🎵 Prompt Response: Read the Bible Every Day
with help from Gemini Nano Banana Wombo Dream AI and Photo Studio Pro
What’s a promise you made to yourself that you’ve actually kept?
I’ve used one of those year-long studies that gives you a portion to read each day for 365 days for about four or five years now. But my total weeks in the Bible app by YouVersion show as 465. Wow, that’s around 9 years! I don’t think I realized it was that long, but I know it’s important to me, and I know it’s life-changing.
Often, I use the included audio to let it read to me. I try to prioritize it to be the first thing in each day—along with my first cup of coffee. Late at night, I might also do a short reading that includes one or two verses and a short devotion.
The last few years, I’ve enjoyed the lessons from The Bible Project with videos to give extra detail to the lessons. I recommend their website and suggest trying the different series’ they offer in addition to those for a year’s worth of reading. The four annual ones at Bible dot com are …
- One Story that Leads to Jesus (358 Days)
- From the Beginning to the Amen (365 Days)
- Old Testament in a Year (365 Days)
- New Testament in a Year (365 Days)
This should get you prepared to start now or on January 1st if you’re a traditionalist like me. If you want to go right to the Google Play Store to download the apps, you can get either or both the YouVersion Bible app or the BibleProject app.
Another Bible website that also has an app is BibleHub dot com, and they are the ones who share The Berean Study Bible as Public Domain, so everyone can read it online for free. The Bible Hub website has multiple translations, including other Public Domain translations like “The World English Bible” and “Young’s Literal Translation.” Plus, they even have the King James Purple Letter Bible. I’ll let you do your own research to see why it has some words in purple. 🪻👑
Also, if you’d like to see a side-by-side comparison, they have a parallel framework on their site where you can compare up to five translations at one time. I’m actually running five different Public Domain Bibles in my parallel, including KJV with Strong’s concordance. And if that’s not enough in the bells and whistles department, they also include their music Bible in both KJV and BSB versions along with at least 10 different audio readers from which to choose.
There are so many wonderful apps and sites filled with God’s Word out there. I’m thrilled and thankful that we still have full access right now. Some of them, like Open Bible dot com (which looks like a Bible Hub site based on the site icon) include free downloads in PDF, Word, text, and even full software for desktop. The link goes to the PDF downloads page.
You see, this is what happens when you decide to read God’s Word every day. You find style after style, site after site, and source after source. And listening to the KJV in music enabled me to hear some of the poetry a good friend recently told me she found a lot of in that translation. I had only seemed to hear it with sort of a haughty or stuffy sound and missed a lot of the poetic side. But she was right. Like that famous spaghetti sauce, It’s in there! 😊
I hope all these resources are both helpful and encouraging to my regular readers and visitors to this post. May you find joy in the written, spoken, and sung Words of The Lord today and always. His Word is truly created as a lamp for our feet and a light for our paths.
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And a light unto my path.”
Psalm 119:105 KJV
Share this post on:
🎼Prompt Response: Wrote Songs with AI Help🎵
What’s something you’ve done that you never thought you could?
By Day One
A New Song with an Old Message
Back on April 4th and 5th, I shared two posts that meant a lot to me. The first was called A Passover Prisoner Exchange where I didn’t tell you the name of the prisoner. And I really loved the image from that post because it spoke so much with no words. The next was called Resurrection Redemption Revealed where I told you the prisoner was Barabbas and shared that he was literally the first person in history to witness YahShua (Jesus) dying for his sins.
I love the story because he was likely a rabbi’s son, but I never thought of writing a poem or song about it. But recently, I got a musical AI creator that allows Christian lyrics.
Side Note…
Yes, I was able to put some of my Christian lyrics to music with Lyria by Gemini, but lately it makes me change things like “Lord” to “Love” or “Truth” or anything that won’t strike a caution in the program. Oddly, it didn’t do that at first, as you know from my post with the song Holy, Pure, and Undefiled. So I guess someone out there must have complained, and Google didn’t want the risk of a lawsuit. Still, it’s not like Christian writers are asking them to opine on Christian beliefs or to support or promote them in any way. In my case, I was just asking for a tune to go with lyrics I already created and believed myself.
Back on Track…
So anyway, I decided to try a new app called Donna AI Song & Music Maker from the Google Play Store. The first thing it offered was that it could write a song from just a picture. I thought, “Hmm, I wonder what it would make from that cool Barabbas picture. So I uploaded that and added a description (prompt) for the AI. It used most of the words in my prompt as lyrics plus added some of its own, and that made me decide to take what I’d written into the prompt and expand the idea into a full set of my own lyrics. Before I share my lyrics, though, here are the first ones written by Donna AI…
[Verse 1]
Looking at myself and deep into the shame,
I can’t explain the mercy, I can’t explain His name,
I was counting every failure like a sentence carved in stone,
Then You stepped into my darkness and You made my burden known,
And the chains that held me shattered when You called me as Your own.[Bridge]
I should have been the one nailed there, I should have paid the cost.
[Chorus]
You took my place, You took my pain, You broke the power of my sin,
You set me free from all my chains and gave me life again within,
I was lost, but now I’m standing where grace and hope begin,
My Savior bled, my soul was spared, and I will sing that love has won.[Verse 2]
It was me that should’ve hung on that cross, bearing all my blame,
I was the guilty one in silence, yet You carried all my shame,
When the crowd was shouting justice, You did not defend Yourself,
My life was traded for Your mercy, and I found forever wealth.[Bridge]
Jesus stayed silent, and my freedom rose instead.
[Chorus]
You took my place, You took my pain, You broke the power of my sin,
You set me free from all my chains and gave me life again within,
I was lost, but now I’m standing where grace and hope begin,
My Savior bled, my soul was spared, and I will sing that love has won.[Outro]
So I’ll walk in grateful wonder, forever changed by grace,
The cross reminds me I am free because You took my place.
I like most of what they added to my prompt, like the part about standing where grace and hope begin. You’ll hear some of the same lyrics in my final creation called “My Soul Exchanged” and sung in a soulful gospel style (yes, they offered this choice 😊). I created a video and used Adobe Express to add lyrics to it (though it missed some in areas where the AI singer was extra stylistic) then I uploaded it to YouTube. It’s shared below, and I’d love to hear some thoughts on it. I’ll also add the full lyrics after the video.
When the crowd shouted, “Give us Barabbas” and YahShua (Jesus) stayed silent, He made Barabbas the first witness to experience having his sins paid for with innocent blood.
I love the message in this, and the image Gemini’s Nano Banana made for the cover speaks volumes, so now I’ve uploaded my lyrics to Donna AI Song & Music Maker, and I really like the result.
Full Lyrics
“My Soul Exchanged” lyrics by Crystal A Murray ©2026 All Rights Reserved
Looking at myself and into me,
I don’t know why He chose to set me free.
Casting off the broken chains that bound me,
because He took my place on that tree.
My soul exchanged…
for a Righteous Son.
Exchanged…
for the holy one.
Arranged to swap…
This rabbi’s son.
An innocent reclaimed…
my soul with His blood.
It was me that should’ve hung on the cross.
I was the criminal; I should pay the cost.
But Jesus stayed silent when they shouted my name,
To release me instead of Him.
My soul exchanged…
for a Righteous Son.
Exchanged…
for the holy one.
Arranged to swap…
This rabbi’s son.
An innocent reclaimed…
my soul with His blood.
I didn’t ask Him,
but He offered anyway.
And I watched Jesus hang there…
for my sins that day.
My soul exchanged…
for a Righteous Son.
Exchanged…
for the holy one.
Arranged to swap…
This rabbi’s son.
An innocent reclaimed…
my soul with His blood.
[Tag]
An innocent reclaimed my soul…
with His holy blood.
Share this post on:
Can Pro-Blogger Help Me?
Welcome to an Old Post Made New
This post is originally from 2012, and people read it regularly. I noticed some old and broken links, so I decided I better add an update… 14 years later! 😬😳 But I’m publishing it as a new post because it’s so long and has so much information. Please forgive the rambling now from being in rescue mode, and then from not knowing as much about blogging. There are a few updates sewn into the original text.
As for the original product, I purchased the full library in 2012, but shortly after that, our cable company got purchased by a conglomerate that forced email replacement, and I didn’t get things updated before my old address went dormant. At the same time, I was changing my physical address when we had to move in a hurry (long story), so other than some good interactions on the Facebook group, I never really got to use the benefits of this program.
Now I’m following the creator on Substack because I’ve learned I followed another of his creations in the form of the Digital Photography School. It was a great newsletter with photography tips and tricks, but I read more at the DPS site than in email. Still, I’d recommend Darren Rowse for any of his creative offerings. I’ll be working on finding those old libraries to see what I can share here.
But, I know so much more about copyright and general blog etiquette than when I first wrote this post. I can’t change the link, so the slug must stay long, but I can update links where sites like Shoutlife and Angelfire no longer exist. I added the fall banner since that’s when I’m writing this follow-up, and I hope there’s something readers can still find useful.
Original Post (with a few changes)
Okay, so I’m about to take a plunge and take advantage of the current sale at Pro-Blogger where I can actually learn about this blogging and SEO stuff instead of just doing it by the seat of my pants. I plan to start with the “31 Days to Build a Better Blog” ebook, and I plan to share the basics of what I learn here (without infringing copyright, of course). To make things easier, I’ll link to the Pro-Blogger site from here in case anyone else thinks this can help you too.
What I’ve done to this point is start multiple blog sites, Facebook pages, and other sharing points around the Internet. I have three blogs right here at Crystal Writes (the main blog, the import of my old Yahoo 360 blog, and an image blog I haven’t used much yet); the blog I started for my Good Morning Christian Writer project that found its stagnation in a neck injury and two surgeries; and then the page I set up at Shoutlife (which was great while it existed). It was a social networking site specifically for Christians, and I’d built my own page, the writer’s group page, and a Cowboy Church page. (I guess life changes for everyone. 😉)
My main website is largely static, but it carries an important message, at http://www.41soul.com. And then I’ve got some articles on my Scribd page at http://www.scribd.com/crystalwriter. Of course, I have my X (formerly Twitter) feed, and I have my photo blog at Flickr. Flickr was the one I kept up the most because I loved to share the colorful images of kaleidoscopes and tessellations, but it has also taken a back seat to my busy life. Still, there are some great pictures there, especially those from Azalea Path Arboretum in Indiana.
Everything I listed above is important to me, but I also have some extra stuff I’ve done with a hope that I can share the vast prism of facets that describe all of my interests. I have a page on Facebook dedicated to my poem, The Lord is My Editor and other author activities. I have another undeveloped image page on Facebook that they suggested from my bio. And I have my main site on Facebook where I rarely spend time anymore because it’s just not the Facebook I joined back in 2006. Beyond that, I have groups and message boards in various places. That used to be on both Yahoo and Facebook. Plus I have custom product pages at Zazzle and Cafepress, and a page on Linked In. Oh, and then there is my very first home page and my “God’s Kitchen Sink” newsletter pages that were on AngelFire before it went away. They were created when I was still using Web TV.
I am also the webmaster and Facebook pagemaster for our local Christian writer’s group, Louisville Christian Writers, and I do what I can to help other writers in their quests to be published as well as in helping them to learn how to tackle all the technical aspects of having a cyber presence without overwhelming them with technical jargon. This is in addition to being the president of the group and often the newsletter editor if we put one out.
Oh yeah, and then to add some variety to my life (LOL), I decided to start writing for Squidoo which went out of business and changed everything to HubPages. But now (2026), they have also gone mostly out of business. They left only one of my articles (likely because it was the most popular one about kaleidoscopes). And I should probably consider going back to my Epinions (never mind, since it shut down 4 years after this post) to share product reviews again since I regularly read reviews to know what I want to purchase. Wait… if I add what I do with reviews, then I also have my reviews on Amazon and Goodreads as well. And what about my videos on YouTube and Viddler? Yikes, and I wonder why my time seems so limited and why I can’t seem to catch up on stuff. How did I ever play Facebook games before I realized what a terrible time-grabber they had become?
So, I presented all of the above to reach out for opinions and help in finding my focus. I love all of these worlds I’ve built online, and they don’t even cover all the dreams I have for my future–like my design for my own card company and the idea I have for a very unique drop-shipping company. Of course, I want to put together a presentation for helping Christian writers find their place in web land as well, and I already have an outline done on that one along with interest from a web producer who might back the publication. And I can’t forget about my novels. I’ll do a post on their synopses later and gather opinions, but most of them are very rough draft stories put together from former years of doing NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writers Month) contests.
Needless to say, when I add all of these together, mix them with daily living and throw in a strong dose of reading (from Bible reading, to blogs I follow, to lots of books by friends, in addition to thousands of e-mails plus articles I find linked from X {Twitter} & Pinterest), I’m swamped. And then there’s time to take and edit photos, plan for a home sale and moving, and keep in touch with out-of-town family. I’m supposed to be learning how to submit my writing, but just getting stuff written in all these areas is overwhelming, ya know? And then all these people want me to join, follow, or recommend them on Klout and other social influence tools, and I’m thinking how I just can’t figure out how to add one more tool, app, blog, etc., to my plans. But, do I need to put all this stuff into Klout to verify my own level of influence? Or, do I need to just keep with the message of my main page and live every moment as if it could be “for one soul”? (As of 2026, I never tried Klout and don’t even know if it’s a thing anymore.)
I look forward to your comments, but I’m going to also do my best to follow the instructions from the new e-book and see if I can get this blog regularly active. If you want to see what the book has to say for yourself, you can consider purchasing it from Pro-Blogger through E-Junkie by clicking here. If you buy a copy for yourself and you find any tools that work quickly and without having to read many pages, please share the tips and tricks with me to save me a little bit of time. 🙂 Thanks!
Share this post on:
Prompt Response: We Met on the Phone ☎️
with help from Gemini Nano Banana Wombo Dream and Photo Studio Pro
How did you meet your significant other?
By Day One (Prompt 2862)
Because it’s late, and I’ve been traveling, I’ve decided to dig out a draft I started from an older Day One prompt. First, though, you’ll want to read about our telephone meeting in When God Plans a Meet Cute.
So now you know that we created our own Valentine’s Day on the first time we spoke over the phone on February 12th. But that’s where I stopped the story. I didn’t tell you that we began exchanging phone calls regularly (and back when you paid by the minute) and talking for hours. Once, he said he needed to go just to get a few hours sleep before work. The next thing you know, he said he needed to go, so he could take a shower and go to work. Oops 😬! But neither of us really wanted to hang up even with building phone bills into the hundreds of dollars.
Arizona
I headed back to Arizona after the two jobs in Massachusetts where we truly got to know each other via long phone calls and a few letters. While I was there, I stayed with my aunt since I didn’t need my own place while living on the road doing the traveling sales. My Aunt Shirley insisted on her own phone time with David. I think she fell in love with him as well, because when it came time for me to get back on the road, and the trip included heading to Kentucky to meet David, she said she knew my life was going to change and that I wouldn’t be coming back to Arizona to live. And she was right.
Kentucky
So my next job was in La Porte Indiana (the town I wrote about on October 4th with the hair dresser who taught me to make homemade salsa). It was close enough to Louisville, Kentucky, that we made plans to meet each other in person. It took me about 3 or 4 days to drive with stopping for sleep and phone calls along the way.
A Giant Bow
Before big bows by that Jo Jo girl became popular, I almost always wore big bows to pull back my long, straight hair. Between that and my 4’10” height, when I knocked on the door and David looked through the peep hole, he could only see the bow on top of my head 🎀😁 Now, don’t you think that made him extra nervous? Especially since Aunt Shirley had jokingly warned him that I was 3 feet tall and 3 feet wide. Poor guy!
7-Course Dinner
Yes, he actually opened the door. Maybe curiosity pushed him beyond his fears. But also, he had prepared a 7-course meal for me. Basically, he’d been writing down everything I said I liked in our phone calls, and then he shopped for everything he could that he knew how to make, and totally spoiled me. If the calls weren’t enough, that was certainly the icing on the cake with a cherry on top. A proposal came 2 days later, and the rest really is history—35 plus years of it. 💝🥰
Share this post on:
Prompt Response: Pray and Create
How do you manage stress?
I’m keeping it simple for tonight and just answering the question. But when I’m a little more awake, I’ll come back to add some examples.
So, the answer is to pray (connect with God) and then create (partner with God). Those two behaviors can really make a huge difference in my stress level. Probably your stress as well.
Sweet dreams for me. And I hope for you as well! 😊
Share this post on:
Prompt: I Wrote a Children’s Book 🧸📖
What’s something you’ve done that your past self would be proud of?
My seven-year-old self would be thrilled that I took the lyrics to the first song she ever wrote and turned it into a children’s book. I have the story board, but I’m still working on a character I’m happy with.
Since it’s Shabbat, I’ll keep this short, but I’ll include some sample book covers made in AI. Anyone who wants to comment and tell me what to keep, change, or get rid of, is welcome to share. Readers are my current and future audience, so I’m interested in knowing your thoughts. 💬 💭
I think this little girl is my favorite of all the designs so far. I love the big eyes and how both she and the seagull seem impressed with each other.
When I asked for a cover, I got a different girl, and the AI assigned the “Song of Wings and Wonders” as a subtitle. I kept everything whether I will use it or not, so I can create a character with a little of all of them.
©2025 All Rights Reserved
I like the girl on this 3D book cover as well, though I think she’s older than seven. And I wanted the beach to go across the entire cover under all the text for a smooth flow.
And here’s one with the beach across the cover, but the girl is gone. 🙃 This one has a butterfly logo for my publishing company, so I like that. Of course, AI has changed tremendously since I started working on these, so I could probably be more apt to get exactly what I want now.
And I’ll end with the dual cover of my first book and the companion book I’m writing for boys by request of my husband. As a matter of fact, Hubby even came up with the title. 🤩
by Crystal A Murray ©2025 All Rights Reserved
So, I’ll close this for now. I know my younger self will truly be happy when I actually get them published.
Shabbat Shalom 🕊️
Share this post on:
🎵Prompt: The New Heaven and New Earth🌎
with help from Gemini, Nano Banana, Wombo Dream, and Photo Studio Pro
What’s a country that’s at the top of your bucket list?
I would’ve liked this question better as a city because I’m actually really happy to be from the good ‘ol USA. I walked across The Rainbow Bridge from Niagara Falls New York to Ontario, Canada. It was a nice experience until the restaurant cheated us on the currency exchange. I do have some nieces and nephews in Canada, so if I had to pick a country outside the US, at least I have a reason to travel there.
My least favorite step outside of our country was a very brief crossing of the bridge at Ciudad de Juarez in Mexico just so we could say we’d been there with the boys (our nephews) while we traveled with them. We drove up a street that felt very unsafe, drove back toward the giant Mexican flag, let the boys burn a little energy on a park playground, and then got right back to the US. It was years later when that show called The Bridge was on TV and showed a glimpse of how awful Juarez could be. I’m glad we didn’t stay longer and thankful we didn’t have any issues.
My most favorite foray outside of our country was a very fast 3-day cruise to the Bahamas. Most of our time was spent on the 50+-year-old ship, but we got 8 hours in port and used it for a small tour of Blue Lagoon. But, oh, that turquoise water was absolutely worth all the travel it took to get there. Here’s one of the pictures from there in a smaller size, but you can see and download the full size at Flickr and read about the trip.
by Crystal A Murray (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
The question also said top of my bucket list, so in thinking about the one country I hope to enjoy (for eternity after this life is over), it has to be in the city of the New Jerusalem when God creates a new Heaven and a New Earth. I imagine this beautiful image of the Caribbean is nothing compared to The Crystal Sea. 🌊💎🌊
And I’ll finish this post with a nice hymn that isn’t apparently that well known since I could only find one with lyrics. It’s called “Address Change Notification” and it’s about moving to a brand new home in Heaven.
Share this post on:
Prompt Response: Cameron Arnett 🎥
Which celebrity would you love to meet, and what would you talk about?
I know, you probably don’t know that name, so it’s hard to think of the actor as a celebrity, but I think he’s a great actor whether he’s playing a dying blind guy, an uncooperative sheriff, or a pastor of a dysfunctional family.
But it’s not the acting I’d want to talk to him about. In more than one movie, he’s given excellent spiritual advice. And though I know he didn’t write the scripts, he speaks the advice with such confidence, it makes you think he could’ve written it. I especially like the encouragement and direction he speaks into his daughter’s headset for her big race in the movie, Overcomer. (Have I mentioned this enough for you to figure out how much I love this movie?)
I’m not a runner, but I am a daughter who grew up mostly without a dad actively in my life. The beautiful coaching and love from this father to his daughter as she struggles to keep the pace and climb one more hill seems to me how God would sound if I could hear Him coaching me in my life’s race.
I’ll share two videos of the race and its finish, and you tell me if you can hear God’s heart to His children in these scenes.
I hope you want to get this movie and watch it all the way through if you haven’t seen it. Every actor in this movie is amazing, and I’d also love to meet the Kendrick brothers and talk about all their movies and the great emotion Alex always brings to his roles. (You’ve gotta see Facing the Giants for his reaction to getting a truck. 😁)
Tell me your favorite Kendrick brothers movie (I haven’t seen The Forge yet) or your favorite Cameron Arnett movie in the comments. 🍿
Share this post on:
Blog Break For Now 🍂🍁
Some stuff came up that had to be attended to right away, so I’m just too tired to work on any prompts now. But it’s been a great exercise of my writing muscles so far.
In the meantime, here’s a cute knitted fall kitty for y’all…
Share this post on:
🎵Prompt Response: What’s SEO? ❓🧐
with help from Gemini Nano Banana and Photo Studio Pro
What are your strategies for SEO?
By Day One
Hmm 🤔 SEO? What’s that? Special Entrance Options? Seasoning Encrusted Onions? Seven Executive Orders?
So I get a little punchy when I’m tired, and worse when a subject is all about business. And I’m not the biggest fan of having to advertise, but at the same time, I know it’s essential. Besides, if I feel I have something worth reading, isn’t it best to WANT every opportunity for people to see it? And therefore, I want it noticed by those who send people my way: search engines. So, let’s talk about what I’ve changed for the purpose of Search Engine Optimization.
Moving Past the “Business” Dread
Let’s be honest, when you’re a writer whose heart is wrapped up in lyrics and poetry, travel memories, and spiritual growth (like Bible study to find the deeper applications or finding the spiritual side to Aesop’s Fables), diving into technical acronyms like SEO feels a bit like trying to enjoy a quiet cup of dark roast coffee while someone bangs pots and pans next to your ear.
I’d much rather spend my time letting The Lord be My Potter, shaping my life and my words than worrying about keyword density. But over time, I’ve realized that SEO isn’t just a cold, corporate marketing trick. At its core, it’s just about being a good host. If you’ve prepared a warm meal, set out fresh sheets, and opened up your digital home, SEO is simply making sure the porch light is actually turned on so travelers can find their way to the front door.
Quick Story Break
Recently, my husband gave a meaningful devotion at our writer’s meeting and talked about lighthouses and lifelines. I want to share the part about the necessity of using the right lifeline to reach people. This one has a tragic ending, and you can read it at Bible.org since I’m unsure of origins and copyrights. And, no, advertising the posts that hold my testimony or a message about grace and mercy may not be literal life and death, but if they can reach the one soul who needs the message to turn their life to The Lord before it’s too late, they carry the weight of eternity. And I don’t want that rope to be too short to reach them.
What’s Changed in My Routine?
Working together with my digital partners (and learning as I go), I’ve actually adopted several subtle shifts that make a massive difference behind the scenes without cramping my creative style. Here is what my SEO toolkit looks like now:
- Clear Content Taxonomy: I’ve gotten much more intentional about clean categories and tags. Grouping posts logically—whether it’s Travel & Destinations, Slice of Life, or Bible Scripture Verses—helps search engines understand the neighborhood my writing lives in, making it easier to connect readers with the exact memories or reflections they’re looking for.
- Structuring with Headings: Instead of dropping a massive wall of text onto the page, I now use clear markdown headings to break thoughts into digestible sections. Not only does this make the page much easier on human eyes, but search crawlers love a well-organized map.
- Descriptive Metadata & Tags: I actually pay attention to the tag fields now (hello, dailyprompt tags!), ensuring that the terms people are searching for match the heart of what I’ve written.
- Multimedia and Context: Embedding songs (via YouTube or audio tracks), images, and personal art gives the page rich media depth, which keeps readers engaged longer—a signal search engines adore.
Wrapping Up
So, no, I don’t wear a business suit, and I probably never will. But I do want my words to reach the hearts they’re meant for—even if it’s just for one reader out there who needs a lifeline of encouragement today.
What about you? Are you a fellow creative who breaks out in hives at the word “SEO,” or have you found gentle ways to make search engines work for you? Let me know in the comments!
And now, a fitting old hymn called Throw Out the Lifeline:
Share this post on:
🎵Prompt Response: Love Showing Mercy 💝
with help from Gemini Nano Banana and Photo Studio Pro
What’s one thing you know now that would have saved your younger self a lot of pain?
From the first time I read the following Bible verse, I wished I had read it far earlier in my life. It is a simple, strong, deep, and excellent capsule of truth for a happy life and a happy walk with Our Heavenly Father…
“He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Some people jump through hoops to be loved. Some jump through hoops to prove their love to God or to other people. But no one’s hoop jumping can even compare to what God has done for us through His mercy and grace on the cross at Calvary. Paul the Apostle figured it out when he said:
“But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved!
✨✨✨
For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. ”
When I was young in my walk with The Lord, I tried to do everything on my own to please Him and live a life worthy of the gift of grace and mercy He gave me. But when you try too hard, and especially if you find it to be difficult sometimes, it can cause you to look at others who aren’t working as hard and feel a bit jealous. But whether we look at others to compare works, or ourselves to commend our own works, we have taken our eyes off of The One who paid with His works and Precious Blood to make us His own. Looking at YahShua (Jesus) makes showing mercy much easier. It also makes it easier to walk humbly with The Lord.
I’m still learning, and I’m still harder on myself in my failures than I should be. I need to just K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Sweetheart) and think of Micah 6:8 more often. Am I being just? Am I drawn to showing mercy to others the way I want it shown to me? Am I humble in my walk with God?
And this means I have to share one of my favorite ApologetiX songs since it’s about that verse, a parody of a favorite band and song from my youth, and has a great title: Don’t Bring Me Cows. (Parody of Don’t Bring Me Down by ELO.) Oh, and yes there are cows mooing in the song. Prepare to smile.
Share this post on:
🎬Prompt Response: Weird Matinee
with help from Gemini Nano Banana and Photo Studio Pro
What’s the weirdest movie you’ve ever watched?
Funny, it’s my writer’s meeting day, but I’m going to keep the writing short this time. But that’s okay because I didn’t shorten it for Sabbath last night, so I’ve got some wiggle room. 🪱
And that brings me to the answer to this prompt. I was an early teen, and the walk-in cinema was very close to our apartment. I remember some really great movies there even though I was going by myself. My favorite was Xanadu with Olivia Newton John. The music and the story were so good to me. Of course, the roller skating rink was also within walking distance, so being a skater made the movie that much better. Obviously, that was NOT the weirdest movie.
So, I think I watched two movies on the same day, and it was probably near Halloween. The first one was The Amityville Horror 😱, and the second one was at least one of the weirdest movies I’ve ever seen. It was called Saturday the 14th 🙃. Maybe it wouldn’t have been as weird if I’d seen any of the “Friday the 13th” movies, or maybe it would’ve been even more weird in comparison. I’m not into horror movies at all, but I think I got tickets to those two because I was old enough, and they made me feel all grown up. Thankfully, neither gave me nightmares, and I think I even remember some kind of news story about how fake the whole Amityville saga was. That was all pre-Internet days, so I’m sure the true stories are probably online by now.
If I wasn’t sleepy, I might be able to come up with some runners up for weird movies, but the only thing that comes to mind right at this moment was the movie Vanilla Sky. I still never really figured that one out. Was Tom Cruise dead and dreaming of life, or alive and seeing a video of how he’d die and come back? It’s close to the weirdest just because it’s so hard to figure out and left so many loose ends.
Now it’s time for sleep, and since I don’t want to end my day thinking of weird things, how about a beautiful 1:06-minute time lapse nature photo of a year in the life of a beech tree by The Woodland Trust…
Share this post on:
🎵 Prompt Response: Good Morning … This Afternoon 🌅🌤️
with help from Gemini Nano Banana and Photo Studio Pro
Tell us about your morning routine.
A Years-Long Pattern
Looking back at ten years worth of almost daily journals, I can see the night pattern established and ingrained. Trying to change to a morning person has only resulted in shorter stretches of sleep even though I truly try to do everything it takes to both go to bed and get up earlier. Whether I’ve blamed it on Spanish lessons, blogging, or whatever else, it’s just a thing that I’ve struggled with for years. Maybe it was from being up late, and sometimes all night, for the drama that always happened after dark in my childhood, or maybe it was my years of working graveyard shifts. I’m not sure of the cause, but it’s not about desire. I really want to be able to go places and do things with my morning friends, but it seems impossible to reset my circadian rhythm. I wonder, though, am I supposed to?
Every Day
Still, even with my quirky schedule, I do have regular routines established that work even with a later schedule. When I first get up, hubby actually says, “Good Morning” to me—even though it’s late afternoon. I still make myself a dark roast coffee ☕ and enjoy the morning aroma. Just before drinking it, I put a little something on my stomach to absorb the acidity and be nice to my tummy. Usually, it’s a few bites of banana or 2 thin, mini rice cakes with a little butter. Plus, I drink my first glass of water for the day and add some tinctures to it like milk thistle, slippery elm, rye seed (in the form of Iberogast), and dandelion root. By then, I’m fully ready for my time visiting the in-house outhouse. 😉🚪
That’s where I relax and take time to listen to my daily Bible study from the YouVersion Bible app with the one-year plan by The Bible Project. And though some of the readings are pretty long with a video included, the timing is usually right to take care of all I need and be ready for my day.
Time for Worship
According to Scripture, all times are good for worship, but the common times for temple activities were morning and evening. I looked up verses and found a few encouraging texts:
Since it’s Sabbath, I’ll start here…
“A Psalm. A song for the Sabbath day. It is good to praise the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High, to proclaim Your loving devotion in the morning and Your faithfulness at night”
These two are nice morning devotions, but I think they can be applied as the first things to do at whatever time your morning starts.
“But I will sing of Your strength and proclaim Your loving devotion in the morning. For You are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.”
“Let me hear Your loving devotion in the morning, for I have put my trust in You. Teach me the way I should walk, for to You I lift up my soul.”
This one says that both dawn and sunset praise The Lord joyfully…
“Those who live far away fear Your wonders; You make the dawn and sunset shout for joy. You attend to the earth and water it; with abundance You enrich it. The streams of God are full of water, for You prepare our grain by providing for the earth.”
And I’m gonna use this one for preferring to get up in the afternoon. After all, who wouldn’t want to get up when the path shines the brightest? 😁
“The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.”
What about you? Do you think that morning can start by just putting God first at whatever time you begin your day? And what tricks would you recommend for someone like me who loves both sunrises and sunsets and thinks the sleep between the two when it’s light feels better than the sleep between the two when it’s dark? Whatever the time, I do long for the Holy Presence of The Lord as it says in this verse:
“My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning— more than watchmen wait for the morning.”
I will pray for His Presence to walk with me in every moment, and I will do my best to pray without ceasing. That reminds me of the post I wrote on breath prayers called “Whisper a Prayer” that includes the lovely song of the same name. I love that it says in the lyrics that God answers prayer in the morning, in the evening, and at noon.
Now enjoy this older song from Psalm 5 where the writer says He will direct His prayers to The Lord in the mornings and he will look up to Him. It’s got beautiful nature video backgrounds and sings the melody 3 times.
Shabbat Shalom 🕊️
Share this post on:
🎵Prompt Response: Buses and Trains🚍🚉
with help from Gemini Nano Banana and Photo Studio Pro
What’s the best way to meet new people while traveling?
Public Transportation
I recall riding the bus from as young as I have memories. There is a feeling of nostalgia that goes with the sights and sounds of big diesel buses coming and going from stations full of people. I even like the old curved ceilings filled with flecks of gold glitter that were on buses in the 1970s. Maybe they were older than that, so if you readers ever rode one, please tell me about it in the comments.
So this girl with a nickname of motormouth could talk to anyone, anytime. My husband will tell you I still can—and do. That’s probably the first thing required to meet new people with or without traveling. But beyond that, the type of transportation you choose makes all the difference in the world in how much you can access your fellow passengers to get to know them.
It usually starts in the bus station before everyone is more cramped and trying to jockey for the arm space between you. Talking is easier when you are face to face with a little distance between you. Singing is, too. I thought I’d shared about my bus station mini concert in a previous post, but an hour of searching never found it, so maybe not. Or maybe it’s still one of my unpublished drafts.
Just Sing, Sing a Song
Anyway, I cannot remember the time frame or my age when it happened, or even where I was headed. I do recall the bus being hours late, and a group of people had gathered outside the station and sat on the cement walkway to listen to someone play the guitar. I’m pretty sure we were at Union Station in Los Angeles, and the guitarist was a young woman in a colorful, cotton gauze sundress. Or her boyfriend played while she sang. Either way, they started playing old folk songs I’d frequently sang with my mom, so suddenly I was singing “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” and she was adding beautiful harmonies. A lot of people sang together, and the peaceful atmosphere in that was far better than all the whining going on inside because of late buses.
Get on Board
The other mode of transportation that’s great for meeting people is on the train. In the lounge rooms at the stations, I recall a few conversations, but the lounge car in the large Amtrak trains yielded many more. There were two women from Wisconsin who worked in a factory that made meat pies you eat by hand. They are called pasties (no I didn’t miss the R), and they are usually served warm. These two ladies loved their jobs, and from that time, I’ve wanted to try one of these sandwiches. I got something close to it at the Garden Glow at Missouri Botanical Garden one year, but I think I’ll need to actually visit Wisconsin again to get the real thing. (The link with the word explains what they are and some history.)
On another train trip, I ate in the dining car where they put you at tables with strangers. It’s a lot nicer to visit with these strangers than to just watch each other eat and drink. One meal had me across from a woman who backpacked across Europe to see all the towns where her soldier father had been stationed. She was writing about it in his memory.
I’ve had philosophical conversations, given advice to newlyweds about marriage longevity, and met an Instagram influencer who became the only influencer I think I’ve ever followed. But it was our real life behind the camera conversations that made it worth staying in touch with her life. And, yes, a few conversations were odd and a bit unnerving, like a guy in Chicago who claimed to be CIA and a traveler who claimed Chicago was the real middle east of the Holy Bible. But those, fortunately, are the least of those I’ve shared public journeys with.
Wrapping Up
I’m finishing this really late because of all the searching I’ve done that has not given me results, but I hope you enjoyed my little jaunt down memory lane. If you ever want to take a bus or train to see who you might meet, I recommend the train, and I suggest the longer ones where you get to hang out in the lounge car. The Southwest Chief from Chicago to L.A. (Kingman, AZ for me) is the one I’ve ridden most, and you can join Amtrak Guest Rewards to earn points for future trips if you ever want to try it.
Where Have All the Flowers Gone
And, though I do know where the flowers and soldiers have gone, and I hate the idea of war, I also know that a strong military of patriots is an absolute necessity to protect us from our enemies. They have their own militaries, but they are more apt to agree to peace if they face a power great enough to hurt them if they engage. Please support our US military and our soldiers with your love and prayers. May God make us strong enough to win if we need to fight and unified enough that our enemies would rather go back home. 🇺🇸🪖🛐💪 In the meantime, enjoy listening to the song I mentioned above in this video:
This Train 🎶
And just for fun, there are a lot of train songs out there, but only one I know of where the singers make the sounds of the wheels in a unique whisper. This is the 7-minute version of Wendy Bagwell and the Sunliters singing This Train is Bound for Glory with a little comedy and a lot of talent from the girls sprinkled in.
Share this post on:
🎵Prompt Response: Alien Communications 👽🖖
If aliens arrived tomorrow, what’s the first thing you’d ask them?
We Come in Peace
Wait, aren’t they supposed to be the first ones talking and telling me they come in peace? I know I’d probably feel better about talking to them if they started the conversation that way. But then if we’re both waiting for each other to speak first, it could get awkward.
So let’s just assume that, with or without an introduction, communication is easy and free-flowing. Maybe they’re asking about Earth or humanity, and I’m trying to think of a better ice-breaker than; “Are you offended by alien jokes?” 😂
Jokes
But just in case that was my first question, and just in case they said they were okay with them, here are a few just for fun.
- Why don’t aliens golf in outer space?
- There are too many black holes.
- How do aliens keep their pants up?
- They use asteroid belts.
- What kind of music do aliens listen to?
- Neptunes. 🎶
- How do alien poets write their poems?
- In Uni-Verse.
But In All Seriousness…
I like my husband’s idea the best. Remind the aliens that I’m an alien, too. After all, what does Scripture say?
“But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.”
In another place it says:
“For here we do not have a permanent city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.”
So, once we’ve established some common ground, maybe then I could ask the aliens if they are familiar with The Creator of the Universe. I know I’d be surprised whether they said they knew all about God and interacted with Him frequently or whether they knew nothing at all but wanted to learn.
We don’t know for sure if there are aliens, what they look like, or what they know. But, if they exist, we know Who made them and we know He has a plan.
Like the aliens may be looking for a new place to call home because their original planets are facing troubles, we have our own share of troubles on Planet Earth, so a new home promise is a good hope. This life may be temporary, but God’s promises are eternal. Have you given your heart to The Lord, so you can also look forward to eternal hope?
And this is the perfect topic for a great old hymn:
Share this post on:
Prompt Response: Why Empathy is Important
with help from Gemini Nano Banana and Photo Studio Pro
What’s the most underrated life skill?
Thinking of Others
Thinking of others, caring for others, loving others, and understanding others are all very important life skills. But, sadly, each of them can be performed without having the genuine skill of empathy as a guide.
A person might feed someone because it makes them feel good to share, or they might feed them because they have personal experience with hunger and don’t want someone else to go through it. Or they might march for a cause because they belong to a group that supports it but not because they have real-world experience with the issue.
Learning to Understand
When I sit in a regular height chair, my feet will not reach the floor except maybe my toes. Two things happen then: a hard seat will push into the backs of my legs and cause pain, or the sciatic nerve that runs from my hip down to my knee will pull and create days of pain. So I’m always saying to my husband, “You normal height people have no clue what it’s like to live in a world that’s not built for short people.” Before knowing me, he might never have even thought about why some people carry cushions with them everywhere they go. Now, because of experience, his empathy developed.
Natural Empathy
There are some people who have more of a natural empathy skill, just like people who are naturally gifted artists. Those people can think of what someone else is going through without their issues having ever been part of their life experience. If their empathy makes them feel things like they are experiencing it with the person their heart is moved for, they’ve gone past being empathetic and into being empathic. But for most people, empathy comes along and asks them to get on board, and they either accept it or reject it. If they accept it, it’s a skill they can learn and even improve on with time.
Genuine Empathy is an Extremely Important Skill
So why would I say it’s one of the most underrated skills? Simply because it is a driver of many other skills. It drives people to stop what they are doing for themselves and pay attention to someone else’s needs. It drives people to dig into their savings to collect for someone’s provisions. It stirs up a what if that were me or my family or friends kind of vibe that drives a person to step up and do their part to remedy a problem. Without real empathy to drive helpful behaviors, good deeds can cause distress and lead to those scenarios where a person says, “I was only trying to help.”
Don’t Stop Helping
Even if you do not have natural empathy, and even if your efforts to help have sometimes created a problem, don’t stop being helpful. That’s its own wonderful skill. And those who get offended by someone’s effort to help that isn’t exactly what they would’ve wanted need their own empathetic skills, so they don’t hurt a person with a tender and helpful heart. But, it’s a good idea to examine both your motivations and your understanding to see if you can learn ways to improve your helpfulness.
The Best Example of Empathy Ever Given
YahShua (Jesus) once dwelt in heavenly places far above humanity. The Scriptures tell us that He left His throne on high to dwell as one of us and become able to share the human experience.
“Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross.”
He became our High Priest both to counsel and to sacrifice.
“Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil.
For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, in order to make atonement for the sins of the people.”
And He told the disciples that the greatest love anyone could ever have was to lay down their own life for a friend.
“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
The Life Skill of Genuine Empathy is Rooted in Real Love
It’s not always easy to think of others. The voices all around us remind us how much we risk if we think of others. “You might catch something.” “They may not be grateful.” “You better ask first.” The division and lack of unity created by living our lives on screens and in fear don’t help us to love others or even think of them without counting our own costs first. A scenario where some government organization fines groups giving out sandwiches to hurricane victims because they didn’t get a health license first makes people hold back on empathy and love for fear of getting in trouble.
But if we see these things, we can change these things. And we need to change them for future generations to prevent the divide from growing any wider. Many children are naturally empathetic, and that needs to be nurtured in them as much as possible. It’s okay to tell them they are talented or special, but not at the expense of them believing they are more special than everyone else. They MUST be taught to see through the eyes of others outside themselves.
It hurts me deeply when I see videos of a group of teens attacking an elderly person. I mean, any innocent victim being attacked and beaten is not okay, but knowing how brittle and sensitive someone gets with age makes those attacks seem that much more brutal. 🥺 If we teach the youth about the frailties of age, AND we teach them to love their neighbor, they shouldn’t be able to carry out those attacks without any thoughts of how the victims feel.
WWJD
Do you remember when those 4 letters were all the rage and becoming emblazoned on everything? That was a real effort to create real empathy by thinking what it would be like from inside the heart of Jesus and how He thought of the hearts of people with whom He interacted. I think it’s time to boost this life skill back up to the top again.
And this seems like a perfect place to share my scrolling poem called “Beyond the Mirror” again.
Share this post on:
🎵Prompt Response: My Guiding Light Principles
with help from Gemini Nano Banana and Photo Studio Pro
What’s a personal mantra or philosophy you live by?
Guiding Lights on the Path of Life
Life isn’t just one path from conception to death. It’s like that quilt poem where the underside has all these hanging and frayed threads that make it look messy and without form. But flip it over to the top side where The Artist is at work, and you’ll be amazed at the beauty He has put together when He gives it His own touch.
The Light of Grace and Mercy to Change
See, I know that I’m messy and fail often. Paul the Apostle said the same thing about himself.
“I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do. And if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”
The Lord is My Editor
As a writer, that means I need to be edited, so that leads me to one of the lights on my path, the philosophy of letting God edit my writing. And, ultimately, I want Him to edit me as a person and as His child. The writer’s “mantra” is… The Lord is my Editor, I shall rewrite. That’s from a parody of Psalm 23 that I shared in the post, The Lord is My Own Personal Shepherd.
Rewrite My Life
In addition, the life philosophy of being edited is an idea I wrote as a short chorus many years ago but after the parody. It goes:
Edit me, Creator,
Edit me, My Lord.
Open up the heart of me,
And fill it with Your Word.
Write me as
A song of praise,
To lift Your name on high.
Please edit me, Creator,
Re-write my life.
The Desire to Please God
And the philosophy that lights my path and gives me a reason to desire God’s Hand of editing within it is simply that I desire to please Him. And you know what? Even that desire is a gift from Him. I love the way it’s written in the Plain English Version (P.E.V.), a Bible translation created for use on the mission field.
“God is the one that is working inside you. He helps you think the right way, so that you want to do the good things that make him happy, and he gives you the power to do those good things.”
For One Soul
Whether I’m failing or succeeding, reading or writing, listening or speaking, one thing I always want to think about is how I affect others. I’ve probably mentioned this quote from my original website domain before:
Live every moment of your life as if it could be… For One Soul!
That philosophy came in a moment of prayer where I was asking God if I was reaching enough people. After some time of conversation with Him, I came to the conclusion that if only one soul needed Calvary, He would still have walked that path and poured out His precious blood. And then I got the picture clearly that if I worked hard to minister to people (as a friend, a writer, a teacher, a singer/songwriter, or whatever else I do), I should do it as if it’s for millions of souls but know that if it only reaches one soul, it’s totally worth it. Just one moment in my small life could reach one soul that no one else has reached, and that one soul is precious to Our Lord.
To The Believers and to The Undecided
What about you? If you’re a fellow believer, would you live and work all the moments and days of your life if you knew at the end it would only touch one person? And would you keep on shining that light even after you’d likely reached the one?
I believe we have a loving Heavenly Father who is thrilled to share the joy of “catching souls” with us. We know that the angels rejoice more over just one new redemption than over 99 just men who don’t need to repent. So, if you are not yet a believer, I invite you to bring joy to God, to the angels, and to me, by turning to The Lord as the Guiding Light of your life today. 🛐
Jesus’ Parable of The Lost Sheep
“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the pasture and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders, comes home, and calls together his friends and neighbors to tell them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep!’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous ones who do not need to repent.”
And though I’ve shared it before (back in February), this seems like the perfect time to share one of my favorite songs, “That’s When the Angels Rejoice.” I think maybe it could also be called The 4 1 Soul song. 😁 This time it’s by the original artist but without lyrics.
Share this post on:
Prompt Response: Exploring Food Experiences
with help from Gemini Nano Banana and Photo Studio Pro app
What’s the best way to explore a new city?
Discovering New Foods
What’s the best way to enjoy a new city? Find an eatery that’s not part of a chain you can visit most everywhere else.
Traveling with Park Way Studios — Wisconsin
One of the first locations I worked in with Park Way (after my training in four really small towns in Utah) was a place called Pardeeville, Wisconsin. Yes, that’s really the name of a town, and it’s small but pretty. I didn’t have my car yet, so I was at the mercy of the hotel cafe until a co-worker joined me a few days after I arrived. Once we had wheels, we asked locals about things to do in the mornings before we saw customers and on Sundays when we had no bookings. Well, and for dinner if we finished the day’s appointments early enough.
I don’t remember if we got a recommendation or just found this amazing restaurant by driving around the area, but the meal there changed my palate from that point forward. The little place on Lake Wisconsin in Lodi is called Fitz’s By the Lake, but then it was the Okee Snack Bar. We couldn’t understand the two-hour wait until we tried the food, and then it made perfect sense. The special for that night was blackened prime rib.
So, understand my backstory of being raised on “Hamburger Helper” and other inexpensive meal options. The only time I’d tried prime rib was as a treat during a trip to Disneyland for my birthday. And it didn’t impress me at all. Plus, I’d never even heard of blackening seasoning at that time, so it was an amazing culinary experience. Every bite of food there was filled with more flavor than I think I knew food could have—including the sizzle of fresh blue cheese on my salad, which was another first for me.
Since that trip, I have never wanted my prime rib any other way. Years later, when hubby and I used to visit O’Charley’s for their Sunday prime rib special, I would eat it as served with au jus until one night when I saw blackened salmon on the specials board and remembered Okee Snack Bar. I asked if it was possible to get it on my prime rib, and the server didn’t know, but checked. As it turned out, the cook was interested in trying it for us to see how it worked, and everyone was impressed. From then on, that’s how we ordered it, and the servers often vowed to try it that way once they saw it on our plates. Eventually, it became a menu item, and I’ll never know if it was because of our orders, which would ultimately mean it was because of that out-of-the-way restaurant in Lodi, Wisconsin.
Traveling with Park Way Studios — Indiana
But sometimes, it doesn’t take a restaurant to find a new culinary adventure. Sometimes, it’s just about being a friendly and patient person who meets another friendly and patient person. In my case, it was a beautician who spent six hours putting a perm in my very long (at the time) hair. I want to say she used about 300 perm rods, but if not that many, it was a lot. I let her experiment with crisscrossing them to add texture and other ways she just had fun with my hair. Fortunately, she also used a high protein solution and after-perm treatment that my hair really liked, so the six hours was worth a wonderful and long-lasting permanent.
The town where I met her was the town of La Porte, Indiana, where much of the movie “Prancer” was filmed. I learned that tidbit along with lots of other fun information as beautician and client filled up chair time getting to know all about each other. If I had ever become a beautician, I would likely have been just like her in sharing about her husband and kids and favorite foods. That last conversation actually led to an invitation to dinner with her family.
Since the dinner was on a Sunday afternoon, and we’d already become fast friends at the beauty shop, she invited me to spend the whole day. While I was there, I learned how to make my next culinary delight: fresh salsa. She made it totally from scratch, right down to roasting Roma tomatoes in the broiler at the bottom of her gas range. (No, that drawer at the bottom of your oven wasn’t always used for storage. 😁 And I miss the wonderful flame-kissed steaks that could be made in those old broilers.)
Homemade Salsa Recipe 🍅🌶️🫑🧅🧂🍋🟩
If you want to try your own hand at making homemade salsa, I can give you the basics, but I’m not one who measures, so you’ll have to go by the taste that works for you. Ingredients in approximate amounts include…
- 5-6 ripe Roma tomatoes — roasted and hand crushed
- One half of a white onion — diced small
- 1 small jalapeño pepper without seeds — diced extra small
- One fourth of a green bell pepper — diced medium
- 1 cup chopped cilantro — finely chopped
- Chili powder and garlic, salt, or others seasonings to taste
- A few squeezes of lime juice is optional
Broil the tomatoes until the skin just starts to turn black. It makes it easier to peel them as you crush them between your hands and fingers. Plus, a little of that roasted flavor stays with them. Place some of the roasted tomato meat with the jalapeño seasonings in the blender and mix them into a puree to sauce to your bowl of salsa. The rest of the ingredients can stay chunky. Once you have it all mixed together, cover it and refrigerate it until chilled and ready to serve.
It’s been years since I’ve made this because hubby doesn’t like cilantro and because I no longer have a gas stove. I want to see if I can make it in a counter top oven/air fryer someday, but no matter how it comes out, it doesn’t replace the joys of exploring a new city, making a new friend, and learning a new recipe all in the same day.
Share this post on:
Prompt Response: Newness of Life 🆕🧬
with help from Gemini Nano Banana and Photo Studio Pro
What’s a moment in your life that made you feel truly alive?
Life has a number of definitions. From simple existence to abundant living to thriving, life can be lived with or without much pomp and circumstance. Some are happy just to breathe in and out while others require a steady stream of stimuli to feel as if they are truly alive.
For me, I’ve had some wonderful moments of feeling truly alive, like the day I married the love of my life 35+ years ago. And most of those moments followed a moment I felt truly alive; the moment my old life and sin was washed away in baptism, and I began to walk into a new life beside my Savior. Read that story on my July 17th post.
When Paul speaks to the Roman believers about baptism, he says…
“We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life.”
A few different translations use the words walk in a new life but most seem to agree with the Berean translation to walk in the newness of life. In other words, before that moment, it was not life even if you were existing and breathing in and out. So life from a God’s Word perspective means walking with our Creator and Lord.
That definition also works with the definitions of eternity that assign us to either eternal death or eternal life. Eternal death is the place where not even a worm dies and yet it’s called death, so it seems it’s the lack of the presence of Yahveh Almighty that makes it death. But that doesn’t have to be our eternity. We know from His own words that YahShua (Jesus) is Life.
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.”
He also says that He is The Resurrection.
“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?’”
In His Gethsemane prayer in John 17, YahShua says…
“Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.”
And this is echoed by John the Revelator in 1 John 11-12…
“And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
Finally, in the spirit of the beautiful fall season now gracing the Northern Hemisphere, remember that real life is filled with color. The verdant leaves of spring and summer are basically putting their dinner plates out for the world to see what they’re eating: a diet of chlorophyll. But before they take their winter naps, the green gets fully digested to reveal the true colors that mark the life of each leaf.
🍁🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍁
And isn’t that just a beautiful glimpse of Heaven? There, our true colors will shine for eternity and glisten in the Light of His eternal grace! THAT must be the very definition of feeling truly alive.
Share this post on:
Prompt Response: What Would I Wish?
with help from Gemini, Nano Banana, and Photo Studio Pro app
The genie grants you a wish. What is it?
Just one wish? I thought genies were supposed to grant you three wishes! 🧐🧐🧐 But I guess I shouldn’t be greedy, right? I mean any kind of free bonus is a benefit, isn’t it?
Well, maybe not. There is the story of three friends who found a magic lamp together, so the genie in that lamp said they could each have only one wish. The first friend jumped at the chance and asked for his own private island with a fancy resort and all the riches he could ever want. POOF! The wish was granted and the friend began his happily ever after. Not to be outdone, the second friend wished for a hundred billion dollars (after taxes 😂) and a private jet and yacht. When he wasn’t living on the yacht, he planned to visit his other friend’s resort. POOF! He got zapped to his new yacht and on the way to his friend’s private island.
But then, there was the third friend. A bit slow on the draw, he scratched his head asking himself what he should wish for while the genie waited impatiently. He would’ve asked his friends for advice, but they were both living their new dreams many miles away from him. When the genie told him to hurry up, he looked around at the empty chairs near him and said, “It sure is lonely here, now. I wish my two friends were back.” POOF! 🧞
Since it’s Sabbath evening, I’ll just leave it there except to say that I’ve already had a few conversations with The Lord about wishes, and it usually comes back to trusting His plan and provisions above all else. Sometimes, you get exactly what you ask for and find out it’s not what you wanted at all. Other times, you don’t get what you ask for at all only to find out later that you actually got what you needed instead. So whether you ask a genie (not recommended), or you ask Yahveh Almighty (your Father who only desires the best for you), ask according to His word, and trust His perfect will for your life.
A Few Scriptures About Asking
“Two things I ask of You — do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the bread that is my portion. Otherwise, I may have too much and deny You, saying, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, profaning the name of my God.”
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
“And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.”
And One Scripture Reference About Trust
“You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, because GOD the Lord is the Rock eternal.”
🙏🙏🙏
Shabbat Shalom! 🕊️
Last minute addition from my creative mind: What if a genie rubbed the lamp and a Holy Bible floated out as his answer?
Share this post on:
Prompt Response: When I Sold Flowers 💐
What are your favorite side-hustle ideas?
If it was still the late 1970s, and I was still an energetic teenager, I’d totally recommend selling flowers on the street corner.
This could qualify as my first side-hustle job besides watching kids for some friends or family. And back then, teen babysitters got very little—no matter how bratty their little charges turned out to be. (I don’t recall any real troublesome kids, though. Thankfully.) So a good weekend side hustle could be a great excuse to not be available as a cheap sitter.
I don’t recall how I found out about the job, but I recall they hired a whole bunch of teenagers for Mother’s Day weekend and picked us up in an old metal-floored work van. Each of us, with our buckets of flowers and water, got dropped off on various corners around the valley. And it was super hot that weekend!
Apparently, there was a contest with bonus pay. The fact that I looked like I was only about 11 years old and kept dipping in the flower water to cool myself off turned out to be a good thing. I sold a lot more flowers and got the 2nd-place bonus for the weekend. I took home about $165, which was a lot for a young teenager. Today, that would be over $750, so, yeah, it would be an excellent side hustle.
I had Gemini’s Nano Banana work on a picture to closely resemble that experience nearly five decades ago. Do you wanna buy some flowers?
With that I’ll say Welcome to October and Happy Fall Y’all! I plan to try and answer prompts for this whole month. This is the first prompt for October 2026, and when I come across anything I don’t feel I can write on, I’ll grab a dress draft I’ve saved from previous prompts I liked. I hope my readers find some enjoyable reading this month even without my usual teaching posts.
Share this post on:
My Latest Flickr Photos
Others’ Posts I’ve Liked
