I hope that today you will thank a veteran. Take one to lunch or dinner. There are a lot of lonely vets out there who just want someone to acknowledge them. My husband and I are planning on going out for a meal today, although I am not sure which meal. It will be his choice because it is his day. He also wants to watch the movie “Midway” so if that is playing in the town closest to us, we will go see it. I am not at all interested in war movies, but he is. I am thankful for my veteran husband today and for my father who served in WWII (he passed away in 2017) and for my friends who were in the military, serving alongside my husband. I am also thankful for those who are serving today, keeping those of us in the United States safe from harm. Honor our veterans, not just today, but every day because they deserve our respect for all of their sacrifices and the duty that they felt to serve.

Photo from btd.org

I am beyond thankful that I was born and live in the United States of America! I have been to Canada, Mexico, Spain, Guatemala, Iceland, Great Britain and Morocco. Although each country is beautiful, none of them equals the beauty of the U.S., with the majestic mountains of the west, the gorgeous beaches on the east and west coasts, and the mountains and valleys that welcome me home, named the Blue Ridge. I have lived in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina, Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Georgia, Oklahoma, and finally Virginia. I have visited California, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, Nebraska, and Colorado. There are many other places that I would like to visit, but our finances prevent that. However, I am so blessed to have been born and be able to live here. There is no place like the United States. There are a variety of people and views in this nation, all of them breathtaking. This is the land of the free, because of the brave!

Photo from flags.com

Before you begin reading, I want you to swallow. Did you do it without any difficulty? Well, for many months, I had difficulty swallowing. Even the simplest liquids like water were very difficult for me to swallow. In fact, I was given a prescription for some liquid medication to take to numb my throat and down through my esophagus so that I could swallow more easily. The pain was excruciating and indescribable, so I am thankful today for swallowing. When I had my surgery in March to push my stomach back where it belonged, the surgeon also had to put a wrap around my esophagus. Because stomach acid had backed into it for years (who knows how long, really?), my feeding tube was badly worn and damaged. So the wrap strengthens it and makes it so I can swallow more easily. Even after the surgery, there was about six weeks in which swallowing was so painful that I didn’t want to even try to eat anything. That’s when I was on a liquid diet and then progressed to softly cooked fish and veggies. In spite of my travail, I came through everything and I am healed! I can swallow! I am so thankful that when I pick up my cup of tea or my glass of water that I can swallow without pain. Are you thankful for swallowing? Think about it.

We are definitely fearfully and wonderfully made!

Have a blessed day, my friends, and remember not to take the small things like swallowing for granted!

Have you noticed that there are a lot of people who are openly sinning and seem to think that it’s okay? It’s like God has changed His mind about what is sinful. Well, He hasn’t and it really bothers me when people just fall into bed with others without thinking of the consequences. We have made society into a group that accepts sin as something that is every man’s individual choice. Humankind is making their own choices; in a way, many have become their own gods. “If it feels good, do it” has become the mantra of many in our world today. You can see it on billboards, on television, in the movies and I even read it in some of the books that I am supposed to review. Man is lawless because he has become a law unto himself. That will never work out because God’s Word is the Law. God has the last word about sin, so people need to think about the effects of their sin on others and on themselves. I’m saddened by an entire population that thinks being gay is a good thing. They deceive themselves in saying it was the way that they were born, so they just have to accept that as part of their fate. Then, there are the ones who kill little babies in the womb. Now that my state of Virginia is totally democratic (both house, senate and governor), the governor is likely to pass a bill that abortion is okay up until birth. He even did an interview in which he said that the baby could be killed after birth if the mom decides she doesn’t want it. WHAT?!? My mind is blown because of the lack of belief in God that people seem to have. They don’t believe in Heaven or Hell, so they don’t believe in a future reward or consequences. I wonder sometimes if they are deceiving themselves. I know for sure that Satan is alive and well and spreading his evil lies everywhere. But God won’t be mocked forever; the Day of Judgment is coming and the time is now for those of us who believe to stand up for our beliefs and to say, “Enough!” We have not been led astray by the lies of the world, but others have. We need to proclaim loudly and clearly that the God of the Universe is alive and well and He will ultimately judge all sin…whether people want to call it sin or not.

There are preachers everywhere who say from the pulpit that various sins are okay. They and their flock will answer to God because He stands by His Word, the Word that is truth. What myth have you believed? Is there someone in your family who has been deceived? There are multiple members of my family who do not believe the truth but who have quickly latched onto the lies. Why is that? Well, I think it is because the lie is what they want to believe. Let’s join in prayer together for those who are deceived and who have “itching ears” to hear the Word of Truth, be convicted and repent.

Blessings to each of you for a day in which you hear only truth. My prayers is that filling our hearts with truth will overflow to a needy world!

I am thankful for cars. Since we live in a very rural area (think lots of trees and few humans), it isn’t easy (almost impossible, in fact) to get to a place with a store without a car. The closest Walmart is seventeen miles away. Most of my medical appointments are further than that, from forty to fifty miles away. How do we get to all of these places? In a car, of course! My car, a 2013 Toyota RAV4 is in the shop, having the transmission repaired under a manufacturer’s warranty. So, my husband and I are left to use the old Kia that I used in the early 2000’s to get to work. It went into the shop for repairs, stayed there almost three years (the shade tree mechanic was in no hurry to do the work). Once my husband got it back, it made a horrible noise. Think motorcycle, but it’s a car! When we came back from the Toyota dealer on Wednesday where I left my much loved Rav, I had to wear my noise cancelling headphones inside the car in order not to get an awful headache. Thank goodness my husband thought about bringing those along. Now, we wait. We wait for the Toyota dealership to call and tell us my car is ready. They said maybe by late afternoon today. Thus, I am thankful for cars. They are our route out of the wilderness into what I term civilization. I thank God that He watches over us and takes care of us when we travel and that He has given us the means to do so!

What are you thankful for today? Do you have reliable transportation? I hope so! Blessings for a great day filled with safe travels in the car or truck or whatever God has provided for you!

I know that you have all heard or seen the guy in the end zone doing his little dance or the racer at the finish line patting himself or herself on the back. God wants us to take pride in things that are much more important.

If we think that we are wise or mighty or rich, then the only thing that we should actually be proud about is the fact that we know God. Now, I have known the Lord as my Savior for almost 47 years, but I don’t know all that I want to know, not by a long shot. Nor do I even pretend to understand Him. You know the Scripture verse that says His ways are not our ways, right? Many times I have seen the things happening on earth and I’m glad that I am not God because in my disgust, I would probably just have wiped man off the earth. But God knows all and understands all, and I only know a part and understand a part. I understand some really important and valuable life lessons, one of which is that the Lord offers us loving kindness (when we probably deserve judgment), he exercises justice (think of all the ways God is just) and He exercises righteousness. How does He do the latter? Well, He sent His Son to die for us and then we show the righteousness of God to a lost world. Righteousness equals right standing with God. I am not in right standing with God without the shed blood of Jesus Christ which God so freely provided for each of us. The final part of this verse says that God delights in exercising His loving kindness, justice and righteousness in the earth. I think that this part of the verse also refers back to the first part in that God also delights in having us understand and know Him. Every day that we spend on earth should be a day in which we know Him a little more, understand Him a little more and can share what we have learned with others. After all, that is our purpose here…to be His hands, feet, eyes and ears to the people who need to know and understand Him. I must admit that I would like to be wise, mighty and rich (especially rich), but God says that if I understand and know Him, I already am. How about you? Are you dancing in the end zone of life because you know the Lord? Let’s all dance together here on earth and make others wonder what we are so happy about! Blessings to each of you for a day filled with God’s glory!

This will be short and sweet because I don’t have photos of all of my friends, but they are the ones that I’m thankful for today. I lost my best friend in March of 2017 and it was a rough year for me without Heidi there. But God is gracious and merciful and sent me other friends with whom I can confide and just be me. You know what it’s like, don’t you? There are a few in a close circle with whom you can share your heartaches and your heart’s desires without feeling judged. It’s those ladies that I am most thankful for. Friends are a part of the world that we really need in our lives and I thank God for each lady who has touched and is still touching my life. I will always miss Heidi and look forward to seeing her again someday, but meanwhile, I am making it…one day at a time, with many physical friends and many more friends online. I count you, my readers, as online friends, and I am thankful for each of you. Blessings for a day filled with friendships and thankfulness!

Quotations about friendship from quoteambition.com

I am happy to have been selected to be part of the Harlequin Romance Blog Tour.

Here is my review of the book:

This romance book is just that…romance with a lot of the author’s signature humor added in. The sex scenes were very graphic, but if you like that kind of thing, it will work for you, although it had me skipping pages. Renee is a wedding planner who wants a relationship with no strings attached. Enter Jasper, the new resident writer, who fits the bill nicely and volunteers for the position. Renee and Jasper have an interesting relationship that develops throughout the book, with a little meandering here and there to include pets. I enjoyed the book but was surprised when it seemed to end so suddenly because by then I wanted more of the story. Fans of Mallery and fans of romance in general will enjoy this book. But I would say that it is for mature readers because of the almost erotic sex scenes. I haven’t read any of the other Happily, Inc. series, so I don’t know if this is a general thing in these books.

Disclaimer

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley and I also purchased my own copy from Barnes and Noble. 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 fun romance is available now from your local bookseller and online.

SUSAN MALLERY is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of novels about the relationships that define women’s lives—family, friendship, romance. Library Journal says, “Mallery is the master of blending emotionally believable characters in realistic situations,” and readers seem to agree—40 million copies of her books have sold worldwide. Her warm, humorous stories make the world a happier place to live.

Susan grew up in California and now lives in Seattle with her husband. She’s passionate about animal welfare, especially that of the two ragdoll cats and adorable poodle who think of her as mom.

Bio information from susanmallery.com

My rating of the book:

Since I am a big reader, I am very thankful for the authors who provide so many hours of entertainment for me and other avid readers. I have been a reader since I was a young child, asthmatic and forced to remain inside so that an attack would not be triggered. On Monday evening, my book group at the local library had a wonderful FaceTime meeting with author Alyson Richman. She was so kind to work around our schedules and discuss her book THE SECRET OF CLOUDS with us. What a real treat this was for us! If you have not read this book, then I highly recommend it. It is literary fiction that teaches a lesson that all of us could stand to learn. The meeting was fantastic and the other members and I all agreed that we would love to do it again if we can find other authors to participate. Being from a small rural county has its drawbacks, one of them being that we don’t get a chance to meet authors very much. The virtual meeting with Alyson was memorable and a blessing. So, I am thankful for authors today! What or who has touched your life and been a blessing to you?

I hope that if you are on Facebook, you will follow this sweet and talented author. Thank you, Alyson, for your gracious gift to my book group. And thank you to all of the authors who have nourished my love for reading with your expertise at writing!

Blessings to all of my readers because you give me a reason to write this blog!

Today is a day of being thankful for many things, but I am focusing on my pet Daisy.

This is Daisy lying on my lap and sleeping peacefully. She doesn’t mind if I cuddle or pet her while she is sleeping. Her favorite touch points are between her ears and under her chin. Sometimes, if she is feeling extra loving, she will roll over on her back and invite me to pet her very soft belly. She is a spoiled cat and I am blessed to have her. For many years, just being near a cat (or dog, for that matter) would set off a sneezing fit and then be shortly followed by an asthma attack. That did not keep us from having pets, but they were the children’s pets, a Pekingnese dog named Mickey and a gray tabby cat named Misty. Once the children left home for college and then marriage, I continued to care for their pets, but I never cuddled with them, knowing that it could leave me with an illness that would be hard to get over. Nevertheless, when Mickey and then Misty passed away over a decade ago, I continued to long for a pet of my own. Three years ago, I begged, cajoled, pleaded and just made myself a nuisance to my husband, trying to persuade him to allow me to have a kitten. My allergies seemed to be under control, more or less, and I was willing to suffer through whatever I had to in order to have a pet of my own. Finally, with my daughter chiming in, my husband gave in and took me to the SPCA. Our grandchildren who were visiting from PA helped us to pick out Daisy. She was already named by the shelter, and I added her middle name of “Tee” since the T’s helped me choose her. From day one, she has been a companion to me, following me around the house, climbing into my lap if I am seated and nuzzling me if she wants attention that I am not giving. We touch noses like an Eskimo kiss and have spent many hours just being together. And my allergies and asthma? No sign of either around Daisy. Nothing! Not one sneeze or cough. That, my friends, is God’s grace, allowing me the desire of my heart to have a pet that I had longed for my entire life. God is good!

What unexpected blessings have you had in your life that God dropped into your life and then later realized that’s what it was? I hope that God blesses you in many ways today, but especially in a way that is a testimony to His great love for you!