this tiny one. I believe that with all of my being and will defend their right to life until the day that God decides that it is time to call me home.

I just went through a very scary major surgery and I’m in recovery now. Just as God created me, He is working on healing me. I am getting better daily, and I thank God that He chose to keep me alive after this ordeal. But more, I thank God for each tiny life that has a heart beating and feels pain and I want them to have a chance at life, too. I went into surgery knowing that I have a lot of health issues and might not make it through the procedure. Nevertheless, I prayed and trusted God and here I am. My prayer is that those considering abortion will consider the life of the baby and not their own desires and will hear the Lord telling them that He created that life and it is His little person, created to serve Him all of its days.

Blessings to each of you, especially to those who prayed for me during my surgery. Continued prayers are appreciated as I am healing.

I’m going to give a big shout out to Lucky #13 for Tracers author Laura Griffin. This is absolutely the best one that I have read yet, and I have read all of them since I am such a big fan! This book is centered around Sara Lockhart, a top forensic anthropologist who works hard in the deep recesses of the Delphi Center. When she stumbles onto a case of missing women in the same area in which she likes to climb and hike, she is drawn into the case. She is also magnetically attracted to the local police detective Nolan Hess, so the stage is set for some fast-paced action and lots of fireworks in the romance department. I really enjoyed finding out more about the quiet and elusive Sara and what has made her into the introverted, driven worker that she is. Meeting Nolan was a bonus, of course! The villain was a real surprise to me, although the clues were all there to follow, albeit subtle. I liked being led to a surprise conclusion and knowing that the loose ends are all tied up in the end, although everything is not a happy ending for all involved. Fans of the Tracers series will not want to miss this one and those who read romantic suspense need to add it to their to-be-read-right-away pile!

Disclaimer

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

Releases on Tuesday, March 26th, so preorder today or get it at your local bookseller or retailer.

I’m claiming this Scripture below as I struggle through this recovery process that my surgeon says will take 2-3 months to be complete. It sounds like a really long time, doesn’t it? Well, I have been on a restricted diet since my stroke in 2015. I went on a more restrictive diet because of my digestive issues that were discovered in December of last year. Now, I am even more restricted. Pictured below are the items I am allowed to drink, my nourishment for the next two weeks at least.

I am delighted to at least be on the road to recovery, after having survived a traumatic major surgery. Those of you who are squeamish can skip over the part in italics since I’m describing the surgery.

My stomach had moved up into my chest wall and was resting on my esophagus and next to my heart and lungs. The danger came in that the stomach moves to digest food and could strangle my heart. That didn’t happen, but that was why I needed the surgery. The surgeon used a robot to pull my stomach back into place, to put mesh to close up my diaphragm and to use mesh to wrap part of my stomach around my weakened esophagus. (I humorously tell everyone that there was no border wall, so my stomach just crossed over where it didn’t belong. Ha! Ha!).

End of yucky description! The surgery took just about two hours, but somehow I was in recovery for almost three hours. They had a bed all ready for me (my husband was waiting in the room there), but I was having problems with pain and pain meds since I have so many allergies. They finally found one to administer that would control my pain enough so that I could be moved.

Now, back to the real reason I am writing. Jesus died for my sins (and yours, too). Before His death, He was beaten harshly and every stripe that He bore on His back from the whips was a testimony to His healing that He has for us. I could not help but think of the pain that our Savior endured for us…for us! He expected nothing in return except for us to accept Him as our Savior and Lord. He didn’t have hard feelings, blame us or refuse to forgive those who placed Him on the Cross. In fact, He asked the Father to forgive from the cross where he suffered the final throes of death. I have wounds, but nothing like what Jesus had. I have pain, but nothing like what Jesus had. I can’t take pain killers because of allergies, so the pain is mine to own. I do breathing exercises every hour to help me to learn how to do deep breathing again. Do you remember Jesus’s agonized last breath? That puts everything into the proper perspective and lets me get up and face the challenge of each new day. He isn’t finished with me yet; after all, He brought me through the surgery. Now, it is up to me to share His love and His sacrifice to others so that those who are in pain can give that pain to Jesus and be healed…now and forevermore. Blessings for a day filled with His love and power!