This and That

Friends,

Yesterday there was the most beautiful memorial service for Charlie Kirk. 

It truly was extraordinary.

It's been so amazing to see vigils, and churches full in response to Charlie's death, and not destruction. Charlie would be so proud.

You can watch this video {here}.

                                       My own photo made into a watercolor with the Waterlogue app.

My heart has been heavy. The death of the Ukrainian young woman, Charlie Kirk's death, the illnesses of dear friends, and now the death by suicide of a cousin's husband.

There is so much heartbreak in the world. Satan hates what God loves - hates people who are all made in the image of God. Imago Dei - Image of God.

As a believer in Jesus, I have been aware of this but I have not been so keenly aware of the reality of this, if that makes sense.

The Spiritual Warfare is real. I think western Christianity has downplayed spiritual warfare and we are now awakening to it. This is a good thing. We must learn that with the Holy Spirit's help we can fight spiritual forces of darkness. 

We have owned our home for 24 years. It has sheltered us a young family of six which grew to a family of eight, and then began the downward cycle as children grew and moved into their adult lives.

We now have five people in our home - which has grown larger with my parents addition to the house. It is still a haven and place of shelter for friends and family. Two rooms that were bedrooms for kids, are now an office and a guest room. We have a large kitchen now.

I know that seems funny with fewer people living here, but we still host people regularly, have family parties, our annual Fall Fest, house guests. We love having people here for lunch on Sundays after church, to come enjoy the pool, we hosted small groups from church for two years. The large kitchen helps us to host more easily. 

I love our home. I love using it to welcome people. I'm thankful for the gift of this home.

Autumn has arrived. How grateful I am for this season of beauty.

Information Friday

 The state visit to the United Kingdom was a smashing success! My favorite photos are of The Princess of Wales and DJT grinning at each other, Kate animatedly talking with Melania and Camilla, Kate and Melania with the scouts! 

Donald Trump is the only President to have two state visits, and to do it with two different monarchs.

This weekend we will be remembering Charlie Kirk. There is a vigil very near our home. Not sure if we can make it though. There is a place about 20 minutes away where flowers can be left in his memory.

I saw yesterday that a protection order has been issued for Erika Kirk. Some people online were calling for her to be killed as well, so that the children could go into foster care and be raised to hate their parents. Sick.

Let's keep our eyes on Jesus, and speak love and truth to a hurting world!

Fix Our Eyes

 

Hebrews 12:1-2 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

What a week it has been! Actually it's been longer than a week for us. It all began with my dear friends' admission to the hospital on August 30th.

She's had heart issues, and has RA and had a valve replacement 6 years ago. Tim and I joined them at the hospital and spent a few hours chatting with them. We went back in a few days later. Same thing. Talking about the tests that had been run, what the kids (all adults) have been up too, etc. She was having a test the next day under sedation, so we said we'd see her in a few days. 

The test was run, they moved her into ICU after to monitor heart pressures. Friday we got the call that her heart had stopped!

This is not good, obviously, but they got her back and put on ECHMO. The options for treatment didn't sound like they would be feasible, so the doctor told them to gather their loved ones. Three of their kids had been in the UK and it took nearly 24 hours to get home! We were called and we went and were there for 10 hours. Before we left that night we all prayed together.

Then after they did another scan, they decided she could handle open heart surgery, and have a good outcome. So she had that surgery, and a few days later, they went in and closed her up. She's doing well, progressing in all the right ways, and last evening was still partially sedated but engaged with me about her getting well, so we could get her off liquid nutrition and go to tea! I loved seeing that.

This past week we saw the horrifying death of that Ukrainian refugee on the commuter train, and the next day Charlie Kirk was assassinated. 

God is holding me up, and helping me think clearly. Our friend in Florida is still very ill. So much hurt, but we continue to fix our eyes on Jesus.

I started a study with ladies from church today about theology. It's going to be good. I got a haircut. Life continues. 

Charlie has moved to that great cloud of witnesses. He's cheering us all on. He's cheering that people are seeking God. 

God is the only one who can save the world.

Information Friday

 

The Assassination of Charlie Kirk

The Turning Point USA founder was horrifically murdered during a public event for espousing conservative Christian ideas, leaving behind a wife and two young children.

By Nate Jackson

“Assassination culture is spreading on the left,” Charlie Kirk warned in April. Sadly, that proved to be prophetic, as an assassin took Charlie’s life yesterday while he was speaking — about transgender mass shootings and gang violence, no less — at Utah Valley University.

The killer fired from a rooftop about 200 yards from where Kirk was speaking and answering questions, striking Kirk in the neck with a single bullet. He was rushed to a local hospital for emergency surgery, but he died of his wound.

Kirk founded Turning Point USA when he was just 18 years old. He hosted a popular eponymous podcast. He traveled the country, speaking to diverse audiences and using his formidable intellect and speaking skills to persuade listeners to adopt conservative ideas. He never backed down from a respectful discussion, no matter the disagreement.

He was a firm believer in the gospel of Jesus Christ, so we take solace in knowing that when he left this earth at the age of 31, it was to enjoy the embrace of his Savior. His wife and two children, ages three and one, are surely devastated, and we pray for their comfort. Charlie quoted Psalm 34:18, just last week: “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

Read more {here}.

Justice for Charlie Kirk

After two days of furious law enforcement efforts, Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old alleged assassin of Charlie Kirk, has been taken into custody.

By Douglas Andrews

The manhunt for the assassin of Charlie Kirk came down, as it often does, to good old-fashioned police work: a picture of the suspect, and a plea to the public for help.

President Donald Trump broke the news early this morning on the set of “Fox and Friends,” fresh off a day of remembrance of the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and an evening of baseball at a packed Yankee Stadium, where shouts of “U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!” filled the Bronx air and welcomed the commander-in-chief.

“I think,” Trump began, “with a high degree of certainty, we have him in custody. … Essentially, somebody who is very close to him turned him in.”

The president said he got this news from his team just five minutes before he walked into the Fox News studios. Apparently, according to Trump, a friend of the suspect told a local minister who works with law enforcement, then the minister went to the assassin’s father, and the father contacted his son and convinced him to come in. And then they went together to the local police station.

“So, Mr. President,” said Fox News host Lawrence Jones to Trump, “there is the death penalty in Utah, and I do know this is going to be a federal case. And there’s many of us who believe that Charlie was targeted because of his political ideology. What’s gonna happen to this guy?”

“Well,” Trump responded, “I hope he’s going to be found guilty, I would imagine. And I hope he gets the death penalty. What he did — Charlie Kirk was the finest person. He didn’t deserve this.”

As wrecked as I am over the killing of Charlie Kirk, and the loss to Erika Kirk and their two small children, I am also grief stricken for the killers parents. Can you even imagine the shock and horror they must feel?

This celebrating publicly of the death of a man that some disagreed with is evidence of an evil that has crept into society.

Ghouls Argue Charlie Kirk Had It Coming

After the Turning Point USA founder was assassinated and martyred on Wednesday, many Americans today seem to be litigating whether he deserved to be shot in the throat.

By Nate Jackson

Read more {here}.

“It doesn’t matter what Kirk’s politics are, what political causes he has supported, or which politicians he’s associated with. Defending, excusing, or justifying the murder of a fellow citizen — as some online freaks and cable news ghouls have done — for what he said or what he believed is the sign of a black heart and a disordered mind.” —Mark Antonio Wright

“Democrats have dehumanized Conservatives. It started with Obama calling us bitter Americans who cling to our guns and our religion. It was Hillary Clinton calling us an irredeemable basket of deplorables. It was Joe Biden calling us the dregs of society. It was Maxine Waters telling them to absolutely harass us in restaurants and grocery stores. They called us Nazis and Hitler. They called us homophobes and bigots and racists and xenophobes. I hold all them responsible. They all have blood on their hands today.” —Todd Starnes

“Once again, a bullet has silenced the most eloquent truth teller of an era.” —Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“I don’t want to ‘stand in solidarity’ with the other side of the aisle. … I want to defeat the godless ideology that kills babies in the womb, sterilizes confused children, turns our cities into cesspools of degeneracy and lawlessness…and that murdered Charlie Kirk.” —Virginia House Delegate Nick Freitas

Two quotes from Charlie - 

“When people stop talking, that’s when you get violence. That’s when civil war happens. Because you start to think the other side is so evil and they lose their humanity.” —Charlie Kirk

“One of the reasons we’re living through a constitutional crisis is that we no longer have a Christian Nation, but we have a Christian form of government and they are incompatible. You cannot have Liberty if you do not have a Christian population.” —Charlie Kirk

I've always thought this was an excellent quote - 

“When you tear out a man’s tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you’re only telling the world that you fear what he might say.” ―author George R.R. Martin

I'm grateful that one day I'll get to meet Charlie Kirk. I hope that I live long and am able to witness a movement of change. Back to God, back to true freedom of speech, back to loving our neighbors. Charlie encouraged young people to think about issues, not just parrot what they'd heard.

information Friday

 

This photo is from a few years ago and later in the autumn. The lights in the trees were for our Fall Fest that we host every year.

I think I'll string the lights in the trees again this year!

There is so much going on in the fight to reclaim our nation from those in our own government who have been trying to bring America down. If we fall the world falls. 

That sounds kind of arrogant, right? Look at what is happening in the UK. The British people have losts their freedoms - and migrants have all the perks. People in the UK get arrested for social media posts. 

Now however, the people are encouraged by what's happening in the US and are starting to rise up. They've started with rallies, and now are hanging their Union flag, and the flag of England, the St. George's cross. Police are taking them down, but the people are starting to push back.

Pray for them and continue to pray for us. We are a beacon on a hill. 

Here is where that phrase comes from - 

• John Winthrop's Sermon: In 1630, during his voyage to America, John Winthrop delivered a sermon titled "A Model of Christian Charity." In it, he described the new American community they envisioned as a "city upon a hill," a place where everyone would live in harmony, freedom, and peace, serving as a model for the rest of the world.

Here is a reminder of someone who is still being punished by those who were trying to destroy our nation.

She was the election official in a Colorado district and showed after the 2020 election that the voting machines had been tampered with. She got charged and convicted! I'm praying that Trump will pardon Tina Peters. She's as much a political prisoner as the J6ers.

Friends, I hope you are feeling hopeful. I believe we are, with God's help, restoring our nation. Keep praying, keep voting. Share truth with others.

Happy Weekend!

Hello September

 

                                                                              source

I've been waiting for autumn since last winter! My favorite time of year. 

The signs of the changing season is all around. The sumac along the roadside, the tobacco harvested and hanging in the drying barns. Field corn being cut. The walnut tree leaves are turning yellow and dropping early as they always do. My Red Sunset Maples are turning here and there, but won't really get going until October. 

We took the red, white, and blue bunting down from our picket fence, and I've gathered the flags. I will begin putting some faux foliage out, but not sure if I'm ready for pumpkins yet. 

I am going to tuck the climbing roses branches along the fence, and may cut some limelight hydrangea. It's got its autumn blush on it now.

I hope you have a lovely holiday today, and are ready for the 'ber' months!

The best is yet to come!