It's Been a Long Time

Like many of you, I'm sure these past few months have been filled with utter amazement, total disbelief and complete dismay as you try to figure out what is really going on when a sitting president can be removed from office without impeachment; a former president, whose candidacy has just been announced, is forced to undergo one indictment after another on witch hunt investigations whose only purpose is to bankrupt and force him to drop out; and when a woman whose own party had no faith in her ability to utter a simple sentence without turning it into a word salad no one could understand is suddenly crowned the Democratic nominee without so much as a single vote of confidence. 

It's like some dystopian novel where every law, social construct and individual liberty is under constant attack and the reader is left to wonder just how much time the innocent heroes and heroines have before the powerful elites and their cronies pull the final plug driving everyone but themselves into a life of servitude and utter misery. But I must admit that as bad as things are in our country right now with innocent people being victimized while the corrupt, vengeful haters go blithely about their privileged existence, I did find one strong ray of hope during my visit to see my sister a couple of weeks ago. It was positive proof that those who love God, country and family still exist. In America's heartland people are willing to speak their beliefs while so many individuals where I live fear for their safety should anyone learn they are Trump supporters. 

It shouldn't be like in a country whose Founding Father's recognized God's hand in forming a Constitution and Bill of Rights that were meant to ensure our continued liberties and freedom. Watching those precious gifts slip away as some Americans, and most of the illegals that have been let inside our country without vetting, demand more and more government support is truly horrifying. I hope it's only because those in power--along with the media, educational and entertainment support they have purchased and indoctrinated over the years--have simply brainwashed the masses. My belief is that the majority of Americans are still good, honest, hardworking, God-fearing individuals who love the flag and all it stands for and will vote their true conscience when the time for truth arrives.

I will admit that with all the violent unrest in our country I was somewhat hesitant to even get on a plane and fly into the outskirts of St. Louis, Missouri. The terrorists throughout our nation have been brought here and mobilized for a reason and they're getting antsy to do their worst to anyone who does not live in an ivory tower behind high fences and elaborate security systems. But I kept telling myself that God knows what is in store for us as individuals and our country as a whole. The scriptures put it very plainly as to what will happen in the days preceding Christ's return. And while I never thought I would live to see what is happening now, I need to accept the blessing of continued mortality since I obviously have further work to do before being called home. 

What an amazing surprise awaited as my sister and I left the freeway to enter Branson, Missouri. Opposite the first stop light was a Trump store selling memorabilia and it was packed. "That's new," I told my sister. "I wonder if the other one on Highway 76 is still there?" We drove a few miles further and the one we had visited the year before was packed with tourists too. For the first time in months, I felt like I was finally in a place where I could be myself without fearing retaliation of some kind. All along the strip were signs supporting Trump and men, women and children wearing Trump hats and other gear. Flags were flying, pedestrians were walking on the sidewalks and police cars were openly visible letting me know that I could feel safe here.

Our condo was the best one we'd found yet with a king-sized bed in each bedroom and plenty of room to spread out in the living area and enjoy the ambience. After unpacking, I blew up the cutest polkadot balloons while my sister hung a Happy Birthday sign over the fireplace. We'd decided the year before to start celebrating our November birthdays early since no one else seemed to care about giving us a party or even remembering that we were a year older. What fun it was to sing Happy Birthday to each other, make wishes, blow out candles, open presents and eat birthday cake while we talked about things only close sister would dare share. 

For eight glorious days, we slept later than usual, ate breakfast on the balcony, took our time getting ready for the day and only went to shows we really wanted to see. We took three pans filled with homemade cinnamon rolls to the theatre where our friends performed and spent time visiting with them along with those who worked behind the scenes and out front in the ticket and concession area. It was such fun, but my most touching memories are of the people we met who were part of the audience. An entire group of church ladies from Kansas City who were on a weekend retreat praised God for his goodness and mercy numerous times during one performance. There were four black women who for three days came to every show we did and we felt like sisters from the start. There were hugs, kisses and laughter each time we saw them, and they were always talking about God, country and family and our responsibility to make sure we didn't lose those great blessings. It was humbling being around women who were not afraid to proclaim their beliefs to anyone who would listen. 

And then there was a dear couple we had met the year before who was there for three days while we were. The husband would dance with three or four of us at a time so no one would feel left out, and his wife was just as gracious and loving as anyone could ever be. They helped me through the awkwardness of seeing once again the entertainer who dumped me as even a friend a year and a half earlier for not wanting to sleep with him. I'm still working on getting over that one because the guy in question likes playing mind games. He refuses to talk to me, but he'll dance an entire number during a show with me, hold me close, run his fingers around my back and smile at me like he used to while on stage. My sister says he's just trying to let me know what I missed out on by not giving him what he wanted. She's probably right, but his immature attitude still hurts.

Returning home was bittersweet. I was grateful my flight had not been cancelled, nor had anything major happened within our nation to disrupt our lives. But it's hard being basically alone again. I suppose my depressed state of mind made me more careless than usual because after picking vegetables and watering the garden and flowers I inadvertently left the hose running for 48 hours. I was horrified when I discovered what I had done and not the least bit happy to find out that some of the water had leaked into my family room in the basement. I soaked up as much as I could with every towel I had and wrung them out with hands that are no longer as strong as they once were before putting them in the washing machine. Then I went to Lowes and bought a vet/dry vacuum hoping it would suction out more of the water that was still on the concrete underneath the carpet. It didn't work like the advertisements proclaim, but thankfully the water only got as far as the sectional and rug in front of it. I've had the window open for 10 days now and if the weather holds there shouldn't be any mold. 

But what I still call my stupidity left me with a second dilemma. What was such a disheartening mistake going to cost, besides buying a vac that didn't really work with carpet? I called the city utility company but they couldn't offer any assistance until the meter was read sometime during the coming week. I poured over the city guidelines found online and was sickened to read that a running hose could fill between 9 and 17 gallon buckets a minute. At worst it was 1020 gallons per hour and mine had been running for 48. Using the cost per thousand gallons table, I tried to calculate how many gallons I had used the month before. From what I could determine I would owe an extra $220 at best and at worst an extra $500. I immediately shut off my AC and tried to decide what I could do without to help make up the difference. Living on a fixed income that is barely above the poverty level isn't easy but I knew God would help me. I just needed to exercise enough trust and go on living. 

I got a call from the utility company this morning saying the reading had been taken and it looked like I would only owe and extra ten dollars. My relief was palpable. I knew being gone for two weeks during the billing period would help offset my mistake but my sprinklers were still running three mornings a week. I told the sweet girl on the other end of the line that she had made my entire month. She assured me her information had come directly from the billing department, but if there was any discrepancy when the bill physically arrived to let her know. 

Our world might still be in a huge mess that could get much worse in the coming weeks, but I feel far more serene than I have for quite some time. God's tender mercies are all around us if we'll just open our eyes, minds and hearts to them. I pray every night and morning for President Trump and all the brave patriots who stand so faithfully beside him. I trust that God will keep him safe so he can help save our country from the tyrants who wish to destroy it. But I also know that if the unthinkable happens God is still in charge. This is a land of promise as long as we worship him. Many have chosen to do otherwise, but my trip to Branson let me know just how many honest, loving and spiritual people still exist and they have no intention of losing any more of their freedoms. 

I stand with them and each of you who love God, country and family as much as I do. My heart is filled to overflowing as I type my last words because I know God lives, Jesus is the Christ--our Savior and the Redeemer of all mankind. We can feel peace in a troubled world as we put our faith and trust in them and strive to be the best we can possibly be.

A Little Golden Book

I have been in a reflective mood the past few days. Perhaps it's the heatwave engulfing us in the high mountain desert where I live that sucks the very air out of my lungs the minute the sun comes into view. I know I have altered my daily routine quite drastically for the next week or so to accommodate the persistent misery. The weeds will be left to grow without constant interference on my part and the grass will remain uncut until the triple digit temperatures recede. But I will arise early, or go out after dusk if the mosquitos cooperate, to water my flowers and garden because I can't bear to see anything growing die--with the exception of previously mentioned noxious weeds and flying insects that love taking bites from my exposed flesh. 

An angry yellow jacket bit into my elbow Saturday night as I leaned over the deck to water a plant the sprinklers had missed. Apparently he and his friends had built a nest underneath the ledge that I had somehow missed. I swatted at him with my free hand and he managed to get a finger and my forehead before flying away. I had forgotten how horribly one of their bites hurts, but I knew what to do since this wasn't the first time it had happened. After scrubbing each affected area with soapy water, I turned to my book on essential oils. Basil was called for and it was sitting on the shelf right in front of me. I generously applied it to all three affected areas and waited as patiently as I could--without feeling too sorry for myself. Within an hour the penetration lumps, blotchy red and puffy skin and pain were gone. What a blessing it was to know what to do and have the needed materials on hand. 

Needless to say, I took the long end of a broom handle to that nest and three other smaller ones as soon as those none-too-friendly beasties with their long, yellow and black stripped, segmented bodies were no longer quite so active. Unfortunately, there is a fast-growing and much bigger nest under a peaked eve on the back of my house that will have to be dealt with by a professional, or later in the fall when the pesky critters are hibernating. I really don't want to be standing twenty feet in the air on a ladder and have an entire hive of them come after me. I might not be so lucky a second time.

Perhaps being attacked in such a vicious way has inadvertently added to my apathy and loss of energy when it comes to doing anything more strenuous than cleaning a closet, washing a few dishes or reading a book. But that inactivity has brought me to the realization that it's okay to take a break from the routine tasks of living occasionally and contemplate the more important reasons for being alive--especially now when the world is in such turmoil and we are facing the most important election of our lifetime. 

Two Christmas's ago my youngest sister sent each of us siblings a book that has sat on my dest without being opened until today. Perhaps I thought I was too grown up to read a book titled Everything I Need to Know I learned from a Little Golden Book, but I'm so glad I allowed the child within to surface for a few minutes this afternoon. Looking at the pictures I remember from my own childhood and reading brief words from some of the books I loved most like The Poky Little Puppy and The Tree Little Kittens, I felt some of that awe and wonderment from childhood return and felt much lighter inside than I have for quite some time.

Diane Muldrow, a longtime editorial director at Golden Books, made a few comments in the introduction that really hit home for me. She talked about being tantalized by the golden-edged books we saw on shelves at stores everywhere and how much we cherished looking at the pictures after scrawling our names inside the front cover where it said This Book Belongs To . . . . I remember that well and still have a few of the ones I got as a child.

Times were definitely much simpler back them, and I'm sure I learned as much from those little books of childish wisdom as I did from any adult because they spoke to me on a level I could understand using animals I loved to tell their stories. But we grow up and are forced to look at our lives through different lenses. Sadly, many of us don't much like what we see.

Muldrow states, "Ironically, in this health-conscious, ecologically aware age of information, many of us have over borrowed, overspent, overeaten, and generally overdosed on habits or ways of life that aren't good for us--or for our world. The chickens have come home to roost, and their names are Debt, Depression, and Diabetes.

"How did we get here? How, like Tootle the Train, did we get so far off track? Perhaps it's time to revisit these beloved stories and start all over again. Trying to figure out where you belong, like Scuffy the Tugboat? Maybe, as time marches on, you're beginning to feel like you resemble the Saggy, Baggy Elephant.

"Or perhaps your problems are more sweeping. Like the Poky Little Puppy, do you seem to be getting into trouble rather often and missing out on the strawberry shortcake in life? Maybe this book can help you? After all, Little Golden Books were first published during the dark days of World War II, and they've been comforting people during trying times ever since--while gently teaching us thing or two. And they remind us that we've had the potential to be wise and content all along."

Best introduction to a book that I've read for a very long time and the verbiage and pictures inside didn't disappoint. Just to tantalize your imagination and get it moving again, here are three excerpts. "Is your life starting to feel like a circus? Don't panic . . . Today's a new day! Get dressed first thing. (Sweatpants are bad for morale. Put on something nice.) Have some pancakes. Get some exercise everyday. Frolic. Daydream. Go on a joyride. Stroll. Bird-watch. Treat yourself. The simplest things are often the most fun!

". . . . Dare to explore. What's out there for you? Express yourself. Try a new look! Be unique. Just don't go overboard. Start planning that dream too. Soon you'll be on your way. Be open to making new friends . . . even if you're very, very shy. Keep in touch. Hang out. Steer clear of shady characters. Be discriminating. Choose your companions wisely. 

". . . . Let your children know you love them. Work hard. Play hard. But not too hard. Do no harm. Be proud of your country. Don't let the parade pass you by! Think big! Toot your own horn! Believe in Santa Clause . . . Love at first sight. . . and that your ship will come in. As long as you do, your life is bound to be golden!"

It's a book most every adult can relate to and would be a welcome gift to anyone who likes to read or is feeling a little down. I know it stopped me from my spiral thinking and helped me see how truly blessed I am to have a life, a home, a family, a mind unafraid to travel and something important to do each day. There's not anything outside my circle of influence I can change and probably very little within it. But it's not healthy to think about seemingly unsolvable problems all the time.

What is healthy is to thank God for our daily blessings. Sometimes we may not readily see them, but that only means we are concentrating on something else. The hot weather I'm experiencing right now won't last forever. It will be fall soon and I'll have my small harvest of things that are important to me. Few people love gardening the way I do, but they love other things that I don't. What a marvelous world we live in and how blessed we are as Christians to know where we came from, why we are here, and where we will be going when this life is over. 

I want to stop borrowing trouble and live in the moment because that's all any of us can count on.

Could This Be Our Last Independence Day?

I read an editorial on Fox News early this morning that made me sad. It explored the idea that celebrating the 4th of July could easily disappear as so many other important holidays are doing. How could that happen? I foolishly asked myself--knowing the answer in advance. People who hate our country are determined to see it destroyed, including every ideal, value and tradition that makes us unique as a country once admired by nations around the world. The thought of losing what our ancestors fought so diligently to secure leaves my heart so heavy it feels as if I can barely grasp a breath of freedom's glorious air.

We talked about that concept at a meeting of empty-nesters in my community on Monday night. This question was asked. What do you enjoy most about the 4th of July? Of course, the usual answers sprang up immediately: fireworks, parades and family barbecues. And then it became silent. I watched the faces of those around me, wondering if they were having some of the thoughts about all we had lost since our childhoods as I was. After the silence became too much, I vocalized the disturbing ideas that were swimming around in my head. 

To paraphrase, I told them that nothing today is filled with the intense love of country as it once was. Parades are open to anyone who wants to march, few floats celebrating our cultural values are even constructed, parents are afraid to let children eat the candy--if it's even thrown out along the route--and truly patriotic people are scared of being too enthusiastic for fear of being ridiculed or even arrested because someone standing next to them takes offense at what they might say..  

But even as I sit in my air-conditioned home today waiting for evening activities to begin, I feel a love and pride about being an American wash over me. Looking to the left, I see the majestic Rocky Mountain range. The snow is gone and so is much of the green. But it rises as a beacon of hope letting me know that no sacrifice is too great to keep alive the dream of America that is being lost. There are far too many unpatriotic citizens who believe the government should take care of them from cradle to grave. Adding to that hot bed of negativity and downright treason are the millions of illegals who have crossed our border since the fiasco of the 60s immigration laws that started our current crisis. Most of those here without our citizen's approval have no intention of ever declaring allegiance to the United States of America as envisioned in our heavenly-inspired Constitution and Bill of Rights. But they will gladly keep taking what does not rightfully belong to them as long as those in power in Washington have no qualms about destroying the middle-class with over taxation and continual abuse.

As all of you who have read my blogs before know, I am a strong Christian believer in God, our Savior, Jesus Christ, and the divine building of our nation and its glorious charge to be a beacon of hope and light to all other countries. From the 1950s to the 1970s, David O. McKay, an impassioned educator who believed in truth and freedom, warned Americans that we have no greater responsibility than to protect the freedom vouchsafed by the Constitution of the United States. Would that we had heeded his message when he declared half a century ago that, "Efforts are being made to deprive man of his free agency - to steal from the individual his liberty . . . . There has been an alarming increase in the abandoning of the ideals that constitute the foundation of the Constitution of the United States."

Few people mention the word communism anymore, but that doesn't mean we aren't being destroyed from within by its ambassadors who continue to hold major leadership positions in our government, as well as being advisors to some of the men and women who change our fundamental laws to suit their purposes. History is repeat with the names and activities of subversive people and organizations who found a place to espouse their dangerous ideologies without fear of retribution within the very walls that were supposed to protect our freedoms.

J. Edgar Hoover, the best informal man in the government during his tenure, said In August 1956 in the Elks Magazine, "We must now face the harsh truth that the objectives of communism are being steadily advanced because many of us do not recognize the means used to advance them. . . . No one who truly understands what it really is can be taken in by it. Yet the individual is handicapped by coming face to face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists. The American mind simply has not come to the realization of the evil which has been introduced into our midst." 

I can barely believe all the rampant evil in our society today and it is being paraded right in front of my face. When I saw on Sunday that someone had taken a shoe and knocked the head off a stature of Jesus as a child as he stood with Mary and Joseph outside a Cathedral in NYC and no one lifted a hand to stop it, I felt great pain. Why are we as Christians not willing to take a stand and declare reverse discrimination? Are we too afraid of what will happen? Our silence is basically our approval. At least that's the way the elites who run the government see it, and they've got the UN, The WHO, DAVOS, the Council of Foreign relations and a dozen other nefarious organizations on their side. Without my approval, and I'm suspecting without any of yours, the World Health Organization received permission in May of this year to establish world laws covering any incident they deem a threat. And we thought the Covid lockdown was debilitating? We haven't seen anything yet.

Ezra Taft Benson, former US Secretary of Agriculture, listed ten ways our republic and constitution are being destroyed while the enemies of freedom are being aided. His list was drafted decades ago, and we are now living through the harm we may have been able to prevent had we even partially understood what was going on before it was was nearly too late. I think you will recognize the cost to our liberty each act brought. 

*    By diplomatic recognition and aid, trade and negotiations with the communists.

*    By disarmament of our military defenses.

*    By destruction of our security laws and the promotion of atheism by decisions of the Supreme Court.

*    By loss of sovereignty and solvency through international commitments and membership in world organization.

*    By usurpation by the executive and judicial  branches of our Federal Government.

*    By lawlessness in the name of civil rights.

*    By a staggering national debt with inflation and a corruption of currency.

*    By a multiplicity of executive orders and federal programs which greatly weaken local and state governments.

*    By the sacrifice of American manhood by engaging in wars we apparently have no intention of winning,

I'm sure each of us could add to that list as we think about how we feel living in a world where we no longer feel safe in our own homes without locks and security systems and are in constant fear of what the government can and will do if we try to resist what they have in mind for us. That's the definition of communism, and Hilary Clinton wasn't kidding when she threatened to round up all MAGA republicans and put them in camps for reeducation. According to a trusted source, bids have now gone out for 50 individual detention centers--under housekeeping bills at 29 million per unit every 5 years--where individuals will be needed for crowd control, visiting logs, training, trafficking, etc. Doesn't sound like some fun resort to me!

According the Norman Vincent Peale, "There was a time when the American people roared like lions for liberty; now they bleat like sheep for security." But is that security worth the loss of everything our ancestors valued?

I remember from my youth when the 4th of July brought out the liberty-loving side in nearly every American. The speeches given were breathtaking in their intense love for freedom and the American way of life. My father often brought out of mothballs his Army uniform and displayed it with pride as he told us about the brave men and women who gave their lives so we could remain free. How awful he must feel looking down on our world today and seeing how easily the progeny of true patriots have given up all that was so valiantly fought for. 

America's blessings are conditioned on righteousness. Are we prepared to see some of our loved ones murdered, our remaining liberties abridged, Christian persecution escalating more than it already has, and our eternal rewards for living an honorable and just life jeopardized? The fight for freedom is God's fight and free agency is an eternal principle. The question as to whether or not we may save our constitutional republic is based on two simple factors: the number of patriots and the extend of their obedience.

When Soviet President Khrushchev visited the United States many years ago, he arrogantly declared, "You Americans are so gullible. Now you won't accept communism outright, but we'll keep feeding you small doses of socialism until you'll finally wake up and find you already have communism. We won't have to fight you. We'll so weaken your economy until you fall like over-ripe fruit into our hands." 

Ezra Taft Benson, in his book "Stand Up For Freedom", pages 150 and 156, adds. ". . . today the Christian constitutionalist mourns for his country. He sees the spiritual and political faith of his fathers betrayed by wolves in sheep's clothing. He sees the forces of evil increasing in strengthened momentum under the leadership of Satan, the archenemy of freedom. He sees the wicked honored and the valiant abused. He senses that his own generation faces Gethsemanes and Valley Forges that may yet rival or surpass the trials of the early apostles and the men of '76.  And this gives him cause to reflect on the most basic of fundamentals, the reason for our existence. Once we understand the fundamental purpose for mortality, we may more easily chart a course in the perilous seas that are engulfing our nation.

" . . . . This is still God's world. The forces of evil, working through some mortals, have made a mess of a good part of it. But it is still Gods world. In due time, when each of us have had a chance to prove himself--including whether or not we are going to stand up for freedom--God will interject himself, and the final and eternal victory shall be for free agency. And then those weak-willed souls on the sideline and those who took the wrong but temporarily popular course will lament their decisions." 

This may well be the final call for all Christians and Freedom-loving Americans of all religious persuasions to join hands, put aside petty differences and strengthen our conviction to speak out for freedom. We need to voluntarily come to the aid of patriots, programs and organizations that are trying to save our constitution through every legal and moral means possible. It is a truism that some of the things that are threatening our lives, our welfare and our liberty are some of the very things we may have been unintentionally condoning. Too many of us don't want to be disturbed as we continue to enjoy our comfortable complacency. Freedom can be killed by neglect as easily as by direct attack.

President Calvin Coolidge said some years ago. "WE do not need more material development, we need more spiritual development. We do not need more intellectual power, we need more moral power. We do not need more knowledge, we need more character. We do not need more government, we need more culture. We do not need more law, we need more religion. We do not need more of the things that are seen, we need more of the things that are unseen. It is on that side of life that it is desirable to put the emphasis at the present time. If that side is strengthened, the other side will take care of itself. It is that side which is the foundation of all else. If the foundation be firm, the superstructure will stand." (Prophets, Principles and National Survival, p. 35)

In an FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin from April 1962, as stated by J. Edgar Hoover, we read: "Today as never before, America has need for men and women who possess the moral strength and courage of our forefathers - modern-day patriots, with pride in our country and faith in freedom . . ..

"To often in recent years, patriotic symbols have been shunted aside, Our national heroes have been maligned, our history distorted. Has it become a disgrace to pledge allegiance to our flag - or sign a loyalty oath, or pay tribute to our national anthem? Is it shameful encourage our children to memorize the stirring words of the men of "76? Is it becoming opprobrious to state 'In God we trust' when proclaiming our love of country?

"What is desperately needed today is patriotism founded on a real understanding of the American ideal - a dedicated belief in our principles of freedom, and a determination to perpetuate America's heritage."

In the words of a very wise man, "The destiny of mankind is in the balance. It is a question of God and Liberty, or atheism and slavery . . . ."

But can we get out of our present situation without serious trouble? That is the golden question. And as far as we have fallen into the clutches of the elites who want to destroy everything that makes America great, it well may not happen without a civil war and blood running in the streets. That's a disturbing thought, but one that cannot be ignored. We must prepare ourselves and our families as best we can because America is too great to lose and we will be held partially accountable if it happens our watch. We must become informed and ready to take positive action before the worst possible scenario happens.

 

We Must Keep Moving Forward

 I've been going to write something for over two weeks, but my heart just hasn't been in it. I could blame it on the rising heat of summer and too many weeds to pull and extra watering so my flowers and garden won't die. I could also blame my despondent mood on being incredibly busy with church assignments, family issues, therapy not going as rapidly as I had hoped or just plain getting older. But the truth is that my heart sank more than a little two weeks ago Thursday when I finished my shift of volunteer work and was greeted with the news that President Trump had been found guilty on all thirty-four counts in the ridiculous case brought against him in New York City.  

The fact that it was basically one count multiplied every time someone looked at the original document didn't help. I had to force myself to remember what Dr. Charlie Ward--a conservative commentator whose information I thoroughly trust since he's been part of the ongoing fight to retain our freedom for decades--has reiterated on many occasions. What we are going through right now is simply a pantomime,  or movie, to wake up those who are still asleep as to what was only going on in the shadows until Biden was installed in his present position. It's painful to watch as the innocent lives of babies, children and adults are destroyed, but we have to sit though it until the radical left and their globalist puppet masters have convicted themselves in their insatiable desire to rule the world and get rid of anyone who stands in their way. 

The tears formed and my nose began to tickle as I pulled from the parking garage onto the street that late afternoon and tried to take in the sunshine and beautifully calm day. What would the Democrats next move be as they continue their vendetta to take away his fortune, defame his name and have him removed from the next presidential ballot? And how must his wife, children and grandchildren feel after numerous assassination attempts and the loss of much peace, safety and security in their home and lives? A less focused and committed man would have walked away ages ago knowing that if he withdrew from the election all his troubles would magically disappear. He would be able to live the rest of his life in peace and prosperity--as long as he never attempted to take on the globalists again.

I can't say that I was surprised when he was on the campaign trail the next day, despite an unconstitutional gag order that prohibits him from even mentioning all the important things the American people have a right to know. He has more fortitude, resiliency and patriotism than the rest of us for being willing to risk what he has. But then he also has a better idea of what's really at stake and what must happen to reverse the direction our nation has been heading in the past few decades. Despite some people not liking his personality or the way he presents himself, a person of lesser strength or magnetism would be unable to work with the leaders of nations worldwide in coming to peaceful resolutions.  

But I don't want to focus on all the horrific things he's dealt with just to show us how totally corrupt the heads of our government and all the three-letter agencies have become. Or the fact that if this administration has the audacity to take on a former US president, they won't blink an eye when it comes to destroying any of us. I would much rather list some of his accomplishments as president and let you decide which candidate most deserves our support now. Do we really want a continuation of the regime we are under right now with all the freedoms we have lost, the high inflation, the constant attack on our religious, moral and political beliefs and a flooding of the border by land, sea and air that has crippled us financially and made our streets far less safe in rural areas and battle grounds in the cities? Or do we want peaceful resolutions in global conflicts, becoming self-sufficient as a nation once again and regaining pride as Americans who are the most generous people in the world when it comes to humanitarian aide? Do we want our own identity as a people who love God, country and family, and whose ancestors fought so diligently for the freedoms we seem much too willing to give away, to disappear completely?

It's always easy to look the other way when world and national affairs don't directly affect us, but if they suddenly did, how would we handle life then? That's why I'm a huge proponent of having something saved for a rainy day. Or in my case, a new furnace, roof, water heater, car repair, unexpected doctor bill . . . You know the story. I also believe in having enough food, water, medical supplies, alternate source of electricity and other essentials in case an emergency situation of more than a few days arises. But back to what the Trump presidency did for us. It's quite an impressive list.

*    Trump made sure his tax cuts targeted the middle, or working, class by giving a tax credit of $2,000 per child and changing tax rates so the lower-income people did not have to file tax returns. This brought huge relief to working people and increased the income disparity between rich and poor dramatically.

*    Trump demanded that we keep illegal immigrants out and started to build a much-needed wall because millions of people willing to work for very little--if they work at all--never pay taxes and send most of their money back to their home country since the working class is paying all their expenses here, means there is no way the middle class can ever get ahead.

*    The environmentalists wanted to stop fossil fuels and convert completely to wind and solar. Trump said that we'd worked hard for forty years to become energy independent, so why would we give that power away? By supporting increased fracking which does little, if any, environmental harm, we extracted enough natural gas to cut our carbon emissions by over eight hundred million metric tons--more than Europe and Japan combined.

*    Trump stood firm for colorblind government and ushered in policies that led to Black households income rising to historic heights

*    He alienated the military establishment by demanding withdrawal from the Middle East, even as wiped out ISIS.

*    He imposed crippling sanctions on Iranian ayatollahs, Russian oligarchs, and Venezuelan dictators.

*     He pulled out of the Paris Accord when Europe refused to demand that China stop emitting massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere

*    He scrapped NAFTA and negotiated a new deal that stopped China from sneaking products into the United States, and allowed duty-free hemispheric trade in autos only for those goods produced by Mexican, American, or Canadians workers who are paid at least $15 per hour--the first and only trade deal in history to incentivize higher wages.

*    He alienated the legal establishment by appointing Supreme Court justices who actually uphold constitutional values.

*    The intelligence "community" hated him for exposing their corrupt lying about his so-called collusion with Russia.

*    He attempted to stop Silicone Valley from controlling and censoring the content of its amazing technology such as Twitter and Facebook. He said free speech was free speech regardless of who was delivering it.

*    He awakened sleeping, and largely trusting, Americans to one important fact: "the media does not care what happens to them." In return they blocked any favorable news about him or his presidency and began to outwardly and viciously attack him after he caught them in a huge lie after the Russia meddling scandal.

*    Trump understood white high-school-educated voters, Hispanic-American patriots and the conservatives of the heartland. whom the left had designated as "Fly over country" or "states that don't matter and votes that don't count." Those individuals Hilary called "deplorables" and Obama mocked by saying, "It's not surprising, then, that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them, or anti-immigrant sentiment, or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." 

*     Under Trump, hourly wages rose by $5.14. Under Obama the hourly wage growth was $1.48.

According to Dick Morris, in his book "The Return" , from which I took the above list as detailed in chapter 4, Trumps "temperament and accomplishments are cause and effect. If you modulate the temperament, you won't get the accomplishments . . . . To appreciate the magnitude of his policy success, just look at what happened the minute he left office: Russia put troops back on Ukraine border and beefed up its presence in the Arctic. China overflew Taiwan airspace and made threatening moves in the South China Sea. North Korea resumed missile overflights of Japan. ISIS resurfaced and the Taliban went berserk when Biden pulled out of Afghanistan.  If Trump were kinder and gentler, America's enemies would never have been so brazen."

And on American soil, the political landscape would not be held captive by runaway inflation, unlawful immigration and skyrocketing crime. Stating your opinions or defending your beliefs would still be allowed and racism would not have taken center-stage again with the tables being turned against people not-of-color this time around. With all the social welfare programs only 48 percent of the population now work and the rest of the people are living lives of ease at our expense. Small businesses are being attacked ferociously and unions are having a huge comeback. China is taking over as the world's greatest power and we gave that title to them by all but stopping American production and buying most everything from them while they control all our massive, massive debt. And the latest news from Seattle is a new law that will allow illegals to become police officers with the right to carry a gun, arrest us and put us in jail.

The election of 2024 will be the most important in over 200 years because all the rights granted us by the Constitution and Bill of Rights are on the line. Get registered to vote if you haven't done so already and then exercise that right when the time comes. If we patriots, who love and honor our country, stand united together we cannot fail.

I'll conclude by quoting from the conclusion of Morris' book. 

"Are the gains of  generations of American families to be burned alive on the coals of woke envy? Is all that we have to achieve as a nation, and as families, to be held hostage in order to punish us for slaves we never owned (and our ancestors died to free), discrimination we never practiced, and racism we never felt in our hearts?

"Are our children to be taught to hate and envy one another? Is the post-racial era in our society to be forfeit in the new cancel culture? Are our heroes to be debased, and our great past presidents to be demeaned as slave-owning imperialists?

"Is brotherhood to be sacrificed for hatred? Is reconciliation to be wiped out in the name of meting out what the Left calls "equity --balancing the accounts of history by robbing the present to pay the supposed debts of the past?

"Are the shared sacrifices of the past--what Lincoln, in his first inaugural address, called the 'mystic chords of memory and the better angels of our nature'--to be swept aside with each swipe of the woke guillotine of cancel culture?

"Is our blessed democracy to be debased by altered ballots, phony signatures, and ghost voters, all because the burden of voter identification is too onerous?

"And consider whether the hard-won gains of women who have liberated themselves from the velvet slavery of enforced domesticity, are to be compromised once again by the avarice of men, now cross-dressed, and perhaps surgically altered, to masquerade as women?

"Are the rungs of the ladder we all need to use to climb above our current stations in life to be sawed away by what President Bush 43 called 'the soft bigotry of low expectations.'

"Are we to be yoked to a technocracy where our innermost thoughts can be read by Chinese and American Big Tech masters?

"Are we to be drowned in a sea of illegal immigration"

"Will crime again rule our streets at night?

"Will blind partisanship, motivated by class hatred and envy, so divide us that we become one another's enemies? Or will we again follow the advice of Abraham Lincoln, that 'we are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.'"

Morris' book was published in 2022 and a lot has happened since then. I would not presume to understand even a portion of the issues that surround us today. I get confused will all the squabbles and back-biting in our local elections, but the few political meetings I've attended have let me know how truly uninformed I am about policies that are being passed without us even knowing about it. 

We do live in troubling times, but I don't feel great amounts of fear because I know who is truly in charge--our Heavenly Father who gave us this remarkable earth and loves each one of us unconditionally. 

But it's time for me to move away from the computer. My son just asked if I would take his two pups for the next week while their family goes to Arizona. Since he's dropping them off in the morning while I'm at church, I need to do some dog-proofing today. Not that they're a whole lot of trouble. They're reasonably well-behaved and seem to understand that I'm not as young as my granddaughter and run out of steam when they want to play too much. But it's still a sacrifice on my part because I'm allergic to both dogs and cats and like my space. Besides, I just had them for 6 days. 

Anyway, it's all good and we tend to adjust to most anything. That can be both good and bad. So take a few minutes to study the policies and ideas of those running for any political office and always vote your conscience. It's both a right and a duty, especially if we want to preserve a free country for the coming generations.

What Happened to Our Country?

I've had one of those pesky headaches that never seems to go entirely away all week. The one with the blurrier vision--since I have very dry eyes and my insurance won't cover the eye drops that work best--the nausea that makes the very thought of food unappitizing and the loss of motivation when it comes to doing anything more thought-provoking than working in my flower gardens. I seem to be able to put the most annoying thoughts aside when I'm rescuing plants from noxious and vigorous weeds, like the fast growing Morning Glory that grows a good six inches overnight. The weed and feed I put on the lawn earlier this year seemed to make it hardier than ever and it can spread faster than any weed I know of. 

I love to feel the warmth of the sun on my body as I work until it gets too hot to even be outside. That's seventy degrees for me if I'm doing anything more strenuous than lounging in my recliner hammock because I sweat a lot. It's also the place where I work out my frustrations with the harsh realities of daily living, the minor inconveniences that seem like gigantic mountains until they're resolved and difficult people who test my patience to the max. It's also where I go to try to solve the world's problems without the global elite forcing their decisions on me.  Getting along as persons who share the same planet seems easy enough to me if we would just follow the Ten Commandments, the God-inspired Constitution and the Beatitudes. But then I'm a Christian, a patriot and a woman who will always believe in God, country, family and a border that protects our liberty and our identity as a people and a country.

That certainly puts me in a precarious position right there with the other 50% of the country who is as tired as I am of being branded as racist, homophobic, traitorous and every other awful sounding jab the left makes as it tries to reassert its dominance and pressure us into keeping quiet.  But that's rather hard to do when my heart breaks every time I read the headlines on Fox News. Like I've mentioned before, I gave up mainline media's supposed news coverage after Covid because all the anchors do is read from a script that covers up what we should know while trying to indoctrinate us into believing that the left and their insane policies, rules and laws are beneficial to Americans. 

Everything they profess just makes me wish more strongly that there was some way I could return to the values I grew up with. I loved feeling safe, being able to provide for my family without going into credit card debt, honoring my country and the heroes it helped create, knowing I wouldn't be bullied or prosecuted if I used the wrong pronoun or objected when murderers, rapists and thieves were set free to commit more crimes. I also liked having neighbors with basically the same values and cultural heritage so we could understand each other and actually get along. Being able to worship freely without fear of retaliation by those who believe in nothing but doing what feels good was also a huge plus.

Now I know it wasn't all sunshine and roses after World War II in which both my father and my mother actively participated. Money was tight, but we had pride in our country and for the most part were willing to work incredibly hard for everything we had. There were no government handouts to people who lived in the country on farms. We had to make it on our own. I had school clothes and play clothes--which is a kind way of saying work clothes--since there was always something that had to be done. We kids didn't particularly like doing chores like bucking hay, changing water on crops or feeding and herding unruly animals both before and after school but we did it because it was expected and there were always consequences if we refused. But I digress because even with all the hardships and deprivation of being a poor, white farmer's daughter, I learned to value what was good, wholesome and worthwhile. Things that have long since been discarded by a great many people who live here.

I suppose that leads me into what I want to share with you today. It's about the United Nations and how they're pushing towards having the entire world under their control. The thought terrifies me, but until I read a book with a chapter about the UN in it I had little to back up the unease I felt just hearing the name. My first serous thought about what they really stood for began a few years ago when a huge building was given to them in a city less than forty minutes away from where I live. In Utah of all places since it has always been a huge conservative state until very recently. That was fodder enough for speculation but when citizens of our own country were told by armed guards that it was off limits to American citizens my mind began to race.

Dick Morris and Eileen McGann in the last chapter of their book Here Come The Black Helicopters! give some great insight. They begin by explaining how the radical globalists and their environmental allies are determined to get their hands on America's wealth any way they can and give what they don't keep for themselves to third world nations to help them deal with climate change. Reading what countries are willing to do to each other to get what they want isn't easy. But it certainly offers greater clarity as to why our legislators keep passing bills that give trillions of dollars of borrowed money to enemy nations while neglecting the most basic needs of suffering Americans. All the time knowing that they are leaving the 50 percent of our country who actually pay taxes to foot the bill, along with generations of their posterities. 

According to the authors, "the UN doesn't hide its goal, income redistribution, noting that 'it is high time that governments re-examine the basic redistributive role of taxation to ensure that wealthier individuals and the financial sector contribute their fair share of the tax burden.'" But taxing us to add more money to the coffers of other nations and global elites doesn't compute with our fundamental sovereign rights. "Ever since the Magna Carta, the principle has been honored in democracies of 'no taxation without representation.' To backslide on this rule in order to line the pockets of third world dictators is a very dangerous and bad idea."

After that disheartening introduction, Morris and McGann ask a few simple questions. "Would such rule be democratic and freedom loving or autocratic and arbitrary? Would it be fundamentally honest, albeit with a few bad apples, or would it be governed by rulers who were intent on stealing and plundering their way to mega-wealth? Would it be respectful of human rights or ride roughshod over them like happens in many parts of the world?" 

It's one thing for those on the west coast of America to trust those on the east coast or in the south or midwest to make every law or rule governing us, but its "quite another thing to give that power to Russia, China or a conglomeration of tiny, lightly populated, third world autocracies, riddled with corruption and dedicated to the enrichment of their leaders." 

In the United Nations, every country has one vote and every decision is decided by a majority rule. Have I scared anyone yet? With 193 countries in the UN, a coalition of very small nations exercises a disproportionate power. For example, the 97 least populated UN members have a combined census of only 241 million inhabitants--about one-quarter less than the population of the United States when there were only 310 million living here. These nations comprise less than 4 percent of the world's 7 billion people, but together they can determine the direction of its decisions.

The UN was originally formed as an association of Allied powers, who had emerged victorious from the Second World War: the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China. Each of these countries was given veto power over the global body since none of the allies were willing to trust its fate to a roll of the dice in the General Assembly where each nation has a single vote. Only 45 nations were represented when it opened its door in 1945. By 1959 it had grown to 82 members and it soared to 189 in 2000. Now it stands at 193. 

With each new third world addition, the voting power of the West--and Russia--was diluted and the power of the nations of Africa and Asia grew. The larger their power  grew the more the Anti-America bias grew. If the globalists have their way, the countries who hate America and want to destroy her will decide where we can drill for oil, which sea lanes will be open for our navigation, how the global Internet is administered, how much we should pay to third world countries to adjust to climate change, what limits to place on our carbon emissions, how much we will be able to earn at our jobs, which jobs we can even have, what food we can eat, what kind of cars we can drive, how our kids will be educated and what religion we will have to follow.

The diminishing power of the major UN nations is evident in the increasing domination of the Group of 77--something I had never heard of before. But it's a coalition of the poorer nations that are determined to use the UN as a vehicle to channel money from developed nations to meet their own needs. These countries contribute only 12 percent of the UN operating budget, but their combined power has become dominant in the General Assembly where all the votes are taken. 

Morris and McGann ask these probing questions. "Before we dilute our national sovereignty, we are entitled to ask of our fellow nations, with whom we would share power in global governance, are they worthy countries? Are they free? Are they corrupt? Do they respect human rights? The short answer: No, they don't."

In 2011, Random House --an organization founded in 1941 that has kept meticulous records and impartial track of the degree of freedom and democracy in each of the world's nations--designated 87 of the world's 195 nations (including two non-UN members) as free. Another 60 countries were partially free, which means limited respect for civil liberties and political rights, frequently suffering from an environment of corruption, weak rule of law, ethnic and religious strife, and a political landscape where one party rules. The other 48 countries were designated as not free. The 87 free countries make up a minority of 45 percent. 

Morris and McGann state. "To lump free and not-free countries into one world body and to assign each the same voting power mocks the very concept of democracy. The UN is very punctilious about preserving the idea of majority rule and its implication of democratic decision making in the General Assembly. But what kind of democracy is it when 55 percent of the delegates come from governments that do not represent the people who live there?" The premise of the UN is to take countries as they are. If they want to change that's their own business.

I don't have to give examples of how corrupt the governments of the world have become, ours included. We see examples nearly every day on the news. Corruption has become so commonplace that a new word had to be created to articulate the degree of corruption within a government: kleptocracy. These governments are more like criminal gangs. Their ruling elite get to serve as presidents, prime ministers, ambassadors, negotiators, foreign secretaries and cabinet secretaries. In each position, they are empowered to steal all they can and to share their loot with one another. But in such nations, membership in the UN offers entrance to a realm of vast resources that are there for the taking. 

The concluding paragraphs by Morris and McGann state. "The world we face today is neither democratic nor honest. Neither respectful of human rights nor a guardian of individual liberty. It is dominated by corrupt dictators and one-party governments that do not speak for their people and keep power only by coercion, censorship, and repression. . . . We dare not trust our liberties to them.

 ". . . The globalist adversary is more insidious and a greater threat to our liberty today than we face from any other source. It advances in the name of our own good, seeking to frighten us into line by dire predictions of global disaster unless we give up our sovereignty and share our wealth. Its apocalyptic predictions of environmental catastrophe come like tornado warnings on the prairie, leading us to come and huddle together in our shelters, accepting disciple and a loss of freedom during the emergency. But the emergency is fabricated and the warnings are issued just to panic us into the shelters, where we can be subjugated and tyrannized.

". . . Those who would impose a global governance on us count on our worry about climate change, global warming, ocean acidification, rising sea levels, melting glaciers, and shifting rainfall patterns to get us into line behind a new world order. But we are Americans and our knees don't bend to tyrants, however disguised."

When one factors in that the UN is financing the arrival of the majority of illegals coming into our country and giving them a credit card with new money on it each month it becomes an even greater concern. As are the intentions of the World Health organization that can easily exert control over our lives again if another manmade pandemic occurs. That power grad includes all the other three letter agencies that bow down to the globalist leaders who rule over them. 

I try not to mull over everything I'm learning to the point that it disrupts my sleep too often, but I'm glad to be at least partially informed rather than dwelling in some bubble that will eventually burst. We have been living on borrowed time for much too long already, and I fear the disruption to our lives and livelihoods will only become worse as 2024 continues. The stage for civil war types of terrorist events has already been set. It's my opinion that it will take more than hiding to make it through what lies ahead. 

If we want our country to survive as the independent republic we love so much we have to take a stand. My hat goes off to every patriot who risks personal and family safety, monetary assets and being falsely imprisoned for standing up for Constitutional rights or maintaining a steadfast belief in God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. I pray for them every night, along with asking God how I can help in my own limited way. 

By standing together I know we can take our country back, but it won't be easy. Helping to wake people up to the dangerous situation we are in is the first step, and I know it's happening. People haven't fallen for a second pandemic scare like they did with the first one and they're tired of being lied to about climate change and green everything. Democrats and Republicans alike are starting to fight back when it comes to what is being taught in our schools and the open border fiasco where people intent on destroying America far out number those who want to become responsible, assimilated citizens who have more to offer than living off welfare and government handouts for the rest of their lives.

In conclusion, I want to share the highlights of an article I read last week about California being the fifth state, behind Washington, Oregon, Colorado and Vermont, to pass a law making human composting an alternative to burial or cremation. It's going to take effect in 2027. That's three years away and only a certain faction of the Catholic Church has opposed it. The body will put in a metal container along with decomposing elements like chemicals and insects and nature is supposed to do the rest. When it turns to dirt--no time limit given--the family can use it for gardening or filling in a hole. I told my son I would haunt him if he did that to me. It's pushing the green agenda a bit too far. 

As a Christian I know God created this earth with all the resources his sons and daughters would need to live full and rich lives while completing tests of obedience and love. He even sent his beloved son to atone for every sin should the sinner choose the path of complete and humble repentance. There is enough and to spare for all the generations yet to come. But if we willingly turn away from our creator to walk a path of evil and corruption in obtaining fortune, fame or power we will lose everything of eternal value. I don't want that for myself. Eternity is forever and I know where I want to be.

If you need something to help ease your mind, why not try one of the books I've written. They are Christian based and filled with adventure and excitement. I have listed them below with the newest ones at the top. Your support would be amazing since I can't afford to advertise in traditional ways and would love for people to have an additional boost of hope as they journey through an increasingly difficult world.

The Truth about Strangers - Book 3

The Hearts of Strangers - Book 2

The Trouble with Strangers - Book 1

Rivers of Rage Beyond the Glass Doors

Kismet Finds a Way

Crossfire at Bentley

Final Allegiance - Reagan Sinclair, FBI - Book 1

Resilience - Reagan Sinclair, FBI - Book 2

Safe Haven - Reagan Sinclair, FBI - Book 3

Unsheltered - Reagan Sinclair, FBI - Book 4

Welcome Redemption - Reagan Sinclair, FBI - Book 5

Indecision’s Flame - Book 1

Lost - Indecision’s Flame - Book 2

Exposed - Indecision’s Flame - Book 3

Betrayal - Indecision’s Flame - Book 4

Reawakening - Indecision’s Flame - Book 5

Unraveling - Indecision’s Flame - Book 6

Destiny - Indecision’s Flame - Book 7

So Long Bishop by Viola Ririe

All books available in both print and eBook formats at https://amzn.to/2BXNSdv

And the Door Bangs Shut

 

A week ago Monday I was going about my day thoroughly exhilarated because the sun was shining and it was finally time to put the yard ornaments and furniture outside so another summer season could be fully enjoyed. Little did I realize that a split second in time would place me in a life or death situation with no one to turn to but God. You see, I use this home-crafted shed in the picture above--that was built by the previous owner--to store everything that needs to be protected from winter storms. But it is also home to dozens of yellow jacket mud nests for new arrivals and more Black Widow and Hobo spiders than I care to think about. It is constructed of pressed wood on the outside with particle board floors that have warped horribly and even have gaping holes open to the soil underneath. 

It's not a place that I venture often because the dust alone aggrieves my allergies and I've been deathly afraid of being locked inside in the dark with no means of escape. If you look closely at the picture above you can see that the door is held in place by a latch with a hole in the top through which a piece of twine was strung as a safety feature should the unthinkable ever happen. Unfortunately, this precaution for safety had a peg board hanging over so it was inaccessible from the inside. I always inserted a broom, rake or shovel to keep the door open, but as I was finishing my chores I decided to stick my head far enough inside to grab a faded folding chair so I could sit on it while digging out more of my park strip for flowers. 

That's when I heard that clanging bang that made my blood run cold. I had reached too far inside and the door had closed engulfing me in the terrible darkness that had been a part of so many horrific nightmares. The piece of twine broke off in my hand as I pulled down on it making my enslavement complete. Words cannot express the terror that came over me I stood in that awful, dark, dang and creepy place with insects flying and crawling around me and realized that I might never get out. It was eleven in the morning and every neighbor who could move about without assistance or hear much of anything had gone to school or work. I never carry my cell phone with me when I'm working outside since the sun, dirt and water aren't particularly good for it.

In my state of disbelief, I sat down on that chair and asked my Heavenly Father what I could do to get out. This couldn't be the way I was supposed to die, alone and scared in a place with no water, no windows, heat beating down on the shingled roof, poisonous insects that would find their way to me in the dark, and the very real probability that no one would hear my calls, my pounding or even come looking for me in what could amount to several days or even a week. Never before had living alone seem to come with such a high cost. And I had barely begun exercises to strengthen the muscles in my right arm after having had shoulder surgery three months earlier.

But even in my fear I knew I couldn't just sit around waiting to die. If doing something I hoped would get me out of a seemingly impossible situation meant messing up my shoulder again it was far better preferable to being found dead, stung and dehydrated in a dilapidated shed. There was a tiny bit of light coming through the south corner where a sheet of pressed wood had pulled away to a height of about eighteen inches. I got off that chair and began looking for something I could use as a tool since I kept everything of that nature in the garage where it was more accessible. It didn't take long for me to find this large, claw hammer (like the one strong builders use) that I didn't even know I had. Nor do I remember where it came from but I must have left it there because it was too heavy for me to use on any household project I would ever encounter.

I began pounding on that door with all the strength my left arm could muster but all it did was send more dust into my face. After attacking the south wall with equally as much energy, I soon realized that four by eight sheets of pressed wood were not going to move with what I had to use. I found a pair of vice grips but they were too fat to reach through the narrow opening between the edge of the door and the wall, and they wouldn't do any good anyway because I had to get to that tiny circle in the latch and pull it upwards to free myself. Trying to pry the peg board off the wall where the twine had been was equally as useless without a ladder.

My stomach was churning and my head ached, but the adrenaline brought about by sheer fear had kicked in. That's when I began tearing at the two by fours that went around the inside edges of the door. I would use both hands to get the claws on that oversized hammer underneath the edge and then grip the two by four on the inside wall as hard as I could with my right hand, keeping my elbow as close to my side as I could and praying the hammer wouldn't slip. But my left arm wasn't strong enough to exert enough force to make much progress in a single attempt so it slipped over and over again as I worked and pleaded for help and strength. But instead of falling into the wall my arm would hit a stack of tomato cages that help soften the blow. 

Over the next two hours, I learned just how indestructible the human spirit really is and how much it yearns for the God-given freedoms so many evil people want to take away from us in the name of a modern globalized world. Each splinter of wood that was pulled from the board brought an added sliver of hope that I might be free to breathe in the crisp, clean air of the world I loved so much once again. But there was no guarantee that in my limited strength I would ever dislodge an entire board that had been fastened onto the pressed wood with dozens of metal staples. And even if I managed to pull all of them out, the brace that held the latch in place had been secured with four large screws and I was working from the back side.  

Just thinking about what my body and spirit went through during my captivity in that shed still makes my jaw quiver, but I learned a valuable lesson. God gives us strength to make it through whatever hardships we encounter as long as we don't give up. And give up, I didn't! I kept pulling and pounding until one end of the board started to move and I kept going upward until I reached that wooden brace. That's when God granted me an extra burst of energy and I was able to pull the two-by-four completely away. After reaching around for a broken leg of a tomato cage, I slid the metal stick through the crack in the edge of the door and into the hole in the latch.  

When that door swung open and I stepped out into a now cool breeze, the tears came hard and fast. I sat down on that turquoise bench you see in the picture and sobbed out my gratitude for being heard and loved and helped. There is no way I could have freed myself on my own. I feel that same way when I think about our country and the desperate situation we are in. We need divine intervention of some sort if we're going to survive as a free republic and continue being a light for freedom for the rest of the world. 

Perhaps that intervention will come in the form of dedicated patriots around the globe who refuse to be taken over by a world government that in the words of columnist, Dick Morris, "are the people and organizations who want us to surrender our national identity, change our lifestyles, provide reparations for what they view as our excesses, and surrender to a new order of international institutions that will tell us what to do, when to do it, and how much to pay for it. . . . Do we want to be in a global ruling partnership with Russia, China, or a collection of tiny, lightly populated, third world atrocities, riddled with corruption and dedicated to the enrichment of their leaders?" 

Doesn't sound pleasant to me! But then I'm a little old fashioned in wanting my liberty to continue. In addition to all the rioting on college campuses by antisemitic students who chant "Death to the US" and whose leaders are being funded by the same billionaire elites that supported the BLM terrorists before the last election, word is that Biden plans to cede US sovernty to the World Health Organization in a pandemic treaty on May 27. That's more than terrifying because laws can be repealed, but treaties can't. Any treaty signed by the US but not yet ratified by the Senate is still binding on our country until it is either rejected by the Senate or renounced by the president. There are only two ways to get out of them: if the 190 nations that signed them let us out, or by passing a constitutional amendment--neither of which has ever happened. 

Here are some of the things treaties have done or can do: control the Internet, subject the US to international rules on carbon emission, stipulate who can drill for oil or fish in any waters, take away the ability of the Navy to perform its historic mission of protection, sign arms trade deals and take away our personal weapons, supersede the US Supreme Court and make our entire judicial system subject to the rulings of an international court (as of 2012, 120 countries have signed onto the court and 32 have signed the treaty recognizing its jurisdiction with the US, Russia and China being the only holdouts), define global environmentalism under UNEP, and interfere with missile defense. 

Other nations use the treaty-making process primarily as a way to cut the US down to size so we will sign away our independent rights. James Malone, explains how it relates to the United Nations Law of the Sea Treaty. "The treaty's provisions were intentionally designed to promote a new world order--a form of global collectivism . . . that seeks ultimately the redistribution of the world's wealth through a complex system of manipulative central economic and bureaucratic coercion." It does more than just increase the flow of wealth from developed nations to third world dictatorships. It confers on them the power to tax American property. 

Another example is The Global Warming Treaty and it's goal to control the US and assert regulatory jurisdiction over our power plants, factories and entire economy. My question is why would we ever subject ourselves to the jurisdiction of a third world-dominated body that hates us? And yet it's happened. Not fifty miles from my house is a UN building that no American citizen can enter without authorization. The men and women who work there have no loyalty to the United States and can make their own rules without any interference. 

In case you're not entirely clear about how the United Nations operates this might surprise you. It certainly did me, and I've been leery about them for years. There are 193 countries represented in the UN. Each nation, regardless of size or number of residents, gets ONE vote. The 97 least-populated UN members have a combined census of only 241 million inhabitants (2012) and comprise less than 4 percent of the World's 7 billion population, but together they can outvote the rest of the world. Then there's the Group 77 portion of it--a coalition of the poorer nations determined to use the UN as a vehicle to channel money from developed nations to meet their own needs.

Morris makes this enlightening statement. "To lump free and not-free countries into one world body and to assign each the same voting power mocks the very concept of democracy. The UN is very punctilious about preserving the idea of majority rule and its implication of democratic decision making in the General Assembly. But what kind of democracy is it when 55 percent of the delegates come from governments that do not represent the people who live there? . . . The world we face today is neither democratic nor honest. Neither respectful of human rights nor a guardian of individual liberty. It is dominated by corrupt dictators and one-party governments that do not speak for their people and keep power only by coercion, censorship, and repression. We dare not trust our liberty to them."

Ultimately, there are two political philosophy camps in the world: those who believe in free markets and individual liberty and those who believe in central planning and dictation from the elites who had to create a common enemy in hopes of uniting diverse people behind a world cause. I don't know about you but this push for a one-world order wrapped around saving the planet from the effects of global warming or carbon emissions is nothing more than a smoke screen. But who is there to stop them from achieving their diabolical dream other than free market democracies, the rule of sovereign electorates and individuals who are beginning to understand what they're really doing. 

Personally, I like living in a home and not some high rise building in the jungle of a big city where there isn't room to breathe, crime has taken over and no one is allowed to drive anywhere or own anything from cradle to grave. The idea of limiting our freedom, forcibly changing our lifestyles, emasculating our democratic institutions, redistributing our hard-earned personal assets and technological advances to poorer nations, having our borders destroyed and our identity as a nation taken away, along with subjecting us to an international rule of law imposed by the United Nations as envisioned by the liberals, socialists, globalists and radical environmentalists makes no sense to this country girl. 

I guess my plea for anyone reading this blog today is to pay attention to what is going on around them and if they see something amiss do something about it. The downfall of the United States of America has been going on for decades and the people behind it aren't about to stop just because we ask them to. But after my escape from that shed a few days ago, I know that I need more that just freedom of spirit. I need to be free the very way our Founding Fathers set up in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. May we be willing to fight to retain those rights is an ongoing prayer because without freedom there isn't much else that really matters.