Welcome to another episode of my musings. It’s another busy week on my end, I assume it is for you as well. Almost half of the posts for the solar panels are in the ground and today we finally had a good rain day after weeks with none, and finally completed planting the garden except for moving my flowers into their new beds. I picked the first radishes, the “Early Globe” variety, which are a treat on salads. Our second air conditioner is in our dining-room window now, preparing for a hot week to come.
Oh, did I say, ‘Bumming around’? I spent about an hour in Salvation Army’s thrift store looking for a pair of jeans I can wear to work in the garden dirt. No success there, but I spent another hour browsing in Ollie’s with my 15% off coupon “burning a hole” in my purse. After a thorough perusal of the mattress pads, which was my primary reason for shopping there, I found the one that should fit our bed best. I also found two varieties of Kind snack bars, a couple books, a new journal, a couple boxes of assorted Birthday cards, and of course, a small bag of York peppermint patties; did I mention I also bought a container of mini peppermint patties at the bulk food store yesterday while picking up a bag of white rice flour I’d ordered? My ‘sweet tooth needs reigning in, I think. Amazing what you can find when you don’t have a time restraint on your shopping!

My attempt at using Proverbs and the Virkler’s Naturally Supernatural book for devotions has gone by the wayside for now as I begin Aliss Cresswell’s book The Normal Supernatural Christian Life. Aliss’ testimonies of the miracles and healings that go on in their ministry gives me deeper hunger for the things of God. On page 15, Aliss shares that her name Alison means ‘sacred flame’ and the minister at her dedication as a baby quoted Psalm 104:4 “He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.”
The minister prayed that… “‘I would be like a flame of fire and a messenger from God.’ I didn’t know this until recently, but for many years I have felt a fire burning within me, and from an early age have introduced people to Jesus.” (p. 15) Aliss shares this after a man sitting by her on a plane broke out in a sweat and turned red. He asked her what was going on; he was involved in other religions, but realized what was emanating from her was spiritually stronger than anything he’d experienced before, and he gave his life to the Lord!
We must understand we are mighty warriors, just as Gideon found out in the book of Judges. The time is NOW to take back our spiritual heritage and walk in the fullness of what Christ has purchased for us. After a week of floundering, I will dig in to this book and the Lord by the Holy Spirit and look forward to experiencing more of the fire Aliss talks about.
![Even Forever: A Novel by [Robin Lee Hatcher]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51eSnop01hS.jpg)
Have I told you about the Birthday gift I got from Robin Lee Hatcher? Her birthday was four days before mine and she offered a free Kindle download of her new book, Even Forever, to her followers. I got to read it last weekend and realized again what a wonderful storyteller and character developer Robin is. Rosalie Tomkin is daughter of a drunkard who has been in jail and is just returning home to the boarding house she has been helping her mother run while he’s been gone. With a ne’er-do-well brother taking after his father’s sins, she wants to leave Boulder Creek, Colorado as quickly as possible. A wealthy visitor from California is staying at her mother’s boarding house. Could he be her ticket to the city? The book is set in 1890, just as Colorado is becoming a state and the railroad is coming their way. This is a story of redemption, God making a way of escape for the innocent, and ending the reign of terror. I enjoyed this historical fiction. Stories like this aren’t the only place dreams of the heart come true. I can see this tale giving hope to some hopeless people.
I rejoice that the strict guidelines for Covid protocol are loosening in our state! Yesterday I got to go inside the library for the first time in a year. God’s truth will prevail if we continue to wait patiently and pray in faith.
Have you been invited to a prayer meeting lately? Please go if you get the chance! We need to gather with others to pray in agreement that God’s will shall be done here on earth as in heaven. We are in a new era and the Greater Glory is falling on us. I end with these Scriptures, summing up all that I’ve written. Yes, God is talking about bringing in the tithe, but I am claiming this whole passage. I’m assuming you tithe, as do I?
Malachi 3:10b “And try Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts,
“If I will not open for you the windows of heaven
And pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it.
11 “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes,
so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground,
nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,”
says the Lord of hosts;
Shalom to you, my dear ones. We will ponder again next week, Lord willing.

Today I join the crowd turning 58! As the song ![Here in Hart's Crossing: Four Charming Small Town Novellas by [Robin Lee Hatcher]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/515vpxkeScL.jpg)
On other birthday news, I found a one-hundred-dollar bill in my Birthday Card from my husband John. He told me it’s not to give away, put in savings, or use for “needs”, he wants me to get something I will really enjoy! Two of my four children have already texted Happy Birthday, my phone hasn’t stopped pinging, and we’re going to visit my son Alex’s family later today. We’re heading from there to Vermont for the first time since son Chris moved his family there to attend a Birthday Party for our granddaughter Ashlynn. She turned 5 on May 7th. The weather here has become true May weather; the sun is back after a long stretch of rainy days, so it’s a great weekend to travel and visit.
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation! I’m so thankful for all the years He has been my strength and my song. So many deep waters and Hallelujah times woven together to bring me to this day. I am thankful for my mom who spent this day in the hospital in 1963, thankful for her parents who arrived the evening before I made my appearance, thankful for my dad who was so happy to welcome his fourth child into the family. I’m also thankful for the people I have met that have the same birthday. I think there must be some connection there, since God plans our appearance; our birth on the earth, to be just right for His glorious plans to unfold.