Remember the song, “Be Careful Little Eyes What You See”? Well, the internet is full of things that I wish my eyes had never seen because it’s hard to forget them afterwards. No, not porn. Just evil. That’s all. Just evil. Dr. Denison just sent this article out and I went, “Oh, my” as I read it because it was unbelievable. Clink on the link and read it for yourself. The bachelorette party is amazing in showing the goodness of mankind. The musician thing is a “Say, what?” for me. And the praying to plants by a church is just beyond idolatry. We live in a world with instant everything. We need to spend more time praying to God and less time online because there are some things on there that are not only unbelievable, but they are from the pits of hell. Satan is indeed the god of the air, unfortunately. But we can certainly stand against his evil ways and promote what is good and pure and wise.

https://www.denisonforum.org/columns/daily-article/bachelorette-party-turns-into-mission-trip-how-social-media-is-changing-the-way-we-experience-reality/?utm_source=The+Daily+Article&utm_campaign=1358565ab3-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_04_16_05_39_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_51f776a552-1358565ab3-275095033&mc_cid=1358565ab3&mc_eid=dac620ebcf

Blessings to all who read this today, and may your eyes and ears seek good things to see and to pass on to others!

If you are a member of the prayer group that Stu started, then you already know that there is a praise report about Megan. She is a former student, a teacher and a young mother. Recently, she went in for her routine 36 week OB check up and suddenly went into cardiac arrest. She was rushed to a local hospital where she underwent a C-section on Saturday morning. Baby Caroline and Megan are both improving. And I am so in awe of God’s power and faithfulness to His people! The call for prayer went out online on Thursday and by Saturday, Megan was conscious and holding her new baby girl. All glory to Him!

Sometimes, though, God does not answer prayer in the way we expect. Disappointment, disillusionment and our own lack of faith kicks in. But I am drawn to the story of Job, a man who lost everything except his faith in God. Clinging to that faith, he dared to face his friends who mocked him, his wife who told him to curse God and die, and all of his physical and mental anguish. Job was more blessed at the end of his life than he had been before all of these trials attacked him. He had faith! And God is not a respecter of persons, so why are our prayers sometimes not answered? I return to a post that I wrote earlier. God does answer all of our prayers. We just have to be aware of His answer. Sometimes, He says “no.” Now, just like little children, we don’t like to hear the word “no” but that is what is best for us at times. God, who is omnipresent and omniscient, is the One who can best determine what is in our best interest, so if he says “no” to us, we have to believe that it’s going to be okay in the end. God can also answer our prayers with a “Wait.” I think this is the hardest for me to accept, because like the people in line at the McDonald’s, I want what I want to happen NOW. Again, we have to accept God’s knowledge of everything and that He is doing what is best for us. Finally, God might say “yes.” Since that is the answer we always want, we tend to be very thankful and praise God and His mighty works with a loud voice and testimony, telling everyone what God has done for us. What if we likewise thanked God for His “no” and “wait” answers? What if we were always in an attitude of being grateful for God’s faithfulness to us, regardless of our circumstances? Sometimes, I am not thankful, and I am acknowledging now that I should be.

I also tend to question God’s sovereignty over the earth, especially when I see so much evil. But we know that God is the final Judge and one day ALL will bow before Him. So, this is the Scripture that God showed me for my questioning heart.

Image from Flickr

Finally, we need to stay immersed in His Word so that we will not become discouraged or down-hearted. His Holy Word is given to us for a reason. It’s like the car manual that I get out every time a warning light comes on in my car so that I can look up how to get that light off. We have a warning light in our hearts and minds that lights up when we have not been spending enough time with God and in His Word. Warning! Warning! His Word is our manual for our lives. In it, we find the answers we seek, often before we even know what we should be asking.

The most important truth in His Word is that Jesus is the Son of God. In believing that marvelous truth, we can go forward in our lives, facing obstacles and trials and knowing that Jesus suffered as we do, but even more. We know that He has conquered death and the grave and that He will bring victory to all of His believers at the end of this age. So, we read God’s Word. We worship. We pray. Then, we wait for God’s answer and accept it, no matter what His answer may be. We need to praise Him because He is always faithful to us. Always! Blessings to each of you for a day filled with answered prayers (remember that all of our prayers are answered in some way), friendships and love.

I used the Randomizer called “My Decider” app to choose the winner.

Kristen Heyl, you are the WINNER! Please DM me with your address so that I can pass it on to the author. She will be sending your free autographed book.

Thank you to all who participated and to everyone who reads my blog!

This truth was in my daily devotional today from Max Lucado. What superpower do we have? PRAYER! When you awaken, do you say a prayer of thanksgiving to God for a new day? As you go through the day, are you calling on God throughout the day? When you see someone driving erratically, in a way that could hurt himself or others, do you send up a prayer for his safety and the safety of those who encounter him? Do you pray for your pastor and the leaders of your church? Do you pray for your community? How about the President and members of Congress? There are so many prayers that should be going up daily from us to God that we should be in prayer constantly. I envision a phone line that I pick up in the morning and call God and then just keep Him on the line all day long. He is available to me, and to you, of course, whenever we call on Him. Here are some quotations that I found about prayer.

I want to close my blog today with Scripture.

Our prayers need to line up with God’s will and we can only know His will by reading His Word. So, as I prayed today about what to post, this is what came to my mind to pray. God bless each of you who read this with a real desire to pray: for yourself, for others, for the world. Bless you, my friends and prayer partners!

This is a book that ALL teachers will want to read, so that means that everyone will want to read it because, after all, we are all teachers in some way. It is the story of a young teacher who wants to make a difference in the life of a boy with a heart condition. Maggie takes on the additional responsibility of home schooling little Yuri, a boy who loves baseball above all things and wants to be able to play, but his heart condition keeps him on the sidelines. His parents, Katya and Sasha are immigrants from Ukraine and were gravely affected by the nuclear accident at Chernobyl. Katya was once a promising ballerina and Sasha is a talented scientist. Both are compelled to seek the best life for Yuri, no matter what the consequences. Throughout many afternoon meetings with Maggie, Yuri discovers that learning can be fun and he begins to write a heartfelt journal about his life’s wish to play baseball and about his life that is mostly on the inside looking out. As a former teacher, I loved this novel and all of the lessons that it teaches. We can make a difference, one child at a time, one family at a time. This book has heart and empathy and teaches about sacrifice and overcoming. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading!

Disclaimer

Disclosure of Material Connection: I won a complimentary copy of this book from the author in an online contest. 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.”

This is a totally clean read and is suitable and recommended for all readers. It is available now at your local bookseller or online.

Special note: My local book group has a Skype meeting with the author scheduled for November 4th. If you are in the central VA area and would like to participate, please feel free to message me for the details.

Just a reminder to enter the contest to enter a free signed copy of Debra Webb’s latest romantic suspense. To enter, just comment on my original blog post about the contest or comment on this one. Good luck, my friends! The contest ends Friday, and I will pick a winner on Saturday, using an app called Randomizer. U.S. entries only for the book. Sorry to my international friends!

Yesterday, I wasn’t online much because I was on a church trip with the Fun Bunch, a group of us who are over fifty-five. We went to a little town in the Shenandoah Mountains of Virginia and saw some beautiful places. We also visited The Cheese Shop, a kind of grocery store run by the Mennonites, with homemade butter and cheeses. Plus, there was a deli there with sandwiches with their cheeses and homemade breads. Yum! So much goodness in one place! We also visited a nursery called Milmont, with so many lovely plants. My favorite, of course, was the yellow rose bush. Mine died after my husband tried to transplant it and I still miss it. Finally, we went to a place with all kinds of country crafts and handmade items. I couldn’t go see what was upstairs or downstairs because of my handicap, but I enjoyed the main floor a lot. So, I did read my Bible yesterday before I left and then off I went to spend the day with friends. Please bear with me as I share photos of my adventure.

I hope that all of you get to spend time with church family. It’s like a little taste of Heaven since one day we will all be together with the Lord. The trip was about two and a half hours away, and that was a lot of car fellowship. Our pastor Scott Pollard is on the left and I am on the other side, on the right. Just in case you don’t recognize me, I’m the one with the cane. The trip was lots of fun! I especially enjoyed making new friends who were only acquaintances before. We are all part of God’s family and it’s such a special thing to be able to spend time together. Blessings, my friends, for a wonderful day filled with God’s Word, fellowship with family and friends, and a feeling of being enough, wherever and whatever you are!

Part science fiction and part thriller, this book started out fast and kept its quick pace throughout. Claire Abrams wants a baby without genetic weaknesses that killed her firstborn son, Colton. She turns to genetic researcher, Dr. Robert Nash, for help in having a child without the mitochondrial disorder that runs in her family. Together with his brilliant and devious lab assistant Jillian, Dr. Nash is able to impregnate Claire with a baby, but his unauthorized research is discovered, so he has to go into hiding. He takes Claire with him and leaves Jillian to face the repercussions. Fast forward eleven years and we have a very angry and vengeful Jillian, fresh out of prison. The book is told in first person, from the POV of various characters and flashes from the past to the present. The short chapters made it an easy book to read, even though books with so much sci-fi usually do not interest me. The psychological thriller part of this book grabbed me and kept me interested until the end, even though I had predicted what that end would be. Fans of trillers with a scientific bent will really enjoy this book!

Disclaimer

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. 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.”

This book is available online and at your favorite local bookseller.

Good morning, faithful readers! I am pleased to announce the author Debra Webb has agreed to provide a free copy of her book to the winner of my blog contest. To enter, all you have to do is comment and tell me what you enjoy about reading. Simple, right? So, here is the book that you can win. The contest will be open until Friday and I will announce the winner on Saturday! Good luck, everyone!

Available TODAY in mass market paperback and e-book.

Note: Because of mailing costs, the contest for a physical book is open to U.S. readers only. Those outside the U.S. are eligible to receive an e-book copy.