Society Grows Darker And My Heroes

We must always remember that the life we live down here is a spiritual battle. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. {Ephesians 6:12} It is so easy to forget this.

When a football player who is homosexual gets drafted and becomes a hero for having sex with other men, we must not forget. When there are very few family friendly shows on television, we must not forget. When Christians and their beliefs are the only ones who are not being tolerated, we must not forget. When pornography is rampant and even Christian men are falling prey to its powerful grip, we must not forget. When right is wrong and wrong is right, we must not forget.

This is not our home. This is not our fight. This is a spiritual battle being waged in the heavenlies over the souls of men. I have been reading Revelation lately and those with the mark of God on their foreheads will be saved from eternal wrath, but those with 666 imprinted on their forehead or wrist, will not. Ironically, Isaiah 66:6 states, "Hark! An uproar from the city! A voice from the temple! The voice of the Lord, rendering recompense to His enemies!"

Yes, for a time and the time is now, it will look like Satan is winning the war but he is not. We must not fear. Instead of being absolutely disgusted with the garbage taking place in our society, get busy praying, serving, and being a light to those in darkness. The end is getting closer and closer. We must not waste one moment fretting for we know how the story ends. We know the last page of the Book. He wins and will reign forever. Hallelujah! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!

***Our home is just on the other side of the hill in the picture. Firemen were still there yesterday when we went to see it. I gave one a hug with tears in my eyes and thanked them. They are my heroes!

When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, 
nor shall the flame scorch you.
Isaiah 43:2

Laine's Letters And Paying Off Debt, Part 6

Since typing all of these posts out that Laine wrote, I truly see what an amazing woman of God she was and how much she depended upon His strength for wisdom and joy. I love learning from wise woman and she certainly qualifies. 

As I recall, the last letter I got from her, both of her sons were married and both of their wives were pregnant. Her sons were away in the military so they both lived in trailers on her property. (I may have some of the details wrong but this is what I recall.) One daughter-in-law was so sick that she had to go back home with her family. Laine and her husband did adopt a baby girl from China. Anyways, back to counting down the 50 ways they paid off their home without her having to work outside the home. The series begins HERE.

We own a 1984 diesel Mercedes. It isn't used much since both Ken and I are home most of the time but it is nice to have around for out-of-town guests or if we need a second car for something. The insurance is cheap and it just runs and runs and runs with very little maintenance. It has over 300,000 miles in it without ever needing a new engine and it still purrs like a kitten!

25 ~ We try to keep things running with good maintenance. My husband changes the oil in the cars regularly. I keep the vacuum filters clean with regular maintenance. Likewise, the dryer lint vent, and other machines we use. It pays to keep them up, so that you won't have to buy another one due to poor maintenance. My husband always tries to fix things himself, especially our cars. He'll get a book and figure it out, get on the phone and talk to other men, then tackle the task himself. I am usually in the house praying for him.

26 ~ Many times we must wait on the Lord for something and pray. We have waited on the Lord many times during a crisis. He is always faithful. He always shows us the way. "You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusts in Thee" (Isaiah 26:3).

27 ~ I am learning that organization saves time and money. Which is why I am organizing this house and have been for many years. I didn't get into this unorganized problem overnight, so it's taking me awhile to get things in order. The better the kitchen runs, the more time and money I can save.

28 ~ "Use it up" or "wear it out" or "make do." This is definitely how we live which is how we save. And if you keep it clean, it's really not that expensive, because you don't have to buy another. My grandmother used to say it doesn't cost much to keep things clean. She was right.

29 ~ I've cut our hair for twenty years. Incredible savings here. I would estimate about a $2400 savings or more here, so that really helped us pay off our house. Plus I saved on gas getting to the hairdressers and time spent there. I learned from a book from the library and from asking hairdressers questions.

30 ~ We've never paid for a babysitter. I know that's hard to believe, but we never have. We've either swapped babysitting, had my folks babysit for special occasions, or we didn't go. We just couldn't afford babysitters and a night out on our tight budget. Our nights out were very modestly priced when we did go, which was rare, as I've mentioned before.

31 ~ We buy our clothes at thrift shops or garage sales or on sale at the stores. We've never spent a lot on clothes.

32 ~ I've been the family photographer for years. I took photography in college so our living room is adorned with shots of our kids as they grew up. In 24 years of marriage, we've only had our family picture taken professionally three times. 

Part 7

All of Laine's Letters

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We NEED Men In Emergency Situations!

Living in Southern California, I am all too familiar with Santa Ana winds, 95 degree weather, zero humidity and firestorms. On Wednesday, Ken and Ryan had a golf tournament 30 minutes north of here. I was home alone working on the computer. All of a sudden, the sun disappeared...never a good sign with Santa Ana winds since there is never a cloud in the sky.

I opened my front door and a huge cloud of smoke looked to be a block away. I ran inside and called 911. It was busy. I ran across the street to my neighbors and alerted them of the fire. I found out it was about a mile east but that is nothing when the winds are wiping the fire right in line with your home. I had no idea what to do.

My son, Steven, from Texas, told me to call Jon, my son-in-law, and have him come over to be with me in case I needed to evacuate. He showed up shortly afterwards and told me to pack up right away. We needed to get out soon. {The picture above is the one he took as he was coming to get me.}

What to pack? I was paralyzed. I had no idea. Jon told me to get passports, birth certificates, etc. so I did. I went up into my room and grabbed a bit of my lotions, makeup, toothbrush, socks, and clothes. Ken wanted me to take his laptop. I-5 was closed due to fire and bad accidents so he couldn't even come home if he wanted to.

Yrena, a good neighbor friend of mine, called while I was trying to pack. She was frantic over her dog, crying and full of fear. Jon calmly said he would run down to him and get him. We would take care of him for her. Today she called and said that when she heard of the fires and she was 20 minutes from home, her son Eric called her and encouraged her to calm down and call us.

Ken and Ryan finally made it to our house. Then it took Ryan over an hour to get to his home {only fifteen minutes away} because of all the road closures. Erin was all packed up and ready to evacuate with smoke billowing in the distant. Knowing Erin, I am sure she was extremely happy and relieved when Ryan, her rock, showed up.

Yrena told me how happy she is that there are men in our lives to help us in times of emergency situations. For some reason, we both lost our ability to think clearly so our sons and my son-in-law thought for us! I am very thankful for the men in my life. Whenever I have been in an emergency situation with my health or the children or whatever, the person I want by my side is Ken because he always knows just what to do.

Men overall are more rational than women especially in emergency situations. God made them that way and I, for one, am very happy that He did. {Now if we can only stop having hot, windy, and dry days...}

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, 
act like men, be strong. 
I Corinthians 16:13

Dangers of Turmeric

Everyone is touting the wonders of Turmeric for inflammation in the body, improving your digestion, healing high blood pressure, etc. Even Dr. Weil was on Dr. Oz yesterday touting how great Turmeric is for us.

 I was in a car accident 25 years ago, smashed between two semi-trucks with double whiplash. I had to have my neck fused but whenever I pick up anything too heavy, I inflame it again and am in pain for many weeks. I eventually found out how to calm it down with a ton of icing!

Several years ago, I hurt my neck again.This time, however, I decided to try taking Turmeric every day also, on top of icing, to try and get rid of the inflammation faster. I would take a half a teaspoon in juice every morning and drink it down. After a month, my neck was so much worse. It felt like it was on fire. I finally figured out that it was my esophagus that was inflamed and the intense pain was radiating to my neck!

I searched on the Internet and found that Turmeric is a very strong spice and can lead to ulcers and gastritis, therefore, I had fried my esophagus from the Turmeric! After brain surgery years earlier, I had fried my esophagus and stomach from the high doses of cortisone the doctors put me on. The doctors then treated me for acid reflux for several years with no success. I knew I didn't want to go that route again.

Once again, I lived on Aloe Vera juice, very soft mild food and took a small dose of HCL after eating protein to make sure my food digested well and wouldn't cause me more problems. It took a good month and a ton of pain to heal, but it finally did. Therefore, be VERY careful taking Turmeric. Herbs are not as innocent as they appear. You need to be careful with any herb or drug you put into your mouth. Research it thoroughly before taking! It is always best to find out a way for your own body to heal itself rather than taking drugs since there are NO side effects when your body heals itself and it does a much better job!

***Remember, I'm NOT a doctor. I'm just a homemaker who loves to research 

natural cures and have found many that have worked for my family and me. Information I have given is for educational and informational purposes only and to motivate you to make your own health care and dietary decisions based upon your own research and in partnership with your health care provider. Any statements or claims about the possible health benefits conferred by any foods or supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Nothing you read here should be relied upon to determine dietary changes, a medical diagnosis or course of treatment.