🎵Cliché Month: You Are What You Eat 🥗🍨
by Crystal A Murray (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
To Joke or Not to Joke
Remember those classic funny-book-title jokes from childhood? 50 Yards to the Outhouse by Willy Make-it, Ten Yards to Go by Betty Won’t, or French Cooking by Sue Flay. Every time I see today’s cliché, I think about the funny book title of You Are What You Eat co-authored by Frank Furter and Patty Melt. 🤣
Jokes aside, we have all heard that warning since childhood. Usually, it gets tossed around when someone reaches for a second slice of cake or trades a fresh salad for a double cheeseburger. The physical truth is undeniable—the fuel we put into our bodies directly dictates our physical health, cellular energy, and daily vitality. As Christian believers, it also plays a part in how our temples (of the Holy Spirit) react when we need them to be strong for worship or working for The Lord.
1 Corinthians 6:19 BSB
[19] Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
1 Corinthians 6:19(BSB)
Romans 12:1 BSB
[1] Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
Romans 12:1 (BSB)
The concept in the cliché originated in 19th-century France with lawyer and gastronome Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, who wrote in his 1825 book Physiologie du Goût: “Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es” (“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are”). Over a century later, nutritionist Victor Lindlahr popularized the exact English phrasing in the 1930s and 1940s to promote mindful eating.
Not Easy to Break the Comfort Molds
If you’re like me, most of your life took this advice lightly. But as I age, I start wishing I’d have applied it more when I was younger (and thinner). But the platitude Better Late than Never applies well here as it’s never too late to substitute at least one order of fries for some grilled zucchini.
A friend recently mentioned how those deep-fried or sweet foods that presented comfort in our youth are even harder to break away from when our brains associate them with comfort. But I recently learned that oils used for deep frying (typically seed oils like soy because of their higher smoke point) are prepared in ways I’m not super comfortable with continuing to put in my body. That makes it easier to turn down the desire for comfort and turn up the desire to feel better. (See this Grokipedia page about what chemically refined industrial seed oils really are if you want to know about their use of things like hexane gas and bleaching.)
Feeding the Five Senses
But limiting this concept to what sits on our dinner plates misses a much broader reality. Consumption is not just about calories, vitamins and good and bad fats. We are constantly “eating” through all of our five senses every single day:
- Sight: The visuals, news feeds, and endless digital screens we gaze upon.
- Touch: The tactile comfort of our spaces.
- Taste: The simple flavors we savor.
- Smell: The familiar aromas that stir desires and memories.
- Sound: The conversations, messages, and background frequencies we let into our minds.
Just like a steady diet of junk food leaves the body sluggish, a constant intake of cynical news, gossip, and negativity will leave the mind and spirit completely exhausted. Everything we absorb through our eyes and ears acts like paint and wallpaper on the temple we live in. What goes inside is ultimately what radiates on the outside.
Nourishment for the Ears: Saved By His Scars
Just as balanced nutrition fuels physical strength, intentional listening feeds the soul. Uplifting music and truth-filled lyrics have an immediate way of shifting our perspective, easing stress, and pointing our focus back to what truly matters.
And speaking of fresh spiritual and auditory nutrition, my brother Shayne Savage just released a brand-new single today titled “Saved By His Scars.” This one has some genuinely strong heavy metal riffs and a fantastic set of lyrics. It’s part testimony and all hope. I’m so honored to share another of my brother’s quality songs. They make my big-sister heart just brim with joy. If your daily sound intake could use a faith-filled uplift filled with deep Southern bluesy rock, give his latest release a listen below:
After you listen to this one, go find Shayne on your favorite streaming service and follow him. And don't forget to check my older posts for his first two releases:
SAVAGE GRACE
SAVAGE GRACE WITH LYRICS
MAKIN' CHAINS
Find more info on his website with links to his pages on Meta and more.
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🎵Cliché Month: Don’t Make a Mountain Out of a Molehill🌋
Sometimes, It IS a Mountain
Too many times, this cliché has been used to make people feel like their issues are small or unimportant. Like the time when I was nine and had to go to the ER for a tetanus shot because we thought I stepped on a rusty map pin. Apparently, at least one sewing needle got mixed with the spilled map pins, so it turned out that I had a full-size sewing needle in my little girl foot.
Had they done an X-ray instead of deciding I was making something out of nothing (another way to state this cliché), I wouldn’t have needed surgery six weeks later to clean out the beginnings of gangrene. The doctor told us that if we had waited just three more days before coming in, he would have been gone on a three-week vacation and returned only to amputate my foot. It wasn’t a molehill at all; it was a very real mountain.
Making Everything into Mountains
The extended problem of not being listened to way back then created a lifetime of fearing that little things were bigger than they appeared. It held me back from sharing my true feelings because I anticipated bigger or worse reactions. And it intimidated me into missing out on who knows how many experiences because I was worried about outcomes that may never have come to pass.
When you learn early on that a real crisis can be brushed aside, you naturally start holding a magnifying glass up to every bump in the road, bracing for the worst.
The Real Meaning and Use of This Cliché
The phrase itself has ancient roots. Long before English speakers talked about moles, ancient Greeks and Romans warned against “making an elephant out of a fly” (ex musca elephantem facis). The English idiom emerged in the 16th century, appearing in Nicholas Udall’s 1548 translation of Erasmus and John Foxe’s 1570 Acts and Monuments as a reminder not to “make of a molehyll a mountayne.”
The true wisdom of the proverb was never meant to invalidate legitimate pain or silence genuine warnings. It is simply a reminder to examine our perspective when anxiety rises and tries to rob us of peace. It’s to bring us to a stop, look, and listen moment because fear exaggerates reality. With a few deep breaths and a second look at our situation, we can avoid turning everyday friction into insurmountable peaks.
God’s Word Brings Peace (And Boldness)
The following verse uses the word fear in almost every translation, but a better word for its original meaning would be timidity. God is not the one who holds us back and makes us doubt moving forward. He actually wants us to be bold and strong.
2 Timothy 1:7 Berean Standard Bible
[7] For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.
2 Tim 1:7 (BSB)
To help us have confidence to boldly assess our hills (and mountains), He gives us soundness of mind and the clarity to discern the difference—acknowledging real mountains when faith is needed to climb them, while having the peace to step over the everyday molehills without fear.
And even if we are facing a true mountain, we never face it alone.
Isaiah 41:10 Berean Standard Bible
[10] Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10 (BSB)
And the very best way to avoid turning the molehills in life into mountains that seem insurmountable is to look away from the dirt and look up to Our Savior and Creator. This song is a wonderful worship song for refocusing:
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🎵Cliché Month: Pretty is As Pretty Does (and My Thoughts on Dolly Parton)
Long before “pretty is as pretty does” became a staple of Southern front porches and mountain wisdom, it began as an Old English proverb: “Handsome is that handsome does.” It traces back through centuries of literature, from Geoffrey Chaucer to Oliver Goldsmith, and the saying served as a timeless social check. It reminded generations that outward charm, fine clothing, and physical beauty are entirely hollow if they aren’t backed up by kindness, integrity, and good deeds.
My earliest recollections of Dolly Parton are from a 45 my mom bought us with Coat of Many Colors on side A, and Me and Little Andy on side B. We all loved side A, but my empathetic heart was drawn to the song about the sad and cold little girl and her puppy, Andy. (I’ve included the video at the bottom so you can listen along.) From there, I listened to a variety of music until I gave my life to Christ at 19, so I didn’t hear much about Dolly until she began releasing gospel music like He’s Alive backed by a full choir.
By that time, I was also paying closer attention to the lifestyles of those who portrayed Christianity in entertainment to see if they really believed in their hearts. Some things Dolly said and did made it hard for me to see her as genuine, and I wondered if she was just adding gospel music as another genre on her resumé. Of course, in all entertainment and media, there is no guarantee that what we see or hear is anything deeper than an act, so we pray for each of them with grace and know that God sees their true hearts.
A Rooted Love for Her People
On a recent trip to Pigeon Forge, we finally rode the aerial tram. Our tram operator who gushed over Dolly as so much more than just a singer and actress. He talked about all she did for her community after the big fire in 2016 (a tragedy that made me cry when I saw the news reports), and about her project to get books into the hands of every kid in her home state of Tennessee. He even said something along the lines of “No one better ever come here and say anything bad about our Dolly!”
I really hadn’t known much about her philanthropy until then, but now, as the world mourns her passing and celebrates her life, the tributes are everywhere. Time and again, they show how Dolly never outgrew her deep sense of home or her love for the mountains where she grew up. For example, after the wildfires swept through Sevier County in 2016, she didn’t offer empty platitudes from afar. Through the “My People Fund,” she delivered no-strings-attached monthly checks to hundreds of families (900+) who lost everything, helping her neighbors rebuild from the ashes up. And when there was money at the end, she divided it among them with an extra $5,000 each.
A Legacy Written in Millions of Books
Her philanthropy was always driven by personal empathy. Dolly founded the Imagination Library in 1995 to honor her father—a hardworking man who never had the chance to learn to read. What started as a local initiative in East Tennessee has now become a worldwide literacy project that’s placed hundreds of millions of books directly into children’s hands to inspire their love of learning, completely free of charge.
A Sparkling Personality
In a culture obsessed with appearances, Dolly Parton spent her life proving that old cliché with her own inner beauty. Growing up one of 12 children in the rural mountains of East Tennessee, she learned the stinging pain of superficial judgment from those who had more than she had. When her mother lovingly stitched her a winter coat out of discarded fabric scraps—the true story that inspired Coat of Many Colors—schoolyard classmates ridiculed and bullied her for wearing rags. Rather than growing bitter, Dolly realized a profound truth: worth is never defined by a price tag, and true riches come from the heart. She decided early on that she would sparkle in her behavior first, and the rhinestones and sky-high wigs became a joyful outward celebration of a heart that was already overflowing with love.
Her approach mirrors the wisdom found in 1 Peter:
1 Peter 3:3-4 World English Bible
[3] Let your beauty come not from the outward adorning of braiding your hair, and of wearing gold ornaments or of putting on fine clothing, [4] but from the hidden person of the heart, in the incorruptible adornment of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in God’s sight.
1 Peter 3:3-4 (WEBUS)
But wait… Didn’t Dolly do exactly all that outward adornment? She did, but from what I’m learning, it was secondary to her drive to truly shine from the inside out. In one interview, she said she never felt pretty, so all the decoration was playful compensation for that. And if Scripture isn’t saying we must forego outward beauty, maybe it’s okay if it’s in balance, secondary to what’s on the inside. Dolly seemed to understand that flashy costumes and outward fashion fade, but a soul anchored in love, empathy, and active generosity carries eternal weight.
Hope and Grace
I hope it’s right to think of her as now being in The Lord’s presence. I pray that the generosity and empathy we witnessed were tiny compared to the love in her heart for her Creator. And I hope that anything she said that didn’t line up with Scripture was said or done unintentionally and is fully covered under the abundant mercy and grace of God.
Like the uplifting flutter of the song Love Is Like a Butterfly, Dolly’s life was a masterclass in spreading color, light, and genuine care wherever she went. She elevated the old proverb into an art form—never dimming her iconic sparkle. True beauty is never only skin-deep; it is measured fully by the record of love and grace you leave behind.
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Cliché Month: A Bird in the Hand (is Worth two in the Bush)
The first time I saw the letters “FOMO,” I remember thinking how it seemed impossible for enough people to clamor for a coveted thing to be worthy of its own acronym. As a mostly-contented person, it didn’t feel like I could ever fear missing out. But I was only basing that on “stuff,” so I hadn’t realized all the fears that come into play over missing out on things like attention, approval, acceptance, etc. And social media, with all its reactions and love hearts is only making it worse.
But Scripture says it this way…
[6] Of course, godliness with contentment is great gain.
[7] For we brought nothing into the world, so we cannot carry anything out of it. [8] But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.
1 Tim 6.6-8 (BSB)
But how to be content with what we have in both tangible and intangible items is its own battle. And it is an old battle based on the history of this cliché.
Few proverbs have stood the test of human history quite like the timeless reminder that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. For centuries, this folk wisdom has warned us against abandoning the blessings right in front of us to chase elusive prizes rustling just out of reach. While its roots trace through ancient fables and medieval falconry, the deeper spiritual truth it touches on is one our restless hearts constantly need: the power of present contentment.
From Falconry Gloves to Faithful Hearts
In medieval England, the phrase held a literal meaning for falconers. The “bird in the hand” was the trained raptor perched securely on the hunter’s leather glove—a prized, reliable partner. The “two in the bush” were the wild game birds hiding in the brambles. To risk the valuable bird already secured for the mere chance at wild quarry was pure folly. In 1546, John Heywood recorded the sentiment in print, cementing the idea that what is held and nurtured is always worth more than the illusion of the unknown.
In our daily lives, however, human nature tends to do the exact opposite. We focus on the rustling in the bushes—the opportunities we missed, the resources we wish we had, or the uncertain future we cannot control—while neglecting the quiet blessings resting right in our open palms.
“What Is That in Your Hand?”
When Moses stood before the burning bush in Exodus 4, full of fear and insecurity about the massive calling ahead of him, God did not hand him a grand army or an elaborate new treasure. Instead, the Lord asked a simple question: “What is that in your hand?”
All Moses held was an ordinary, weathered shepherd’s staff. A stick! In Moses’ view, it was just a humble tool of daily labor. It wasn’t anything flashy or extraordinary, yet God demonstrated amazing power when He touched that staff and Moses obeyed God’s direction.
When we stop obsessing over what we lack and instead surrender what is already in our grip, He can do the same for us; turn the ordinary into an instrument of His power and grace. Faithful stewardship begins when we look at what God has already entrusted to our care and commit to using it according to His will and plans.
Resting in the Watchful Eye
In Matthew 6, YahShua (Jesus) points us directly to the birds of the air to teach us the antidote to anxiety. They don’t sow or reap. They don’t have storehouses full of provisions. Yet their heavenly Father feeds every single one and never takes His watchful eye off of them—even when they fall. If God interacts this way with the sparrows among the branches, we can be confident that He will do even greater things in His interactions with us. After all, YahShua Himself said we are worth more than many sparrows.
King Solomon, in Proverbs 15, says it this way…
Proverbs 15:16-17 Berean Standard Bible:
[16] Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure with turmoil.
[17] Better a dish of vegetables where there is love than a fattened ox with hatred.
Prov 15:16-17 (BSB)
True peace is not found in owning everything or scrambling after every bird in every tree. It is found in cupping our hands in gratitude as God sends provision our direction. Cherishing the daily blessings God has placed before us will allow His peace to fill the spaces where worry used to dwell. A bird or an education; a typewriter or a pencil; multiple talents or just one thing you do with heart: God can take what He has given you and make it exceedingly abundant above all you can ask or even think. So, for this day, look at what’s in your hand from The Lord with total focus; more than on all the desires outside of your grasp. He can and will do more than whatever you can imagine.
1 Corinthians 2:9 BSB
[9] Rather, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.”
1 Cor 2:9(BSB)
As I put this together, I couldn’t help but think of the following hymn:
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Cliché Month: Quit Waffling (And You’ll be Peachy Keen) 🧇🧡
by Crystal A Murray (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
This has been a long day of research. That’s not a bad thing, though, and I learned a bunch of stuff I’ll need for future posts and websites. However, all that time and learning meant I kinda wore out my brain for the day and couldn’t think of a good cliché to write on. So I went to the calendar for the special events associated with August 24th and found a great reason to do a mashup of clichés—because I really need to quit waffling on a number of things, so I can be peachy keen. 😁
How about you, Reader? Are you like me with a ton of undecided actions holding you back? If so, enjoy this info on two unrelated clichés that go together like peaches on waffles. 😋 Mostly created by Gemini, it’s getting harder to edit into my own words because the AI is taking what I share and learning my style, so it’s written a lot like I would write it. Still, I promise I’m not just gonna be lazy and leave it as given without editing and examining it well.
So, every August 24th, two completely unrelated food holidays collide on the same date: National Waffle Day and National Peach Pie Day. At first glance, a golden grid drenched in syrup has very little in common with a sweet summer fruit pie other than both of them being sweet and yummy. But, when you pair their accompanying folk sayings together into a single breakfast-table pep talk—Quit waffling, and you’ll be peachy keen—you end up with a surprisingly profound guide to living a joyful life.
A Tale of Two Waffles
Most people think the verb “to waffle” (meaning to vacillate or hesitate endlessly) comes from flipping a pancake back and forth on a hot waffle iron. I actually thought it could be related to how a waffle sort of looks like a loom with weavings in crisscross directions. But language history reveals a clever case of accidental linguistic twins.
The breakfast waffle traces back to the late 12th-century Middle Dutch word wafel, rooted in ancient terms for honeycombs and woven webs, before officially entering English print in 1725 courtesy of Dutch settlers. By 1744, English cookbooks solidified the familiar double-f spelling we know and use today.
The slang verb arrived via a totally different road. As early as the 1440s, Middle Scots and Northern English used the dialect word waff to describe a weak puppy’s yelp, a fluttering gust of wind, or a waving motion. By the late 1600s, it meant fluctuating aimlessly, and the 1800s formalized the verb “to waffle.” Over time, English speakers blended the fluttering, wind-tossed indecision with the griddle cake. Eventually, to waffle became the universal shorthand for someone stuck in the middle, shifting weight from one foot to the other without ever making a solid choice.
From Ripe Fruit to Retro Cheer
On the flip side of hesitation sits the delightfully upbeat promise of being “peachy keen.” Long before 1950s teenagers turned it into a bouncy bobby-sox anthem, a “peach” was late-19th-century American slang for anything exceptionally fine, lovely, or sweet. A ripe, unblemished peach was considered nature’s peak perfection, so if a situation was sweet and smooth, “peachy” was a great way to describe its perfection.
Of course, it was also a way to sarcastically describe the opposite. A friend might ask a troubled friend how they are doing and get the answer, “Oh, just peachy!” But we’re talking about the sweet side today. 🍑
Adding “keen,” which was an old word for sharp, eager, and enthusiastic, created the ultimate mid-century seal of approval. To be peachy keen is to experience the smooth, uncomplicated sweetness that comes when things fall into proper order. It represents the peace and satisfaction waiting for us on the other side of deliberate action instead of sitting on the fence like we talked about in yesterday’s post.
Finding Spiritual Sweetness Beyond the Hesitation
Spiritual paralysis often disguises itself as caution. We spend endless energy waffling over decisions—wondering if we’re walking in God’s will or planting seeds that will reap the whirlwind. We impatiently wait for answers, overthinking the risks, while we hop anxiously between two or more opinions.
While there are times, according to Scripture, that we should stop and wait, or be still and let God fight the battles, God’s Word also reminds us that double-mindedness robs us of stability, like a wave tossed back and forth on the sea. So we want to pray for God’s unmistakable direction and follow Him as He leads—waiting but not hesitating.
Isaiah 40:31 BSB
[31] But those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/isa.40.31.BSB
Psalm 27:14 BSB
[14] Wait patiently for the Lord; be strong and courageous. Wait patiently for the Lord!
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.27.14.BSB
2 Chronicles 20:17a BSB
[17] You need not fight this battle. Take up your positions, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/2ch.20.17.BSB
Clarity and contentment rarely arrive while we are standing frozen at the crossroads. They unfold when we step forward with faith, make our move, and trust that Our Heavenly Father is leading our steps.
Hebrews 11:6 BSB
[6] And without faith it is impossible to please God. For anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/heb.11.6.BSB
The next time you find yourself fluttering in the breeze of indecision, take a lesson from the breakfast table: God can take those “what if” thoughts and bring you through the Valley of Decision to sweetness on the other side. Step back from the waffle iron and let your Abba do the cooking.
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Cliché Month: You Can’t Have Your Cake and Eat it, Too!
Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?
“In or out?” I ask, holding the door open for a moment, then partially closing it to get the message across to the cat to make up its mind. But the cat just stands there, frozen, spanning the threshold in just the right way to make closing the door impossible.
Just like the cat, I stand half in the house and half on the porch…waiting. It is the universal posture of indecision. We chuckle at our stubborn pets, but truth be told, most of us do the exact same dance—usually while staring into the bakery case at an abundant selection of coconut cream pies and chocolate mousse cheesecakes. Our mouths water while we try to decide if we should grab a treat to go. Meanwhile, our brains are running the cliché a moment on the lips; forever on the hips. And we wonder if the creamy decadence is really worth a lifetime of snug waistbands.
A 16th-Century Flub
That familiar tug-of-war is precisely why the old proverb about cake has endured for centuries, even if modern English thoroughly mangled its punchline. It always confused me to hear “You can’t have your cake and eat it, too” because I’d think: Of course, I have to have it before I can eat it! And then I’d wonder: Who in their right minds wants a cake for any reason other than to eat it?
But when Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, penned the earliest known record of the phrase to Thomas Cromwell in 1538, the meaning was crystal clear since, in Early Modern English, “have” meant to hold, keep, or preserve in your pantry. This was the form seen in Thomas Cromwell’s 16th-century correspondence (“a man can nat have his cake and eate his cake”) and in John Heywood’s 1546 book of proverbs (“wolde ye bothe eate your cake, and have your cake?”), as well as in John Ray’s 1670 proverb collection (“You cannot eat your cake and have your cake”).
So in case you’re wondering, it’s that original meaning that I tried to show with a guy having cake in his tummy while examining the empty plate in confusion and wondering where his cake could be.
The Paralysis of the Middle Ground
In the spiritual view, this goes far deeper than dessert menus and feline standoffs. It’s about decisions and consequences; actions and reactions. It mirrors the classic country hymn lyric that wryly observes how everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die. We may love the glorious promise on the other side of the finish line, but we flinch at the surrender required to finish the race.
Believers struggle with decisions to follow God’s will with blind trust. Those who don’t yet believe struggle with letting go of what they’ve always followed up until they hear The Lord calling to them. Fence-riding might feel like a clever way to keep our options open, but in reality, hovering at the threshold leaves us out in the cold. We must let go of the idea that riding the fence will get us anything but a backside full of splinters.
So next time you feel stuck between two options, think about today’s cliché and take a look at both sides of the bakery case. The before-you-eat-it side is pretty to admire and looks very different than the after-you-eat-it sugar crash. And the reality is that every decision has a price (good or bad), and you must choose which price to pay. Even the cat eventually realized it had to choose one side of the threshold or the other. It couldn’t be on both sides of the door at the same time, and you can’t have your cake and eat it, too….er, you can’t eat your cake and have it, too.
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🎬Cliché Month: (don’t) Follow Your Heart 💓
Follow Your Heart?
Have you ever followed your heart only to have it lead you someplace you didn’t expect to go? Maybe you thought you were following true love. Maybe a religious experience turned out to be a little too much like a cult instead of being Bible based. Maybe you were totally certain you were supposed to go to a certain school, job, or address and all the promises fell flat.
Few platitudes are as universally celebrated as “follow your heart.” You’ll find it in graduation cards, you’ll hear animated heroines speak it as a mantra, and Hollywood pushes it as the way to fulfill your dreams. On the surface, it sounds empowering. But beneath the romanticism, there’s an uncomfortable truth: our hearts (emotions) are fickle, easily swayed, and often terrible navigators. Even God’s Word says our hearts are so deceitful that we can’t even know them ourselves.
Jeremiah 17:9 WEBUS
[9] The heart is deceitful above all things and it is exceedingly corrupt. Who can know it?
https://bible.com/bible/206/jer.17.9.WEBUS
Danger and Deceit
This is the danger of following your heart. Even though we’re told things like, “The heart knows what it wants,” or “Listen to your heart,” those efforts often lead us to a broken heart or into hopeless depression. And why? Because they mix up emotional desires with being led through this life by our loving Creator. Only the Spirit of The One who made us can lead to the places He planned and designed for us. Every other direction is hit and miss. Maybe it will lead to someplace great; maybe not. John Bevere speaks on this in his message: “Breaking Intimidation.” He says things of the soul can imitate things of The Spirit.
The affiliate link above is for the book at Amazon, and I’m not certain if that portion is in the book or only on CD, so I asked Microsoft Copilot for a summary of that portion of the message. Here’s that summary…
John Bevere warns that the soul (mind/will/emotions) can imitate the Spirit, creating impulses that feel right, sound noble, and even look “spiritual,” yet still come from human desire rather than God. He uses John the Baptist as the example: everything about his priestly family line suggested a respectable ministry path, but the Spirit led him into the wilderness instead—camel hair, locusts, and a calling no one expected. Bevere’s point is simple and sharp: following your heart is often just following your soul, and the soul, no matter how sincere, “cannot receive the things of the Spirit.” True direction comes from the Spirit, even when it contradicts what seems good.
1 Corinthians 2:14 BSB
[14] The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/1co.2.14.BSB
The Romantic Rebellion
The belief that our inner feelings are the ultimate moral compass took root during the late 18th-century Romantic Era. Poets and philosophers, who reacted against the cold rationality of the Industrial Age, argued that personal passion and raw emotion were inherently pure. Over the 20th century, pop psychology and modern individualism cemented the idea that it was unhealthy to suppress our desires. They suggested that trusting immediate emotional impulses was the highest form of self-discovery.
An Ancient Warning
Long before modern cinema made the human heart into the hero of every story, ancient wisdom urged caution with yielding to wild emotions. In classical philosophy, Plato illustrated the human soul as a charioteer (Reason) struggling to manage two horses—one noble, and the other a wild, rebellious appetite that was “the mate of insolence and pride… hardly yielding to whip and spur.”
Scripture provides more anchors against letting blind, emotional trust lead us to places of destruction or depression:
Proverbs 4:23 BSB
[23] Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/pro.4.23.BSB
Proverbs 3:5-6 BSB
[5] Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; [6] in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/pro.3.5-6.BSB
Rather than letting unchecked desires drag us toward a fire, wisdom calls us to tether our hearts to truth, discernment, and sound guidance.
Leading Your Heart
In the 2008 film Fireproof, there is a pivotal conversation between Caleb and his friend (and boss) Michael that perfectly dismantles this platitude. When Caleb tells Michael he is “in” with The Lord and wants some faith advice, Michael gets very excited. He calls Caleb his brother (but you gotta hear how he says it 😁) and then gives great big-brother-type advice:
“And don’t just follow your heart, man, because your heart can be deceived; but you’ve got to lead your heart.”
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Cliché Month: Read Between the Lines 🧩
It’s a cliché AND a game! What more could we want, right? And though I planned something simple for a relaxing Sabbath weekend, I ended up having to learn some new things, but I’m very happy to share a cool new trick at the bottom. After you look at the rebus puzzles to try and figure them out, you can click to reveal the answers. And this is so much easier than trying to print upside-down text like I tried first. 🙃
So for this cliché, it’s a phrase we all the time whenever we sense some kind of unspoken truth lurking beneath polite conversation. To “read between the lines” is human nature’s built-in radar for deciphering what is meant beyond what is merely said. But long before it became a way to “hear” the subtext in everyday dialogue, reading between the lines was a literal, tradecraft—essential for wartime communication, diplomacy, and survival.
Invisible Ink and Wartime Grids
The idiom traces back to the mid-nineteenth century and has direct roots in cryptography and steganography. Military couriers, spies, and clandestine correspondents needed ways to transport secret directives through enemy territory without raising suspicion. The solution was deceptively simple: write an ordinary, innocuous letter with unusually wide gaps between the lines of text.
In the blank space between those visible sentences, the author penned the real message using sympathetic, or invisible, ink made from organic acids like lemon juice, milk, cobalt chloride, or vinegar. To an officer who tried to intercept the message, the parchment appeared to carry a simple, and maybe even mundane, missive. But once the intended recipient exposed the paper to heat, a candle flame, or a specific chemical wash, the hidden writing would darken and reveal itself. If you did not know to literally read between the lines, you would miss the mission entirely.
A similar tactic relied on physical cutout masks known as Cardan grilles. When a recipient placed a custom stencil over a lengthy, seemingly boring letter, only specific words from alternating lines were visible through the cutouts, spelling out the real message.
Not by Words, But by Things
Visual rebuses operate on that exact same creative frequency—they challenge our eyes and minds to decipher hidden meaning from spatial placement rather than literal text alone. The word rebus originates from the Latin phrase non verbis, sed rebus, meaning “not by words, but by things.”
Originating during the Renaissance as intellectual parlor games across Europe, rebuses eventually evolved into the beloved graphic wordplay puzzles we know today. Placing a word in a specific direction, altering its size, or planting it firmly between physical boundaries forces our brains to decode subtext in a playful, visual way.
Try Your Hand at Deciphering
To celebrate the art of hidden messages, try solving the puzzle card below. Look at the spacing, arrangements, and word positions to unlock each common phrase or idiom.
Click here to reveal puzzle answers
1. For once in my life (four ones in my life)
2. Forget it
3. Try to understand
4. Travel overseas / Overseas travel
5. Breakfast
6. Downtown
7. Eyeshadow
8. Stepfather
9. Once upon a time
10. Potatoes (pot 8 O’s)
11. 3D movie
12. Top secret
Shabbat Shalom and let me know if you had fun with these. You can visit the ESL Vault Rebus Page for a bunch more free puzzles, and you can also find some rebus puzzles—including one called Read Between the Lines at the Google Play Store.
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🎵Cliché Month: Soft as a Kitten’s Ear 🐯
Whispers, Paws, and Unexpected Comfort
There is an unmatched texture in the natural world that immediately melts away tension: the delicate, velvety warmth of a kitten’s ear. It isn’t just soft like fabric, it’s alive and pulsing with gentle warmth. Pair that with the low, rhythmic hum of a cat’s purr—a soothing frequency that scientists say closely mimics the calming auditory comfort a baby hears in utero—and your defenses don’t stand a chance.
Our feline companions have an uncanny intuition for when our hearts are tender. Years ago, I had a sweet boy who was my constant shadow. Charlie always curled tight against my side whenever I would lie down. But there was great comfort in being pinned into place while we both slept.
When liver failure took him from me, my grief sent me to bed in the early afternoon. But then something remarkable happened. As I laid down, our other cat Abbie, who had always been a bit aloof with me and attached to my husband, walked quietly into the room, hopped up, and settled into the exact spot beside me where Charlie used to rest. I mean, the exact posture and everything! It’s like she knew I needed that spot filled just exactly the way Charlie used to fill it, and she held that quiet vigil until I fell asleep. Animals simply know when to offer grace without saying a single word.
From the Dry Goods Counter to the Nursery
We often treat toughness and tenderness as opposing forces, but true strength is almost always anchored in love. When we look back at the grit of the historic night riders from yesterday’s post—like my GG Great Grandfather John Wisdom, “The Paul Revere of the South”—it’s easy to focus solely on the sheer endurance of galloping sixty-seven miles through the dark. But the driving motivation behind that ride wasn’t just cold military duty; it was personal. His mother lived in Rome Georgia, and a son’s fierce love for his mama fueled every mile of that daring journey.
That is why the old idiom “soft as a kitten’s ear” carries deeper feeling than phrases like “soft as silk” or “soft as velvet.” Before the creation of synthetic microfibers, people measured comfort against the living world around them. While high-society writers favored imported silks, everyday speech favored the warmth of the hearth; the down on a baby chick; the fleece of a lamb; and the delicate fur of a newborn kitten.
By the early-to-mid 20th century, American department stores and textile mills grabbed the phrase for their advertising. Print ads for blanket makers like Chatham and St. Marys frequently pitched virgin-wool crib blankets and layette flannels as “soft as a kitten’s ear and warm as a mother’s hug.” Copywriters knew that comparing a fabric to an animal’s ear evoked something a bolt of woven silk never could: living, breathing warmth, gentle vulnerability, and total safety.
The Courage to Remain Tender
Living in this harsh, fast-paced world tempts us to build thick walls around our hearts. After enough disappointments and griefs, it feels safer to become distant and untouchable. But God never intended for our souls to become frozen. In Ezekiel 36:26, He makes the beautiful promise to remove our hearts of stone and give us responsive, living hearts of flesh—soft, beating, and capable of deep empathy.
Ezekiel 36:26 BSB
[26] I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/ezk.36.26.BSB
It takes real spiritual courage to stay tenderhearted because it means being willing to feel deeply and to let God’s gentle peace soothe our rough edges. While we need the spiritual equivalent of the layered oak hull of Old Ironsides to navigate life’s stormy seas, we must make sure the Holy Spirit is the most important layer. Never lose the warmth within. Make your convictions firm, but keep your spirit soft as a kitten’s ear.
In closing, if I haven’t mentioned it before (or if I have) I am really getting a lot from the book Bold and Broken by David and Jason Benham. (Affiliate link included.) And there’s an older country song that carries this message beautifully called Strong Enough to Bend by Tanya Tucker…
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Cliché Month: Tough As Old Ironsides
Boston Echoes
Over 35 years ago, the company I worked for assigned me within an hour of downtown Boston, Massachusetts. Standing in the historic heart of Boston has a way of resetting your perspective on the American story. When I took a tour of the city, history stopped being a hard-to-recall page in a textbook and became something real and memorable. I learned that the famous Battle of Bunker Hill was actually fought mostly on Breed’s Hill, and I got up close to the USS Constitution, the ship later dubbed Old Ironsides because of its resilience in battle. And because August 19th is “Old Ironsides Day,” it seemed the perfect day for this cliché.
Later, I stood captivated inside the Old North Church, where the acoustics let the soaring notes of a live violin echo right into my soul. That was part of the tour because of the famous Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.
Most of us picture Revere sitting in the window swinging lanterns, but he was actually the strategist on the ground! It was church sexton Robert Newman who crept up all 154 stairs to hang the two lanterns—”one if by land, two if by sea” —sending Revere galloping into the night.
That kind of courage has found its way into other historical events, and in my family, into our genealogy. In my family tree, my ancestor John Wisdom became known as “The Paul Revere of The South.” In May 1863, he rode nearly 67 miles through the dark from Gadsden, Alabama, to Rome, Georgia—swapping out exhausted horses along the way—to sound the alarm and save the city’s vital bridges and ironworks. Whether in Massachusetts or Georgia, history is forged by people willing to ride into battle and risk their own safety to protect others.
The Oak, the Copper, and the Broadside
That same resilience brings us to the harbor, where the USS Constitution still rests. On August 19, 1812, during a fierce battle against the British frigate HMS Guerriere, sailors watched in disbelief as 18-pound cannonballs shot by the enemy struck her hull and bounced harmlessly into the water. A sailor famously shouted, “Huzza! Her sides are made of iron!”—and the nickname “Old Ironsides” was born.
Her sides weren’t iron, of course; they were three dense layers of resilient white oak and southern live oak. But what held that indestructible wooden fortress together? None other than Paul Revere’s foundry, which forged the heavy copper bolts and spikes that pinned her hull planks tight under fire. Decades later, when the ship was slated for scrapping, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. penned his stirring poem Old Ironsides, rallying the public and cementing “Tough as Old Ironsides” into American slang for anyone built to take life’s hardest hits without breaking.
Taking the Hit and Standing Fast
Life has a habit of firing unexpected volleys. Hard news, sudden changes, and emotional friction can feel like a heavy iron shot headed straight for our hearts. Our natural instinct is often to retreat or fracture under the impact, but God designed us with holy durability as long as He is part of the layering.
2 Corinthians 4:7-9 BSB
[7] Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us.
[8] We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
[9] persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/2co.4.7-9.BSB
But spiritual toughness isn’t about being cold or unfeeling; it’s about what holds your frame together when the sea gets rough. When your life is anchored in faith and covered in grace, the enemy’s fiery darts and the world’s heavy blows simply bounce off. Hold fast to your course, stand firm in His strength, and trust that in Christ, you really are like the companion cliché to the one above: Tough As Nails. 🛠️
My thanks to Google’s Gemini for much of this history, and to Ancestry for the connections to my Great Great Great Grandfather.
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Cliché Month: Act the Giddy Goat 🐐
G. O. A. T. Cliché
I’m smiling as I write this, mostly because I found a cliché I’d never seen or heard before, and it’s just so funny and cute. I’ve mentioned before about Gabby, the goat owned by my babysitter when I was in second grade. Gabby was a typical hop-on-everything, climb every tree (especially the mostly-barren eucalyptus in the back yard), and eat the can or paper you’re holding kind of goat. So, I can totally picture the kind of person about whom someone might say, “Don’t act the giddy goat.”
I’m also laughing because it makes me think about how often the Google Play Store gives me a persistent tap on the shoulder while saying, “Hey Crystal, you look like someone who would really enjoy “Goat Simulator.” But then, that’s only one of many they think I’d enjoy, but still… Did they see my pictures from Goats on the Roof in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, or did they hear that one of my favorite restaurants there is “Local Goat“?
I haven’t actually downloaded it yet, but I asked Gemini about the game. It says it’s basically this cliché turned into a game: An absolute, unbridled, ragdoll physics mayhem.
The algorithm clearly thinks I need a daily dose of pure, nonsensical chaos, and I can’t exactly say it’s wrong! I mean, don’t we all just need to let go and be silly sometimes? So, what does it truly mean to “act the giddy goat”? It turns out, that delightful barnyard cliché has a surprisingly fun, head-spinning history.
From Divine Madness to the Barnyard
While the modern phrase might feel perfectly suited to the madness of a video game goat bouncing on a trampoline, the linguistic roots run far more serious and much deeper. To “act the giddy goat” is a colloquial gem, primarily British and Irish in flavor, that means to behave foolishly, play the clown, or carry on without restraint. It first became a popular idiom in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but the component words have been doing their own unique dance for hundreds of years.
The real surprise is in the etymology of “giddy.” It actually originated from the Old English word “gidig,” which literally translated to “possessed by a god” or mad. It described a frantic, intense, and often dangerous level of frenzy. Over time, the divine madness definition softened. By the Middle Ages, “gidig” was describing simple physical dizziness or lightheadedness. Centuries later, it settled comfortably into the meaning we often associate with it today: slightly silly, lighthearted, and excitable.
Combine that evolving “giddiness” with goats—creatures clearly designed to be chaotic acrobats like Gabby, renowned for sudden, joyful, frantic sideways leaps and head-butts—and you have the perfect expression for someone whose common sense has, at least for a delightful moment or two, left the building.
But when you think about goats, sometimes their “giddiness” looks a little… different. You can’t talk about funny goat antics without thinking about screaming goats, goat yoga, and the dramatic swooning of the Tennessee Fainting Goat. Because of a genetic oddity, they just comically go stiff as a board whenever they get scared or excited. And boy did I find a lot of videos of them!
Fainting Goat Videos
Letting Go(at)…
One of the videos I watched had some African visitors to America looking for goat meat and finding a farm with fainting goats. They mentioned how those same goats at their home would become quick meals for hyenas. It made me think of how we humans, when faced with things that startle or surprise us, might also freeze in our anxieties. But freezing could put us at risk of attack from the enemy of our souls, so we need to do like many of the goats and get up quickly. Maybe even get in a quick scream.
But the true giddy goat reminds us of the value of periodic folly. Taking ourselves too seriously all the time can be a fast track to burnout and spiritual stiffness. Scripture reminds us that a cheerful heart has a continual feast, and sometimes the most healing thing we can do is smile at our own awkwardness. Munch down that stubborn homework or tin can, jump up on a picnic table, and just enjoy a little random silliness. Which makes me think I really should try that game. Have you tried it? What do you think?
On the more serious side of things, I may have mentioned the devotion by a writer friend (Harriet E Michael) who was a missionary kid in Nigeria. I can’t recall which of her books mentions her complaint to her father about why God calls His followers sheep when all she saw growing up were smart goats and stupid sheep. Her father gently reminded her that goats are fine on their own, but sheep need a shepherd. And if we’ve become a wooden goat or a giddy goat for a time, we need to always come back home and find our true identities in being sheep that belong to Our Shepherd.
John 10:14 BSB
[14] I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me,
https://bible.com/bible/3034/jhn.10.14.BSB
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Cliché Month: When the Cat’s Away, the Mice Will Play 🐈⬛🐁
We Love Our Black “Galaxy” Kitty
In honor of National Black Cat Appreciation Day, I couldn’t help but think about how our sleek, shadowed feline companions get a bad reputation—mostly as symbols of superstition. But if you’ve ever known a black cat, especially a tuxedo cat, you know how not-scary they actually are.
Currently, we have a black feral who won’t come in the house, won’t sit on our laps, and gets a bit haughty if she sees us feed another neighborhood cat, but she lives here most of the time. We call her Galaxy because of the white cluster of fur on her chest, sort of like a spinning space galaxy. She likes to be scritched, and sometimes, she will even jump up on the front porch glider and sit close (but not too close) while “making biscuits” in the air. We feel a strong victory when we get her to enjoy our company like that.
But When The Cat’s Away…
The core sentiment of this cliché originated in medieval Latin: “Dum felis dormit, mus gaudet et exsilit antro” (“When the cat sleeps, the mouse leaves its hole, rejoicing”). By the early 14th century, the French had framed it as “Ou chat na rat regne” (“Where there is no cat, the rat is king”), emphasizing the immediate shift in control. In 1599, William Shakespeare referenced the concept in Henry V, pointing out that an unguarded territory invites chaos by “playing the mouse in absence of the cat.”
The common denominator is, of course, that the mouse is very happy to have the house (or castle) all to itself. And after our last indoor cat left to cross the rainbow bridge in January of 2023, we experienced exactly what happens when you have no cats and a closed storage room with a window. (Actually, we still don’t know where they got in.)
After that experience, I’ve thought very strongly about getting another indoor cat to dissuade any new critters from moving in during the cold winter, but thankfully, we haven’t seen evidence of them for awhile.
What Kinds of People Play Cat and Mouse Games?
Real character isn’t proven when authority is standing in the room taking notes; it’s proven in the unchecked moments when nobody is looking over our shoulder. What we are on the inside will eventually come out in our words and our behaviors. Scripture says…
Luke 6:45 BSB
[45] The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/luk.6.45.BSB
Mice may be small, but they make big choices to invade, chew, nest, and poop (yuck) when they think they can get away with it. Some people also make big choices in the abundance of little things they do without caring how they affect the big picture. I think it’s actually that big-picture care that speaks most about the integrity of a person.
I found so many quotes about integrity and character, that I could never share them all with you. But here are a few I like:
“Character is built by thousands of small choices.”
“Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us.” — Thomas Paine
“Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking.” — H. Jackson Brown Jr.
The Apostle Paul spoke of character to the Ephesian slaves (working class) in how they should obey their bosses…
Ephesians 6:6-7 BSB
[6] And do this not only to please them while they are watching, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.
[7] Serve with good will, as to the Lord and not to men,
https://bible.com/bible/3034/eph.6.6-7.BSB
But God Even Loves the Mice
My annual Bible study has had me in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah this week, and I’ve been amazed at the progression of the people as they learn about God’s law and about His grace. They’ve been in bondage due to sin and ignorance, so someone finds the Torah and begins reading it to the people. Many are moved to begin obeying it. This is followed by testimony of all the ways the people have abandoned The Lord and how, when things went bad, they would come back to Him. And what did He do? Over and over again, He forgave them and provided ways for them to come back into His holy presence.
There were some that just refused to be changed, whether by the law or by grace, and they made the prophet so angry that he beat them. But that’s an effect a person with no integrity can have on a person with integrity. They can push your buttons until you feel like pulling your hair out, or doing like the prophet and pulling out their hair. And when their lack of caring causes them to reject The Almighty, it feels even worse.
In case you want to see what The Bible Project says about these 2 Bible books, here’s their message on that subject:
But the goal of personal and spiritual growth is self-governance: deciding for and in ourselves that we WANT to do the right thing simply because it IS the right thing. We move beyond the fear of whether the “cat” is home or away, and we treat every moment as if we want to make the “cat” happy and proud. And we grasp the reality that God knows our (mouse) form and yet He still loves and forgives us. Now that’s a reason to get excited that we have freedom and time to play.
Psalm 103:14 BSB
[14] For He knows our frame; He is mindful that we are dust.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.103.14.BSB
I’ll wrap up with these encouraging words from Hebrews…
Hebrews 4:14-16 BSB
[14] Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess. [15] For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin. [16] Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/heb.4.14-16.BSB
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Cliché Month: A Walk in the Park
Sometimes, a day or an effort may seem super easy. Other times, what we’re asked to do can be excruciatingly difficult. But no matter how easy or difficult it is, the one thing we don’t want is for someone else to think it will work the same for us as it does for them.
For example, an experienced baker may be asked to do something that, for them, is literally as easy as pie. If you asked me to bake a pie, I could do it, but it may or may not be easy. If I make an easy pie, it is usually a no bake something with a cream cheese filling and a graham cracker crust. 😋
Still, most of us have had moments that could be called a walk in the park. We often use that phrase to describe something effortless, easy, and free of any stress at all. We can see ourselves skipping through the task like we would skip through a park filled with greenery, beauty, sunshine, and even a light Spring breeze. 🏞️
Where Did “A Walk in the Park” Come From?
The idiom emerged in American English during the early-to-mid 20th century. Urban public parks were originally designed as tranquil, landscaped escapes from crowded, noisy industrial city streets. Because strolling down a level, paved park path required virtually no exertion or hazard, the phrase naturally evolved into slang for any task that was delightfully easy or uncomplicated.
The Path of Real Peace
Though our daily responsibilities are rarely effortless, we don’t have to carry the fatigue alone. 1 Peter, Chapter 5, puts it this way:
1 Peter 5:7 BSB
[7] Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/1pe.5.7.BSB
Stepping onto God’s path and walking with Him allows us to trade our striving for His steady guidance and true restoration:
Psalm 23:2-3 BSB
[2] He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.
[3] He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for the sake of His name.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.23.2-3.BSB
May your steps be light, unhurried, and peaceful today. 🕊️👣
I’m a little sleepy today, so I got a little more help from Gemini. It’s starting to write more like me, but I still read and edit carefully like I would do in a human collaboration. Still, it was very helpful tonight.
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🎵Cliché Month: Stop and Smell the Roses 🌹
It seems like everything is a rush and a hurry these days. The chaos of trying to do all, be all, and have all keeps us striving on a regular basis. But does it bring the results we truly long for, like contentment and peace and happiness? And if not, how do we get there?
I think taking a detour that leads to someplace beautiful could be a great start.
Where Did “Stop and Smell the Roses” Come From?
While the sentiment feels timeless and like we’ve been hearing it forever, this modern idiom is often traced—not so far back—to professional golfer Walter Hagen. In his 1956 autobiography, The Walter Hagen Story, he wrote a famous piece of advice: “You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry. Don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.”
I guess many people’s favorite flowers are roses, so over the decades, popular culture refined “the flowers” into “the roses.” Eventually, it turned into a universal shorthand for slowing down to appreciate the blessing of the present and whatever is going on in the moment. Even though my favorite flower is the carnation, somehow Stop and smell the carnations doesn’t have the same ring to it. 😉
It’s a Blessing to Focus on What Matters
When the pace of life becomes overwhelming, stopping isn’t just about freezing in place; it is an intentional act of redirecting our thoughts toward sensing all the goodness around us. Thinking, seeing, hearing, touching, and smelling all take just enough time to help us focus on the moment. King David needed a break like this during his time of exile:
Psalm 143:5-6 BSB
[5] I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your works; I consider the work of Your hands. [6] I stretch out my hands to You; my soul thirsts for You like a parched land. Selah
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.143.5-6.BSB
Taking that mental detour allows us to shift our gaze from the chaos of our schedules to the steady faithfulness of our Almighty Creator.
Releasing the Worry of the Rush
Much of our rushing is driven by the anxious belief that if we don’t hold everything together ourselves, things will fall apart. Anxiety isn’t just a topic on commercials advertising some new pharmaceutical relief; it’s a very real part of many lives. Even Christians with all the reasons in life to be at peace often struggle.
I don’t think I’ve shared yet about my diagnosis of severe PTSD (found when I was tested for Adult ADHD), but it has had effects on my health and in getting things done more than once. At the same time, I feel that God has given me experiences to recall and meditate on to bring balance. One of those was a trip to Niagara Falls almost 30 years ago. And it’s a story about the falls themselves that builds my peace and trust in The Lord.
Niagara Falls Erosion and Geology tells about the cracks that led to a couple major collapses at the American Falls with the major one in 1954 taking chunks of the viewing platform and railings at Prospect Point.
On my visit, I heard the story, so when I looked over the edges and saw the piled chunks of cement with pieces of the old railings sticking out, it made it very real for me. What makes it have balance is knowing how the falls became so much stronger as that collapse leaned against the crestline of the American Falls that still stands firm. And not only strength, but white water beauty was added to the scene as well.
Jesus reminds us that He is The One who governs our lives and plans to bring strength and beauty from them as well. And He gives us reason to lean into Him instead of collapsing into worry and grasping with white knuckles a railing that may not promise the safety we seek. He says…
Luke 12:25-27 BSB
[25] Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? [26] So if you cannot do such a small thing, why do you worry about the rest? [27] Consider how the lilies grow: They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/luk.12.25-27.BSB
If God clothes the delicate petals of a bloom with such care, we can safely pause our striving and trust Him with our days and our moments—and with our whole lives.
An Invitation to Rest in YahShua
Ultimately, pausing to notice beauty clears away the mental clutter at least long enough to hear our Savior speak. He speaks most in His written Word, so while you’re stopped to sense the blessings around you, pick up a Bible and find great and precious promises to give you new strength:
Matthew 11:28 BSB
[28] Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mat.11.28.BSB
Whether it is literally taking a beat to stop and breathe deeply while you walk in a garden, or simply turning your heart toward quiet gratitude in the middle of a busy week, don’t forget to take a pause today. What is one small, beautiful thing you can stop and appreciate right now?
Something I appreciate is really good song lyrics. This song by Hillary Scott & The Scott Family came from a cave-in (loss of a baby by miscarriage) in her own life. May the lyrics speak to you, readers, as you need them.
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Cliché Month: Time to Recharge Our Batteries
Shabbat Shalom Y’all (and All Y’all). I haven’t done a blog break this month because there are so many great clichés to bring out, so for this Sabbath, I asked Google Gemini to give me ideas that worked with the rest and rejuvenation of a Sabbath weekend.
I know it could be our batteries, your batteries, or my batteries, and it still means the same thing, so I wanted this to go out to all my readers to wish you a great recharge and restful weekend, especially if you’re in the USA or anywhere else with a strong heat wave.
Where Did “Recharge Your Batteries” Come From?
Unlike ancient agricultural idioms or biblical proverbs, “recharge your batteries” is a modern industrial metaphor applied to an ancient human need; the need to rest and recharge before continuing to move forward. Even God knew we’d need to recharge, which is why we have Sabbath and why YahShua (Jesus) said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” For this idiom, its history follows the rise of electrical technology before entering everyday speech:
- The Technical Precursor (1859–1900s): French physicist Gaston Planté invented the first rechargeable lead-acid battery in 1859, followed by Thomas Edison’s nickel-iron battery in 1901. For decades, “recharging batteries” was strictly an engineering term used for telegraph lines, submarines, and early electric vehicles.
- The Metaphorical Shift (1920s–1930s): As consumer radios, automobiles, and flashlights became standard household staples, the concept of a “run-down battery” needing to be plugged in to restore power entered popular culture.
- Documented Print Debut (1930s–1940s): By the late 1930s and through World War II, newspapers and military dispatches began using the phrase figuratively to describe weary workers, executives, and soldiers taking leave to rest before returning to duty.
So without adding any other pictures or song references, here are some ideas for your own personal recharge over the hot weekend. This list is fully from Gemini, so I could rest a bit as well. And I love the idea of the cool water foot soak. Comment below if any of these work for you.
Sabbath Recharge: Staying Cool in Extreme Heat
- Host a “Living Room Picnic”: Spread out a blanket inside under the A/C or a direct fan. Have a simple lunch of sandwiches, fruit, and snacks, avoiding any cooking that adds heat to the house.
- Themed Hydro-Sipping: Make staying hydrated feel special by infusing large pitchers of ice water with cucumber, mint, lemon, or frozen berries.
- Cool Feet, Cool Body: Place a shallow basin of cool water by the sofa or a comfortable chair and soak your feet for 15–20 minutes. It is an incredibly fast way to lower your overall body temperature.
- Low-Light Sanctuary: Pull the shades and curtains tight during the hottest hours of the day (noon to 4 PM). It creates a calming, sanctuary-like atmosphere while significantly blocking solar heat gain.
- The Afternoon Audiobook or Podcast: Instead of active reading, simply lay down, close your eyes, and listen to a peaceful audiobook, a podcast about rest, or a relaxing scripture playlist.
- A Taste of Winter: Pull something pre-made from the freezer, like a chilled soup (gazpacho), pre-cut frozen fruit chunks (grapes or banana slices), or enjoy a simple icy treat like a popsicle or a scoop of ice cream.
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🎵Cliché Month: The Left Hand Didn’t Know What the Right Hand was Doing
by Crystal A Murray (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
I didn’t grow up attending a parochial school where students had their knuckles slapped for writing with their left hands, though even if I had, it wouldn’t have mattered for me since I’m thoroughly right-handed. In fact, I only crossed paths with a few left-handers throughout my life until I met my husband, a born-and-bred southpaw. (And, no, right-handers are not called northpaws.🤔)
With August 13th marking International Left-Handers Day, it felt like the perfect opportunity to celebrate him and his unique trait that belongs to only about 10 to 12 percent of the world’s population. It also got me thinking about how much strange, unfair baggage has been historically tied to the left side—and the famous clichés and idioms that followed.
In everyday work and planning, we all know the frustration when the left hand has no idea what the right hand is doing. Tasks stall, wires cross, and you end up in a full-blown tug-of-war with your own to-do list. Scripture even reminds us of the practical necessity of coordination—nobody builds a tower without first sitting down to count the cost and make sure all efforts pull in the same direction.
“For which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it? Otherwise, if he lays the foundation and is unable to finish the work, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was unable to finish.’”
Luke 14:28–30 (BSB)
Yet Scripture also offers a brilliant paradox in Matthew: when it comes to quiet generosity, we are instructed not to let the left hand know what the right hand is doing. In character, humility means doing good without staging a self-congratulatory parade.
“But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,”
Matthew 6:3 (BSB)
We truly need both: the intentional coordination where both hands work as a unified team, and the quiet integrity where one hand acts without demanding applause from the other.
Here’s to giving our left hands a little extra appreciation—and making sure both hands stay in sync. How about you: are you a left-hander, or married to one like me? Or maybe both? 🤲
P.S. A fun FYI for you: There’s an old trick I learned from a kid’s album many (many) years ago. If you hold your hands out in front of you with the palms facing away, when you extend your thumb to a ninety-degree angle, your left hand will create the letter “L.” Is that cool, or what?
This is a fun song with a catchy chorus, but I couldn’t find it with lyrics. Still, this is a pretty amazing ensemble singing in this video.
with Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Brenda Lee, Kris Kristopherson, and Willie Nelson
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🎵🎬 Cliché Month: The Elephant in the Room
We’ve all been there: Gathered for a group dinner or party when that relative or friend walks through the door, dramatically sporting a new look. Maybe it’s a huge new tattoo, a noticeable facial piercing, a vibrant shock of wild neon hair, or maybe it’s a new relationship partner that no one saw coming.
Instantly, the conversation stumbles. There is a collective hush followed by a palpable second of silent checking and cross-referencing. Everyone’s gaze darts around the table, evaluating reactions without actually sharing an opinion—positive or negative—out of deep social fear that someone else in the room will disagree. The collective breath is held… and that’s when it arrives.
In that exact moment of shared paralysis, no one is just sitting at a dinner table anymore. Everyone is living out a classic, textbook example of The Elephant in the Room.
(That’s usually when everyone quits playing their White Elephant game for a while—though don’t worry, we’ll untangle that particular tradition in a bit!)
Where Did the Pachyderm Come From?
First, how did a giant mammal end up sitting on our living room furniture in the first place? 🐘
The core concept actually stretches back to an 1814 fable by Russian poet Ivan Krylov called The Inquisitive Man, which told of a museum visitor who noticed every tiny beetle and fly, but completely overlooked a massive, live elephant walking among the exhibits.
Later in 1882, Mark Twain adapted that same image for American readers in his short story Mrs. McWilliams and the Lightning, writing that an obvious truth was “as plain as an elephant in a house.”
Yet, the exact, modern phrase we use today—“the elephant in the room”—didn’t officially become a regular part of our language until the mid-20th century, first appearing in newspapers like The New York Times in 1952 before exploding into popular psychology in the 1980s as a way to talk about unaddressed family secrets. We humans, it seems, have spent over two centuries perfecting the art of ignoring the obvious!
The Psychology of Silence
The defining characteristic of an “elephant in the room” isn’t that the issue is hidden or subtle. It is the exact opposite: the issue is so glaringly obvious that everyone is aware of it. Yet, an invisible social contract keeps everyone tight-lipped.
Why do we do this? Usually, it comes from a mix of social conditioning, a fear of creating conflict, or simply waiting for someone else to speak up first. We convince ourselves that ignoring the massive problem makes it go away and hide, when in reality, the pressure to look at it only builds.
The funny thing about naming the elephant is that once someone finally has the courage to say, “So… are we going to talk about this?”, the collective sigh of relief in the room is almost deafening. Light replaces tension, and everyone can finally breathe again.
Speaking of Unwanted Elephants…
Since we’re on the subject of giant, awkward things in the room, let’s talk about a related pachyderm phrase that hits close to home—especially for those of us in writer’s groups or holiday parties that host a annual White Elephant Gift Exchange like we do in my local LCW group!
Have you ever wondered where that term came from? The history is surprisingly brilliant (and a bit petty).
Legend has it that in ancient Siam (modern-day Thailand), rare albino elephants were considered sacred royal property. Because they were sacred, they couldn’t be put to actual labor. If a noble or royal official displeased the King, the monarch would reportedly bestow a magnificent White Elephant upon them as a “gift.”
On paper, it looked like a high honor. In reality? Feeding, housing, and maintaining a non-working, giant, sacred beast was so astronomically expensive that the gift would completely ruin the recipient financially! It was a passive-aggressive masterpiece: a gift that was far more trouble and expense than it was worth, and one you couldn’t possibly get rid of.
Today, we’ve repurposed that royal headache into a fun holiday tradition where we swap quirky, useless, or eccentric items—hoping to pass off our own “white elephants” to a willing friend. And when we add “stealing” to the mix, it becomes quite comedic to watch the few really good gifts make their way into many hands before their final homes are decided.
Honoring the Real Giants
Since August 12th is World Elephant Day, it’s worth stepping away from our human idioms for a moment to celebrate the real animals behind these two (and more) proverbs. Elephants are extraordinary creatures. They are deeply empathetic, protective of their herds, and blessed with incredible long-term memories that keep their families safe through changing landscapes.
Truthfully, the only thing that makes a proverbial elephant in the room anything like the real thing is sheer size. They are certainly more majestic than most of the subjects we may be trying to avoid. So, I guess a way we can honor them as more than just large creatures is to become bigger (metaphorically) like they are and just stampede right over our fears of telling the truth. Directness paired with grace is always the best path forward. Let’s talk about the elephant in the room, or maybe just watch this clip from Hatari with adorable baby elephants and the fun Henry Mancini orchestration of “The Baby Elephant Walk” song:
Lots of help from Gemini on this one, so here’s a shout of thanks for the helpful collaboration. And one final bit of fun, can you tell whether this elephant is real or not?
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🎵Cliché Month: A Stitch in Time Saves Nine
A Stitch in Time Saves Nine—Or Ten, or Eleven…
It’s one of those old-school clichés we’ve heard a thousand times, usually repeated when we’re putting something off or just at the beginning of a problem when someone is warning us to stop things before they get any worse.
🪡Originating back in the early 18th century, the wisdom was pure and practical common sense: fix a tiny tear in a garment right when it appears. Then, it only takes a single thread. But if it is left to unravel, the cost is greater in multiple ways. It means spending exponentially more time, and it means many times the stitches or patching a massive rip later on.
Folk Origins
The first recorded printing of this idiom was in 1732. Thomas Fuller, an English physician and writer, used the phrase in his 1732 compilation titled Gnomologia: Adagies and Proverbs; Wise Sentences and Witty Sayings, Ancient and Modern, Foreign and British. In the original phrasing, Fuller actually recorded it as: “A stitch in time may save nine.”
Because Gnomologia was a collection of existing regional sayings and folk wisdom, we know Fuller didn’t invent the phrase himself—he collected it from oral tradition. Like most classic proverbs, it emerged organically from daily working-class speech rather than from a single famous author.
Why Nine?
“Nine” wasn’t chosen for exact mathematical precision—it serves two specific functions:
Rhyme & Rhythm (Mnemonic Device): The slant rhyme between “time” and “nine” was intentionally used to make the advice catchier and easier to remember.
Exaggeration/Scale: In English folklore and proverb traditions, “nine” frequently represented a substantial or magical multiplier (e.g., a cat has nine lives, cloud nine, a nine days’ wonder). It simply signified “a whole lot more effort later.”
The High Cost of Clothing
In the 18th century, textiles and garments were completely handmade. That meant they were extremely labor-intensive—and costly. Most people owned very few clothing items, and keeping them usable for as long as possible was a necessity.
The Mechanics of Fabric: Hand-woven fabrics under tension (like work clothes) can unravel quickly once a single thread breaks. Catching that loose thread right away required just one quick stitch—hence the literal advice to act before the entire seam gave way.
Simple Advice
It’s brilliant, simple advice… that almost none of us actually follow on the first try.
Enter procrastination. The word itself stems from the Latin procrastinare—combining pro- (“forward”) and crastinus (“belonging to tomorrow,” from cras). It literally means pushing today’s responsibilities into tomorrow’s territory. But let’s be real: just because the word starts with “pro,” doesn’t mean it’s a pro-level life strategy! 😁
Many of us play that familiar mental game of handing off today’s small, tedious tasks to our future selves. We convince ourselves that “Tomorrow Me” will magically possess boundless energy, pristine focus, and unlimited motivation. So we leave the box in the hallway, skip the small errand, or ignore the growing pile in the corner.
In reality, though, procrastination is just high-interest debt we charge to our future selves. What starts as a minor, easy-to-ignore delay slowly compounds over time. Before you know it, those few skipped “stitches” snowball into a full-scale, all-hands-on-deck effort like I’ve previously described as my Operation Cleanout.
So, what about you? What small “stitches” are you currently leaving for “Tomorrow You”—and why?
My Take
We’ve all heard the golden rule of organization: “Never touch an item twice—deal with it immediately.”
That sounds great on paper, right? But if I’m being completely honest, that rule has never worked for me, no matter how hard I’ve tried. Picking something up only to realize I don’t have the time or energy (or desire) to handle it right now just leads to moving it from one surface to another; one pile to another; or one room (or closet) to another. That’s when you begin to feel like your stuff is more in control of you than you are of it
The real secret isn’t learning how to handle things instantly; it’s learning not to pick them up in the first place until you’re actually ready to act on them.
That’s easier said than done in the digital age. While our digital devices are fantastic at compiling all those previously forgotten thoughts into one place, they are equally great at adding unwanted extra layers to every piece. The digital services mix all the ingredients into a lovely cake, but the notifications pile on so much extra icing that you can barely find the slice underneath!
This is the world for most of us now: Constant pings, live notifications, social media updates, and endless emails. We get pulled into opening messages and checking alerts out of curiosity or habit. The next thing you know, we’ve accumulated a mental inbox of things we want to know about but simply don’t have the emotional bandwidth to act on in that moment. Our FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) makes every read-wait-read notification become another thread pulling on our already tense and worn attention span.
Don’t Lose Hope
The positive turnaround isn’t about beating yourself up over a growing pile or an overflowing inbox. It’s about adding small, deliberate tasks that you know you can accomplish to reduce the overwhelm of so many tasks that feel impossible. When we protect our attention, by refusing to “pick up” an email or task until we actually have the time to process it, we stop generating false stitches that need fixing later. Getting a friend—like the wonderful friend I’ve been blessed with—to help you refocus on one pile or box at a time makes more of a difference than I can put into words. And I never knew just how much I needed her until she volunteered her time and her heart to partner with me in getting victory over my unravelling seams.
Some One Stitch Ideas You Can Use (Compliments of Google’s Gemini)
- Audit Your Digital Gateways: Turn off non-essential social media and app notifications so you aren’t continually tempted to “pick up” messages before you have the time and desire to process them.
- The Two-Minute Rule: If a task takes under two minutes (like hanging up a coat, replying to a quick text, or rinsing a plate), do it immediately before it enters your “tomorrow” pile.
- Process Inboxes in Batches: Schedule specific, dedicated windows during the day to check and respond to email rather than leaving your inbox open continuously as a distraction engine.
- Leave Things “Ready to Act”: If you know you aren’t ready to address a physical project or document, leave it completely untouched at its origin point rather than moving it halfway into your active workspace.
- The Nightly Five-Minute Reset: Spend five minutes before bed clearing off just one primary surface (like your desk or kitchen counter) so you start the next day with clean momentum instead of leftover debt.
- (My addition) Forgive yourself even while not excusing yourself. It’s okay to be an imperfect human. Just learn which imperfections create more chaos than peace, and gift yourself the effort it takes to get victory over them.
Biblical Wisdom on Diligence & Today’s Actions
Scripture frequently reminds us of the value of stewardship of our time, prompt actions, and the subtle dangers of letting small delays accumulate into overwhelming burdens:
Proverbs 27:1 BSB
[1] Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/pro.27.1.BSB
That Proverb reminds us that “Tomorrow You” is built on an illusion of guaranteed time, encouraging us to honor the moments and capacity we have right now.
Ecclesiastes 9:10 BSB
[10] Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/ecc.9.10.BSB
This Ecclesiastes verse emphasizes wholehearted focus when we choose to engage with a task. Doing it with intentional energy prevents half-hearted efforts that require fixing later on.
Proverbs 24:33-34 BSB
[33] A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, [34] and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/pro.24.33-34.BSB
Solomon’s classic warning here highlights how overwhelming chaos and clutter rarely arrive in a single huge event; they creep in quietly through a series of tiny, repeated delays—the exact “unraveled seam” our cliché warns against.
One Day at a Time
I’ll close with this music I feel is totally perfect for all the stitches we may need to do in life. Whether it’s the stitch that saves nine, or the stitches to repair the torn seams, we still only have today to take care of them. And this version changed the lyrics on one line and made it even more fitting. Where the original says “violence and crime,” this one says, “crowding my mind.”
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Cliché Month: Beauty is Only Skin Deep; plus Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder
I’m bringing you two related clichés today because they are parts along the same line of looking at real beauty vs false beauty. I write from the point of view of someone who’s never really liked what she saw in the mirror, though I haven’t hated what I see either. It just always seemed like most others were prettier than me. There have been moments where I fixed myself up into something I was more pleased with, but even those never made me feel gorgeous or beautiful.
On the other hand, my acceptance of being more plain than those “real” beauties in my life has driven me to develop inner beauty. Caring how others feel, trying to be helpful to almost everyone, and freely talking about my various failures in life to make sure no one feels like I think I’m better than them has always been among my goals. Even with winning behaviors or skills, if they made someone else feel loss, it took the wind right out of my sails. (Hmm, that’s another cliché, huh?)
Sometime during my travels with the photo studio, a TV was on with a show called Monsters. The episode I watched back then (around 1990) has stuck with me for years even though I didn’t actually know the show or what the episode was called until a few weeks of deep searching gave me the result: Season 2, episode 23, called “The Bargain.” I’ve linked to it on YouTube, but the summary goes like this:
A woman owns a bookstore and has feelings for a customer who doesn’t seem to feel the same. She decides it’s because she’s plain, so when she sees an ad for a new face, she calls the number. Her new face is beautiful but comes with a few prices. In the end, the woman with her old face gets the guy who’d been in love with her inner beauty all along, so she lost everything by focusing on the outer shell. I guess this actually goes a little with yesterday’s cliché to not judge a book by its cover as well.
Now, the second cliché makes a similar point, and the illustration of it is shown perfectly in the old Twilight Zone episode called Eye of the Beholder from season 1, episode 39. But I was unable to find that in a full original episode without commentary. I have linked to the unveiling moment in the remake from 2002 since the point is still shown, and the videography still pulls off some of the tricks of the original.
If you haven’t seen it, I don’t want to spoil this one, so I’ll just tell you that it’s an episode about a woman who has plastic surgery to “fix” her face to give her the beauty of those around her. The surgery fails and the lights come on to reveal that beauty—both hers and others—is not exactly what most expect it to be.
On a side note, if you watch (or rewatch) this full episode, pay attention to the amazing use of shadows and camera angles that hide the actual faces of the cast until the reveal at about 16 minutes in. The strength of the film is in the audio until the lights come on, and you never realize something is being purposely hidden from the audience. It’s done brilliantly.
So how do we look at the world when we’ve been so trained to judge on outward appearances and yet somehow know they are not the answer? The Bible speaks to this in three different ways.
Proverbs 31:30 BSB
[30] Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/pro.31.30.BSB
1 Samuel 16:7 BSB
[7] But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the Lord does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the Lord sees the heart.”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/1sa.16.7.BSB
1 Peter 3:3-4 BSB
[3] Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair or gold jewelry or fine clothes, [4] but from the inner disposition of your heart, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in God’s sight.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/1pe.3.3-4.BSB
Each of us should work on our inner beauty, and we should also strive to see the inner beauty of others. It is that true beauty that will allow us to make genuine connections to each other; connections so strong that they supercede any abundance or lack of external beauty.
This message is portrayed beautifully in the Pure Flix movie called “A Hot Cocoa Christmas” (formerly called “Much Ado About Christmas”) and one I highly recommend is worth renting. I wish I could find the karaoke scene that shows the connection between the couple, but here’s the trailer for the whole movie:
Just imagine a world where the insides truly mean more than the outsides to most people. No more harming others because they’re wearing the shoes someone else thinks they deserve; no more attacking people because of any outward display (age, race, gender, etc.) someone dislikes; no more graffiti and damage to the outsides of buildings or cars or wherever people feel their appearances need to be made; and people dedicated to bringing out the best in others, so their inner beauty can shine. All that would be Heavenly. Dream with me, and let your own inner beauty sparkle. ✨🤩
Shout out to both Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot for helping me find the info for that old show and for pointing out the symmetry arc my mind naturally found by looking at these three sources to present my points.
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Cliché Month: Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover
Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover
That’s the classic advice we celebrate for National Book Lovers Day on August 9th of each year since 1995. Note: The link goes to a page for 2023, but it’s the only one that gave a history. It also has some great quotes about reading like…
“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.” – George R.R. Martin
Appearances can be deceiving, though, and the true value of any story lies within the content of its pages. I agree… especially if that book happens to be a recipe book.
That makes my mind immediately jump to that classic Twilight Zone episode, “To Serve Man.” The Earth welcomed nine-foot-tall alien visitors called the Kanamits with open arms, largely because of a book they left behind with that noble-sounding title. Humanity judged the book entirely by its cover! Spoiler alert: If anyone had taken the time to actually peruse the pages inside—and decode a bit of the Kanamit language first—they would have realized long before it was too late that it wasn’t a manual for goodwill… it was a cookbook, and humans were the main course. 🙃 Here’s a quick clip from the episode:
The Proof in the Pudding
Thankfully, the recipe books in my home don’t require a government cryptographer to decipher, and their intentions are far more wholesome!
Whether it’s a cookbook, an instruction book, or a novel, every bookworm knows that the proof isn’t just in the reading—it’s in the application. What do you do with the words you read? A quote I’ve always liked says…
If all else fails, read the instructions — attributed to Agnes Allen.
When I first saw that quote over 40 years ago, it was appended by the followup instruction: And if that doesn’t work, follow them. That’s great advice since all the pretty recipe pictures and yummy ingredients won’t mean nearly as much if they’re never matched with a bowl and a mixing spoon. The Bible puts it this way:
James 1:22 BSB
[22] Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/jas.1.22.BSB
Once you make a cozy bowl from a trusted set of instructions, the true value of that book is undeniably in the taste. As another idiom says, The proof is in the pudding. (Which is wonderfully convenient, since August 9th is also National Rice Pudding Day!)
Turning the Page with Comfort Food
This is actually a perfect mashup of holidays—nourishment for the soul and nourishment for the body. One of the many “Today is special because…” sites I visited mentioned that most bibliophiles have more unread books than read books. I resemble that remark. 😁 And that even includes recipe books. That’s partly because I’m more apt to play in the kitchen and try to create something than I am to follow a detailed recipe.
For example, I’ve never made rice pudding, but one of my favorite experiments while looking for ways to sweeten food without sugar resulted in making fried apples with banana. Here’s a picture:
by Crystal A Murray (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
By caramelizing the bananas and butter directly into apples already sizzling with butter and cinnamon, you get the absolute perfect sweetness without needing added sugar. (Just a tiny touch from the vanilla bean paste!)
Tasty Fried Apples with Banana
- Apples ( I Prefer Honeycrisp Plus One Fuji or Gala; Peeled and Sliced)
- Banana (Mashed)
- Butter (Generous Amount Based on How Many Apples)
- Ground Cinnamon (To Taste; I Recommend Ceylon over Cassia)
- Vanilla Bean Paste (To Taste/About ¼ TSP)
- Optional Misc Spices Like Nutmeg and Allspice (To Taste)
- Optional Topping (Toasted Oats, Flax, Toasted Pecans, etc.)
Instructions: Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced apples, cinnamon, and a touch of vanilla bean paste, and a little water for steam. Cover and simmer until the apples begin to soften and caramelize. In another skillet, add the bananas and mash them with butter until they create a puree. Mix the puree with the caramelized apples and allow the whole mix to brown and caramelize a little more.
Serving Suggestion: Spoon into oven-safe bowls and sprinkle with your chosen topping. Put in a warm oven until time to serve. In my picture, you’ll notice I decorated the bowls with some thin slices of banana before adding the topping. But it was fine without the banana slices or crunchy topping. I think I was just trying to get a fancier picture like my efforts using 2 cutting boards. Whatever your method, please come back and add a comment to let me know you’ve tried them and what you think. Hubby used to like them better than most of those served in restaurants, but he cannot have any banana anymore. (Potassium is a no-no without kidneys.)
And with that, I bid you good reading and good eating. 📚🍮
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Cliché Month: Raining Cats and Dogs
Raining Cats and Dogs: The Truth Behind the Downpour
I’ve always been a cat person, but I’ve had some special dogs in my life as well. The first one I remember was Kute Kitty Kolleen of Keswick. She was a very red Irish Setter, and I was told she put up with me teething on her nose. (Yuck!?) I do not recall my teething days, but I sure loved that dog and her puppy Kollette. They both lived with my grandparents. I’ll save the other dog memories for National Dog Day on the 26th of this month.
With August 8th marking International Cat Day and the entire month of August celebrated as National Dog Month. (Wait, cats only get one day and dogs get a whole month? Not fair!) Both of our favorite four-legged companions are sharing the spotlight for this blog. That makes it feel like the perfect moment to dive into one of the most famous pet-centric sayings in the English language: “raining cats and dogs.”
The Slippery Roof Myth
At some point, I heard the story behind the cliché. The legend states that back in the 1500s, homes had thick thatched roofs made of straw and reeds. Cats, dogs, and other small animals would climb up to sleep in the thatch for warmth. Then, during torrential downpours, the wet thatch would get slippery or cave in—literally raining pets through the ceiling and into the living room!
It’s an amusing visual, and one I thought of immediately upon deciding to use this cliché, but it turns out that linguistic historians have largely debunked it. A properly constructed thatched roof was a foot or more thick and tightly packed, so even an abundance of rain wouldn’t send sleeping critters tumbling through the ceiling.
So, where did the phrase actually come from? While its official origin remains mysterious, historians point to two far more likely roots:
- Norse Mythology: In ancient Norse lore, dogs were symbols of the wind (associated with Odin, the storm god), while cats represented heavy rain and atmospheric turbulence (tied to Freyja, whose chariot was pulled by cats). A fierce storm of howling wind and driving rain was figuratively called “dogs for the wind, cats for the rain.”
- 17th-Century City Streets: In 1600s London, poor drainage meant that sudden, severe rainstorms created heavy street flooding. The rushing runoff would sweep up debris and, tragically, stray animals that hadn’t survived the storm, making it look to people passing by as though they had literally fallen from the sky.
Raining Dogs and… Polecats?
Early variations of the phrase in the 1650s actually described severe downpours as “raining dogs and polecats” before settling into the catchy pairing we use today.
Fun Fact: Wait, isn’t a polecat a skunk?
If you grew up in North America hearing “polecat” used to describe a skunk, you’re not alone! But when 17th-century English writers wrote about “polecats,” they were referring to the European polecat (Mustela putorius)—a wild, agile cousin of the ferret. When European settlers arrived in the Americas and encountered skunks, they saw a similarly sized, dark-furred animal with a potent scent gland and borrowed the name “polecat” as slang.
Rain Chaos and Muddy Footprints 🐾
It’s funny all the directions a mind can run from one little thought!
About pets and weather, isn’t it amusing how these idioms stack up? You’d think if it were literally raining cats and dogs, they’d be fighting like cats and dogs just to scramble for cover and get out of the deluge!
Unlike the disciplined ants in the old children’s rhyme (another thought direction altogether,) who politely march one by one, hurrah, hurrah to get out of the rain, a sudden downpour usually brings pure chaos when pets are involved.
So if it rains for you this month, I don’t think you’ll find any cats or dogs falling from the sky, but you may get wet neighborhood cats showing up on your porch for food. Here’s a collage with 4 of our rainbow bridge kitties who were indoor-only cats (2013) plus 4 of the outdoor cats who used to show up at feeding time (2022). We still have 3 of them showing up in 2026.
by Crystal A Murray (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
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🎵 Cliché Month: Any Port in a Storm 🛟
As August 7th celebrates National Lighthouse Day, I thought about the first time I heard this cliché. It was after I was married to my military husband. We were discussing some of the bad decisions people make when they are searching for answers. Even though he was in the Army, he still knew this cliché as a description for ports in life that aren’t good but are better than sinking. That’s why I asked the AI to make the dock in the above image have broken planks.
Driven by Desperation
Dating back a few centuries to the age of wooden sail ships, “Any port in a storm” was a mariner’s literal reality. When pitch-black skies and violent storms threatened to overwhelm a vessel on the tossing sea, a captain couldn’t be picky about where he docked. He couldn’t wait for his home harbor or a pristine coastal resort. He had to steer into whatever harbor or rough wooden dock was closest—even if it was known for rocky shores, thieves, or dangerous currents—because a risky harbor was still better than a watery grave.
In everyday life, the phrase has come to mean taking whatever makeshift solution or shelter is available during a crisis, even if it carries its own set of risks. But as my husband noted, settling for a broken port out of fear often leads to a whole new set of troubles once the storm passes.
I’ve selected my share of dangerous ports during the storms of my life. As a teenager, a friend and I got lost while touring The Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. Our house parent left without us, and we had to take city buses at night to an apartment of someone she knew and sleep on the floor until someone could come get us the next day. Anything was better than staying out all night in the dark and dangerous city. And when I was homeless, crawling under the overhang of a building that sat behind a casino in Las Vegas was better than sleeping in a park and watching a gang beat someone up. (That happened on my first night of homelessness, so no park felt like a safe harbor after that.)
Sadly, some people select a port because it looks safe enough, or maybe the person throwing the “rope” seems genuinely helpful, but the next thing these people know, they are roped into addictions or trafficking they never saw coming. Once there, they don’t trust any lighthouse they see because they don’t know if it could be another trick. We must remember this when we reach out to minister to those who’ve made bad choices but truly want to be free.
The Rest of the Story: A Living Lighthouse
On a lighter note, I’ve got a wonderful short video for you as a quick version of a Paul Harvey episode of The Rest of the Story. It’s a fun radio throwback on the maritime legend in the story below! While Paul weaves in the American folklore of ‘Hatteras Jack’—the selfless helper who appeared at the sound of a foghorn—the real-life history of the protective law and the SS Penguin belongs to New Zealand’s famous Pelorus Jack.
The Rest of The Rest of The Story…
(Thank you to Google’s Gemini for this amazing and true story.) Sometimes, the first moments of safety don’t come from a port at all, but from an unexpected guide who will get you to the port. Between 1888 and 1912, ships navigating the treacherous, rock-strewn waters of French Pass off the coast of New Zealand relied on a famous Risso’s dolphin named Pelorus Jack.
For twenty-four years, Jack would leap through the waves, riding the bow waves of oncoming vessels and swimming ahead to lead them safely past the razor-sharp reefs. Not a single ship ever ran aground while following his lead.
In 1904, a passenger aboard the SS Penguin shot at Jack, injuring the beloved creature. Outraged, the New Zealand government passed a historic law specifically to protect Jack by name. After two weeks of healing, the dolphin returned to his post—guiding ships safely through the storm—with one legendary exception: he never guided the SS Penguin again. Whenever that ship approached, Jack vanished. Years later, while trying to navigate without their guide, the SS Penguin struck a reef and sank.
The Only True Harbor
When the tempests and trials of life hit us, it’s so easy to feel tempted to just tie up to the nearest broken dock. But while the world offers many makeshift “ports,” there is only one True Harbor of safety when the crashing waves threaten to pull us under. That safe harbor is also our Lighthouse, YahShua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ).
When you’ve docked in dangerous storms and you suddenly realize the planks beneath your feet are giving way, remember that He is the True Light shining over the rough waters, and He’s ready to guide you all the way home. Here’s what God’s Word says about His Light:
Matthew 4:16 BSB
[16] the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mat.4.16.BSB
John had only met Him when they were each in their mother’s wombs, but he knew who would soon be bringing salvation to the world.
John 1:9 BSB
[9] The true Light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/jhn.1.9.BSB
And I love this verse I found in the Psalms about God Himself guiding us into safe harbor.
Psalm 107:29-30 BSB
[29] He calmed the storm to a whisper, and the waves of the sea were hushed.
[30] They rejoiced in the silence, and He guided them to the harbor they desired.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.107.29-30.BSB
Now enjoy this beautiful a capella version of I Thank God for The Lighthouse by Vocal Union…
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Cliché Month: Toe The Line 👣
Boundaries With Purpose…
Aren’t you glad the toes in this image stay lined up exactly on the line rather than crossing into the text and creating unreadable chaos? That neon yellow boundary keeps order and allows the text message to remain crisp, visible, and perfectly legible. When things cross the line, structure (even digital structure) can collapse into a messy blur.
P.S. A quick spelling alert: Because we often talk about “towing” a heavy load, many people mistakenly write this idiom as “Tow the line.” But as you can see from our neon friends above, it is strictly Toe the line—as in physically placing your feet against a boundary!
And that physical boundary is exactly where tonight’s cliché story begins…
From Deck Seams to Track Meets
While we use “toe the line” today to describe following group rules or conforming to expectations, its literal roots come from strict physical discipline.
The most widely accepted origin comes from 18th-century wooden warships. The wooden decks of Royal Navy vessels were built with long planks sealed together using black pitch and tar. When the crew was called for morning inspection or disciplinary roll call, barefoot sailors were ordered to stand in a row with their toes touching the dark seam line running along the deck.
Standing still with your toes precisely on that mark meant you were paying attention and doing exactly as told. And since obedience to command in the military is necessary for victories and to save lives, most sailors did, in fact, toe the line. Here’s an image I found at archive.org depicting an inspection of hands and feet by The Royal Navy.
by Major W. O. Carlile, published in the Illustrated London News (1873).
Public Domain.
Interestingly, Captain Basil Hall was one of the first Royal Navy officers to write down the phrase “toeing the line” in his 1831 memoirs, describing how boys on the ship were made to stand at the deck seams as a routine discipline drill or punishment.
As time went on, the practice spread:
- In Schools: children were made to line up with their toes touching a floorboard or painted stripe before entering class or answering roll call.
- In Sports: Early runners placed their shoe tips right at the starting mark. Stepping over meant instant disqualification.
In every scenario, the lesson is identical: get as close to the line as required, but don’t step over it.
A Little Wiggle Room
Which brings us to the annual August 6th celebration of National Wiggle Your Toes Day. As one website reminds us, it’s one of the easiest holidays to celebrate because it doesn’t require any special equipment or dress code. Personally, I think wiggling barefoot is best, though. 🐻🦶😁
Really, there is a fun irony in celebrating toe freedom right next to an idiom about strict obedience. Toeing the line requires keeping your feet anchored and perfectly still. But once the inspection is over, the race is run, or the school day or work is done, there’s nothing quite like kicking off your shoes and giving your toes some room to wiggle.
Sometimes, learning how to toe the line is what earns us the freedom to relax when the day is done! Apparently, it’s even a treatment for anxiety, so don’t wait for just one day a year. Free up those “piggies” and get wiggling.
And don’t forget how much obedience is mixed with blessings in God’s order of things. Here’s a message from God through Joshua to the Children of Israel…
Joshua 1:7 BSB
[7] Above all, be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe all the law that My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may prosper wherever you go.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/jos.1.7.BSB
Plus…
Psalm 37:23 BSB
[23] The steps of a man are ordered by the Lord who takes delight in his journey.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.37.23.BSB
This one took quite a bit of research between Google, Gemini, and Archive. Big thanks to both models of Google Gemini for their collaborative help.
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Cliché Month: Don’t Spill the Beans 🫘
Don’t Spill the Beans: From Secret Ballots to Grandma’s Kitchen
Most of us know what it’s like to keep a secret. And some secrets are harder to keep to ourselves than others. Maybe a juicy piece of news, a surprise party secret, or some other plan that’s supposed to be a surprise, but a slip of the tongue can ruin the reveal. So, especially when dealing with those who just aren’t good at keeping secrets, someone might tell them, “Whatever you do, don’t spill the beans.”
It’s an everyday expression, but how on earth did legumes become the official currency of confidential information?
The Secret Ballot of the Ancient World
The most popular story behind the phrase goes all the way back to Ancient Greece—known as the birthplace of democracy. Long before paper ballots or digital voting systems, ancient Greek societies needed a simple way to hold secret votes. They decided a simple opaque urn and two distinct colors of beans would be the best solution:
* White or light-colored beans represented a “Yes” vote.
* Black or dark-colored beans represented a “No” vote.
During the voting process, voters would step up to the urn and discreetly drop their chosen bean inside. The dark jar kept their choice hidden from the crowd. The vote was meant to remain strictly confidential until every ballot was cast and official counts began.
However, if someone clumsily knocked over the container—or tipped it accidentally on purpose—the beans would scatter across the floor. The vote tally was revealed prematurely, the secret process was ruined, and the entire election had to start over. All because someone had literally spilled the beans.
Spill it, Girlfriend!
While historians note that the exact English phrase really took off as 20th-century American slang (where “spill” meant to confess a secret or talk out of turn), the ancient image of a tipped jar spilling hidden votes remains the perfect visual metaphor.
A Tipping Point in Pop Culture
When I told my husband the subject of this cliché post, the phrase instantly brought to both of our minds the classic children’s game Don’t Spill the Beans. Do you remember it? It was originally introduced by Schaper Games in 1967 and later made famous by Milton Bradley. The game took the idiom literally. Players carefully balanced small plastic beans one by one on top of a teetering red plastic pot. The goal? Steady hands and precise placement—because one wrong move sent the pot tipping over, sending plastic beans clattering across the table. Now the game is made by Hasbro, and you can get it at Amazon where you’ll notice the “beans” are flat and colorful. But it still looks fun—and frustrating. (Link uses my affiliate shortcut.)
It looks like the ancient Greeks and 1960s game designers had the exact same lesson in mind: balance is everything, and once things tip over, it creates a mess.
When Spilling the Beans Would be a Real Disaster
Thankfully, it never happened, but I shudder to think of what we would’ve missed if it did. For all the history and game-night nostalgia, when I hear this cliché, my mind skips right past ancient Greece and board games and heads straight to my grandma’s kitchen.
Back then, making a pot of pinto beans was a labor of love. Long before they ever hit the stove, Grandma would sort through them by hand, carefully picking out the tiny pebbles hidden among the dry beans. A few times, I got to help her, but she preferred doing it mostly by herself to make sure nothing got missed. Then came overnight soaking followed by hours of slow cooking, seasoned generously with a good amount of bacon grease until the whole house smelled amazing. My mouth waters just to think about it.
So, in our family, “spilling the beans” would have been a crime. After all that work sorting, seasoning, and simmering, nobody dared spill those beans—because everybody wanted to eat them! 😋 (And don’t forget the diced white onion on top.)
I’ll end this with a couple Scriptures for when God Himself will spill the beans. It’s best not to have anything to hide (unless it’s a good surprise,) but there will come a time when all things will be revealed.
Luke 12:2-3 BSB
[2] There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known. [3] What you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the housetops.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/luk.12.2-3.BSB
Ecclesiastes 12:14 BSB
[14] For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/ecc.12.14.BSB
Many thanks to Google’s Gemini AI for the collaboration and help in finding this history of this phrase, the history of the game, and the beautiful image at the top.
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Cliché Month: Barking Up the Wrong Tree
Can you see that smug little grin on that sneaky raccoon’s face? He knows he tricked the dog into thinking he’s treed, but I’m sure the chase will be back on again shortly.
If you’ve ever put all your energy into a goal or project and suddenly realized you were far off base, you have experienced barking up the wrong tree. But don’t worry because you’re in good company. Humans, and even their four-legged hunting companions, have been doing that very thing for centuries.
The Frontier Origins…
The phrase “barking up the wrong tree” is a uniquely American phrase born on the early 1800s frontier. Settlers at the time relied on trained hounds to hunt raccoons at night. When cornered, a raccoon’s go-to defense was to scurry up a tree to get away from the chase. The dogs would then surround the trunk and bark furiously—a behavior known as “treeing”—to signal the hunter.
Raccoons, though, are super clever. A smart raccoon would often climb one tree and leap through the upper canopy into a neighboring tree. From there, it could sneakily slip away while the eager hounds would be left at the base of the first tree. Their noisy barking at a completely empty tree was just the distraction needed for the critter to get away before the hunters arrived. (Sneaky little smirking things. 😏)
I think I was about 14 years old the one and only time I went hunting for raccoons with my dad when we lived in Kansas. I only remember three things about it: it was too early in the morning and super dark outside, it was freezing and wet, and my little brother Jason was adorable when he would say, “We gon go coo hun” in his cute 4-year-old voice. Oh, and I remember the big gray Weimaraner he took hunting with us, but I don’t recall if he ever treed any raccoons.
Beyond the Hunt…
It didn’t take long for the phrase to move from describing a factual event between dogs and raccoons to becoming a statement about anyone in pursuit of an illusion. By the 1830s, the phrase leaped into popular print as a shortcut for misdirected energy, mistaken accusations or assumptions, or chasing a false lead. A person didn’t have to be running from a pursuit to confront a pursuer with a firm rejection and the notice that, if they thought they would get their way, they were barking up the wrong tree.
Barking Up the Right Tree…
Many years ago, a visiting young minister used the song “Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones to illustrate the search for real satisfaction. He talked of how the songwriter had experienced fame and fortune and tried who knows how many diversions, and yet sang about trying over and over to be satisfied without ever getting there. Many of us exhaust ourselves barking up all kinds of worldly trees—status, approval, material success—only to find they leave us empty-handed.
In Isaiah 55:1-2, the prophet calls out to the unsatisfied who are barking up all the wrong trees. He calls them to a free and satisfying feast and then asks them to look at the real value of what they have been spending their money on and their work accumulating.
Isaiah 55:1-2 BSB
[1] “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!
[2] Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/isa.55.1-2.BSB
When we change our focus from the empty branches and look to The God and Creator who knows our true needs, we can feast on those things that truly satisfy. We can stop wasting our time barking up the wrong trees and instead bark up the True Vine and receive fruit from The Tree of Life. 🌳🧬
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Cliché Month: Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basket
Most of us are familiar with the old advice to not put all your eggs in one basket. But do most of us know what it means or where it began?
The phrase as we know it today was famously popularized in 1605 by Miguel de Cervantes in his novel, Don Quixote. In the story, the sidekick Sancho Panza offers this bit of pragmatic wisdom: “it is the part of a wise man not to venture all his eggs in one basket.” It was a bit of cautious advice offered to Don Quixote, a knight who notoriously chased wild dreams and battled windmills, thinking they were monsters.
Not having read the novel myself, I asked Gemini for a summary around this part of the story. In case you don’t know it, Quixote was apparently a man of knightly bravado and chivalry (declaring that a single knight was worth a hundred ordinary men). His quest for vengeance resulted in both him and Sancho being beaten. Sancho’s advice was to remind Quixote that bravado without considering the odds is a quick way to have your gallant dreams completely shattered.
A funny note here: I don’t think I ever knew the setting for Don Quixote. I just knew there was a windmill on the book cover and that the main character was known for tilting at windmills. After finding out it was set in Spain, and learning that Spanish windmills are different from Dutch windmills (my childhood trips to Solvang, California, had me thinking all windmills were Dutch), I decided you shouldn’t keep all your windmills in one country, either. 🤔😁
As the phrase is used today, it’s often related to either finance or to hopes and dreams. Whether you’re managing investments, planning your career or other future ventures, or simply navigating the daily twists and turns of life, Cervantes’ advice is still good over four centuries later. Spread your risks, plan your options, and always have a safety net. Because, if that single plan (basket) tips, you could go hungry—and have a big mess to clean up.
And speaking of going hungry, I just have to tell you about what I think is one of the most pleasant ways to have eggs prepared. It’s called “Eggs in a Basket” and many restaurants will prepare your eggs this way by request. (Cracker Barrel no longer has it on the menu, but they can still do this.) The cook will take two halves of your choice of bread and cut out a hole in the center of each. The bread is then griddled, and one egg is broken into each slice of bread where it cooks along with the toast. I prefer mine over medium since the runny parts absorb perfectly into the griddled bread that surrounds the egg. If you like eggs and toast, I highly recommend this preparation method.
I’ll close with a biblical way to look at this cliché: Asking The Lord for multiple ways to minister to others is prudent. Not everyone needs to be fed or clothed. Some just need to know someone cares enough to listen. Others need prayer. And some may need biblical wisdom to guide and direct their lives. Because only God knows the depths of people’s hearts, He is the best One to guide us in how to spend our human investments to bring about the best returns.
James 1:5 BSB
[5] Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/jas.1.5.BSB
Isaiah 30:21 BSB
[21] And whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/isa.30.21.BSB
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Cliché Month: Actions Speak Louder than Words
I almost added an ellipsis at the end of the word “speak” in the above illustration. I forgot to ask for it in the prompt, so when Nano Banana created it, I was pleasantly surprised to see this powerful message of “Action Speaks” jump right out at me. Even without the remaining words of the cliché, it’s a solid and true message.
I realized after writing all of this that it’s almost an argument against yesterday’s cliché that the pen is mightier than the sword. I mean, if you’re taking action by a sword, that would definitely be louder than threatening words. But today’s message is more about the actions that must follow the life-changing words of the pen.
Has anyone ever told you they loved you and then made you doubt their words by their behaviors? Or have you ever had someone promise you something from the bottom of their heart with a pinky promise and, no matter how strongly they swore its truthfulness at the time, never fulfilled that promise?
If you answered yes to either of those questions (and I’d think most people could,) you’ve had a demonstration of words being weaker than actions. If the bad behaviors or broken promises have broken something in you, then you’ve truly understood the louder language of actions.
Of course, this also works the opposite way. Like when I moved in with my grandparents at 12-years-old and fell in love with a neighborhood kitty cat that started hanging around our house. When she showed up pregnant, I asked my grandfather if we could bring her inside to have her kittens, and he vehemently said no to my pleas.
One afternoon, a few days later, I got home from school to find a box in my room. Not only was it perfect for Mama Cat, but Grandpa had added some cushiony towels and cut a little area in the front of the box shorter to make sure she could get her oversized belly in there. Those actions were not only a gift to the cat and her kittens, they were a precious gift from my grandfather to me that stayed with me forever.
Actions speak! AND they speak louder than any words—no matter how true and passionate those words may sound. It’s why real Christianity is far more than an emotional confession during fleeting moments of fear or conviction. What you do after you stand back up from your knees makes all the difference. It’s why baptism is one of the first things offered to new converts. More than a ritual, it’s an action that speaks of your plans to turn away from your sins by literally washing them away in the figurative blood of Christ. Your old self, along with the actions you engaged in while in bondage to sin, is buried with YahShua (Jesus) in baptism, so your new self can rise up like He did in resurrection and perform new actions that imitate Him.
What would Jesus do? is much more powerful than What would Jesus say? (Though, in His case, what He said was pretty important as well. 😊)
Even the Bible has strong words about the importance of actions over words. When shallow actions performed by habit spoke to The Messiah that people didn’t really care about Him as much as they did their rituals, He called them hypocrites.
Matthew 15:8 BSB
[8] ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mat.15.8.BSB
Action that springs from the action of listening with our hearts brings blessings when we act on what we have learned:
James 1:25 BSB
[25] But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so — not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer — he will be blessed in what he does. (Emphasis added by me.)
https://bible.com/bible/3034/jas.1.25.BSB
YahShua says it’s our good deeds that shine a light and glorify God:
Matthew 5:16 BSB
[16] In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mat.5.16.BSB
In First John, we’re reminded of the power of action and truth:
1 John 3:18 BSB
[18] Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/1jn.3.18.BSB
And in Colossians, we’re reminded how important our focus is whether we are speaking words or doing actions:
Colossians 3:17 BSB
[17] And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/col.3.17.BSB
And I’ll close with a parable of YahShua that perfectly demonstrates today’s cliché. It’s called “The Parable of the Two Sons” and says:
Matthew 21:28-32 BSB
[28] But what do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first one and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ [29] ‘I will not,’ he replied. But later he changed his mind and went. [30] Then the man went to the second son and told him the same thing. ‘I will, sir,’ he said. But he did not go. [31] Which of the two did the will of his father?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. [32] For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mat.21.28-32.BSB
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Cliche Month: The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword
I know, I know… If you’re a writer, you’ve been told to “avoid clichés like the plague” (the ultimate cliché in itself!) So why am I planning a month of posts all about clichés?
Though the publisher’s advice to avoid using clichés is not empty advice, totally dismissing them ignores a crucial fact: clichés are clichés for a reason. They are successful linguistic vessels that earned their status by capturing universal truths and vivid imagery so perfectly, they had to be repeated—and repeated again.
While clichés can be efficient methods for driving home a point without launching into a wordy diatribe, overused phrases can make writing feel lazy and flat. Still, a bit of clichéd shorthand to convey a warning or some sage advice is powerful when used correctly.
Throughout August, we’re going to take a deep dive into the paradoxical world of clichés to learn the DNA of persuasive language. We will peel back their layers to expose the colorful, often surprising history and background behind phrases that still bring important punches of truth and deep thought to our prose. We will learn how to transform them from lazy shorthand back into powerful tools of expression.
For example, the exact phrase highlighted in neon text above was coined in 1839 by the writer Edward Bulwer-Lytton for his play Richelieu. Beyond the play, it became the ultimate rallying cry for persuasion over force and freedom of speech.
We see the power of the pen throughout Scripture as well. Way back in Deuteronomy, God told the children of Israel to write His commands where they would see and remember them:
Deuteronomy 11:20 BSB
[20] Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates,
https://bible.com/bible/3034/deu.11.20.BSB
In the book of First John, the authors use the pen to share what they have seen with their own eyes and touched with their own hands to those who read their words. In verse 4, they share their purpose:
1 John 1:4 BSB
[4] We write these things so that our joy may be complete.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/1jn.1.4.BSB
God told Habakkuk to write clearly on stone tablets where a herald could pick them up and carry the penned words to others.
Habakkuk 2:2 BSB
[2] Then the Lord answered me: “Write down this vision and clearly inscribe it on tablets, so that a herald may run with it.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/hab.2.2.BSB
Paul told the Corinthians that he used the power of his pen to write things in ways he knew they would understand:
2 Corinthians 1:13 BSB
[13] For we do not write you anything that is beyond your ability to read and understand. And I hope that you will understand us completely.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/2co.1.13.BSB
And God Himself told Moses to chisel out 2 stone tablets (more than once), so He could use the power of the written word, though He didn’t need pen and ink since He was God and could use His own hand.
Deuteronomy 10:2, 4 BSB
[2] "And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you are to place them in the ark.”
[4] And the Lord wrote on the tablets what had been written previously, the Ten Commandments that He had spoken to you on the mountain out of the fire on the day of the assembly. The Lord gave them to me.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/deu.10.2-4.BSB
So whether it’s the finger of God, a chisel, a paintbrush, an antique pen or feather, a modern roller ball, or a printing press (physical or digital), the power of words conveyed by a writing instrument is significant. The Holy Bible is the most amazing collection of words ever penned, and it still has soul-changing power.
Let’s take this month to learn the power of words, even as used in the form of a cliché, and undo the negative definition of the word cliché. Let’s learn to master the principals that made these succinct moral lessons powerful before they became relegated to the weakness of cliché, ensuring our own words resonate with equal weight and authority.
Many thanks to Google’s Gemini AI for the cool neon word art, the history of today’s cliché, and some inspirational words and editing for putting this all together.
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🎵Drumming on the Mountain; Thoughts on Uncommon Instrument Awareness Day
Yes, July 31st is really a day for becoming aware of non-traditional instruments. While searching for examples, I sure found a lot of weird ones, including a bass guitar made from balloons. That one didn’t work very well, but the video at the end with the marbles is amazing.
I asked Gemini to create an image of people playing some uncommon instruments, and gave it a few ideas. What can be seen in the immediate music circle from left to right is: a hurdy gurdy, a didgeridoo, a theremin (think Star Trek), a glass harmonica, and a hammered dulcimer. And since I’ve included links, you can become aware of all of those when you get the chance to check the links. They’re all relatively short videos on YouTube, and the theremin is a beautiful rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
So, I titled this Drumming on the Mountain because of one of the quiz questions I often get in my “Drops” language lessons app. It asks, “What can be drummed on?” And my multiple choice answers often include libro (book) and mesa (table)—and montaña (mountain). I mean, I know I cannot drum on la niebla (the fog) or la tormenta (the storm), so I started out guessing “mountain” just because that’s all that made sense in the multiple choices. But really, does anyone drum on a mountain? 🥁 🏔️
I hope you enjoy this brief nontraditional instrument introduction. My favorite is the hammered dulcimer since I found one with Greensleeves (aka the Christmas song What Child is This?). It’s a YouTube short, so I was able to keep it on a loop all the time I was typing this. 🎶😊
And now, a super cool instrument that sounds in some moments like a music box, but it actually has lots of sounds created by the percussion of falling metal marbles. It’s absolutely worth checking out.
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Prompt Response: Rice Cakes with Butter and…
What snack would you eat right now?
I’m keeping this short because, well, because I’m a bit short on sleep, and I’m gonna try to catch up a little. So I found an old draft post with a prompt from back in January (it’s cool that I can save them like this), and now I’m hungry for a snack. But I’ll be good and just imagine eating it. Lol 😂
A simple and tasty snack to me includes these tiny little rice cake thins by the Only Kosher Candy company on Amazon. They are actually pretty tasty, and when I spread a little butter on them, they kinda taste like buttered popcorn. I can eat 2 thin cakes and feel satisfied for at least an hour, so that makes for a perfect light snack.
I added peanut butter and bananas for the picture, but I haven’t actually tried that snack yet. It sounds good to me, though. A little avocado sounds pretty yummy as well.
🧈 🍯🍌🥑
What topping sounds like it would be good for a late night snack to you?
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🎵Prompt Response: Cotton Fields
What’s a song lyric that has stuck with you forever?
For some unknown reason, it’s the song Cotton Fields.
What Makes a Great Earworm?
Even though I’ve never lived in Louisiana, or even a mile from Texarkana from any direction, this song frequently pops into my head and out of my mouth. I’ll just be going about some menial household tasks, and the next thing you know, I’m singing, “When I was a little bitty baby…” That’s followed by the rest of the song as I remember it, and then I stop and wonder, “Now why am I singing this?”
I guess earworms don’t need logic (like I’m not sure I ever had a cradle that my mom rocked me in,) but it’s there often anyway—and it’s fun to sing. And I remember my mom singing it a lot, so maybe earworms can be caught. 😊
According to my research with Gemini, a great earworm uses simple, repetitive beats and catchy words. Repetitive melodies make it easy for the tune to stick, and a simple structure cements the rhythm. When these songs become “stuck,” it’s often due to associations with comfort or subconscious memories triggered during low-cognitive tasks, like doing household chores.
So there ya go; I’ve definitely got an earworm with this song, and I think I’ve had it for many years, even before I got married. And I must sing it mostly to myself because hubby didn’t recognize it by the first words. For him and for the rest of my readers, here’s a great version by Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR)…
The Prickly Reality (Bolls, Bracts & Burrs)
I’ve told you about traveling with my grandparents from Central California to Northern Arizona. That stretch of highway once had a few sections filled with cotton fields on both sides of the road. During one of our road trips, I convinced Grandpa to pull over and let me “pick” a little bit of my own cotton. I don’t recall him warning me, but I do recall learning a lesson about real cotton and those super sharp burrs that hold it onto the stem.
Those parts, the hard brown and pointy parts you see in the picture, are nothing to mess with. They are worse than a splinter, and they can really make your fingers bleed. I recall wrestling a few seeds from their fluffy cotton bolls (and yes, that’s the correct word, though I didn’t know until I listened to the above video and looked it up as I was sure they must be singing it wrong, lol). After a number of finger stabs, I put the whole batch in a baggie where it stayed for the remainder of the trip. And then it stayed in my room for years.
Wait, It’s a Fruit?!
Can you believe that we really do wear fruit (from the loom? Lol) on our bodies? According to my research, cotton is botanically a fruit. There’s a lot of good information at the Biology Insights website if you’re interested. I like the summary about it from Gemini …
It is one of those fun botanical facts that sounds fake until you double-check it! Because the cotton boll grows from a flower and houses the plant’s seeds, it is technically a capsule-type fruit.
Wrapping Up (in 100% Cotton 😁)
I really didn’t expect so much information from such a simple prompt, but it adds some variety to my posts, right? And there’s so much more i could say about cotton, from the textile industry, to organic material, to the various grades used in sheets. But it would take more research since I’m not even sure of the difference between Pima and Egyptian cotton. But I do know that God told the Israelites not to combine materials back in the days of Torah, and I’m certain He had a good reason for it. I’ll leave you with that verse as my sign-off for this post.
Leviticus 19:19 BSB
[19] You are to keep My statutes. You shall not crossbreed two different kinds of livestock; you shall not sow your fields with two kinds of seed; and you shall not wear clothing made of two kinds of material.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/lev.19.19.BSB
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Blog Break ⛓️💥 I Did it Again
I started off with a simple idea, and then I started the research. How do I caption this? What are the copyright rules to use this song lyric? What do you actually call a piece of cotton growing in a field?
Oh, and which video is the best to embed with this? And why can’t I find one with lyrics? And oh, I should add that anecdote to the story.
If you were in my head, you’d be worn out by the cacophony of thoughts and sounds and ideas. But I can usually tug on a thread to make it more focused for these posts. When I realized that was going to take too long, I decided to ask Gemini to make an image of a blogger with a lot of thoughts. It decided to include almost everything we’ve talked about for various posts, and I’m only now seeing the misspelling of the word “lyrics” but if I keep making changes, this won’t be a break at all. Lol 😂
Good night and I’ll try to finish the promised post by tomorrow. 😴
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One More Patriotic Colored Collage 🇺🇸
I spent too much time searching for an old post to make sure there would not be a duplicate, so I’ll work on that one tomorrow. For today, since the month of July is almost over, here’s a collage from the unused patriotic candle images from the 4th.
Even with the same prompts, different AI tools and different filters in each tool can make such a vast array of creations that my extra storage in Google Photos comes in really handy. In case you want to try the prompt in your favorite AI creation tool, (and now you can put prompts right into many search engines,) here’s exactly what I used…
2 patriotic Candles with red and white stripes plus white stars on blue like the USA flag. They are in ornate golden candlesticks burning with a soft glow that illuminates the air around them with sparkling fireworks. The candlesticks should be sitting on a beautifully polished high quality marble table and some silky patriotic flowers of red white and blue should be sitting on the table near the candles. The walls in the room should be gray granite stonework and festive patriotic decorations. The candle flames are peaceful and beautiful.
And I’ll close with one more image just because I really like the knitted pictures Wombo makes. (Even if yarn is not the best material to make candles from, lol 🤣.) Also, I didn’t ask for the eyes, but their training model for the knitted filter must include something about being cute. 😁
Some Bible Verses About Freedom
Galatians 5:1 BSB
[1] It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/gal.5.1.BSB
1 Peter 2:16 BSB
[16] Live in freedom, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/1pe.2.16.BSB
Galatians 5:13 BSB
[13] For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/gal.5.13.BSB
Psalm 119:45 BSB
[45] And I will walk in freedom, for I have sought Your precepts.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.119.45.BSB
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Prompt Response: Remembering Corded Switchboards ☎️
Which outdated technology do you miss the most, and why?
It was the 80s, and I was finally old enough to work. I got a weekly allowance at the girl’s home where I lived, but a job would give me a bit more freedom and money.
I’m not sure why they didn’t have me look for work outside the home, but maybe it was because most nearby jobs would’ve been on Hollywood Blvd, and a small 17-year-old female would not have been safe there. Whatever the reason, I was offered the operator job for the switchboard right there in the home. And I loved it!
I grew up knowing my grandma was a 911 operator (before it was 911), and I always felt she was so special for having that job. I think I mentioned in a previous post that she almost got the job given to Shaaron Claridge to do the voice acting for the Adam 12 TV series. They worked together at the Van Nuys LAPD station, and she was still there at my grandmother’s retirement party based on the signatures on her card.
Anyway, I was so excited to learn those simple plug boards (often called “cordboards,”) and that experience helped me get a job at Thrifty Telephone Answering Service in Van Nuys, California. I tried to search, and they are not likely to still be in business (started in 1948), but if they are, they’ve probably gone totally digital by now. Others I worked with at the time also enjoyed the process when cordboards were the standard, but I doubt you could even find a repair person trained to fix them anymore.
While I was there, I became the night operator and worked all 11 boards by myself. Up to 100 lines per board meant the possibility of 1100 phone calls if all lines were purchased and everyone called at one time. But that never happened—thankfully. The hardest time for me was when the multiple lines for the insurance company that insured people even if they’d had a DWI advertised at 2 in the morning, and they would say, “Call now; operators are standing by.” And I’d be thinking… Operator, no “S” as I tried to answer 6 lines as quickly as I could. That was my nightly workout. Lol 😆
Still, even with those harder times, there was something about that simple technology that made going to work every day more enjoyable than it felt at other jobs. I truly hated leaving there to move to Arizona. But I love my memories of the place and the experiences I had there. And I know that, maybe more than the boards themselves, it may be what the boards brought into my life that makes me nostalgic for them.
On a similar subject but way more current, I found out today about some new type of phone rooms called Warm Call Centers also called warmlines for people to call that don’t need an emergency hotline. They are a growing industry to support people who just need a human ear that isn’t a robot or AI and won’t take away from real crisis calls.
These new warmlines are similar to the former Xerox customer support lines where the operators were trained to offer compassionate advice to callers—even if they weren’t calling about a Xerox problem. There used to be a collection of the funniest or most outrageous calls they’d received, but I can’t seem to find it. I read years ago about someone who called Xerox because she was in labor and didn’t know what to do next.
People really do need real people to be there to listen and respond to them. It’s why I chat with cashiers and don’t like self-checkout. And if I were still out in the workforce, I’d probably apply for one of those jobs at a warm call center. I might even try to break the record they set with a 10-hour phone call. 🗣️📞🗣️📞🗣️📞🗣️😁
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Short Girl Problems 😊
Do you suppose a scenario like this actually exists? 🤔 Well, it does. And that busyness I’ve been telling you about was leading up to a new bed after years of painful mattresses that needed replaced.
Three brief experiences with adjustable beds have kept me convinced since about 2012 that I really wanted one of my own. We’ve shopped off and on, and we almost got one once in 2013, but we still had indoor cats, and I was afraid they could get under the bed and be injured by the motor. Fear can take away even what you really want.
So back then, we opted for the bookcase headboard and a large storage base. When it came time to replace the mattresses, we didn’t want to give up our storage to get a new bed. And then we found out that the newer adjustable frames can be laid right on the platform slats of our old bed. Yippee!
So today, that’s what we got delivered. And I stood next to this huge hybrid mattress rising toward the ceiling, and it came up to chest height on me. That’s when I got very thankful that I’d planned ahead and ordered a double-step stool. My Operation Cleanout friend put it together for me a couple weeks ago.
It’s still a little far away with my super short legs, but it’s doable with the stool’s assistance. Without that, it would be an unending loop of effort and failure like in this humorous video I asked Wombo to make from the first picture it designed. 🪜🧗
I hope that brought a smile to your day. Now I’m going to go climbing for the purpose of getting a really good night’s sleep, and hopefully it will be the first of many nights of comfy rest.
Matthew 11:28 BSB
[28] Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mat.11.28.BSB
Proverbs 3:24 BSB
[24] When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you rest, your sleep will be sweet.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/pro.3.24.BSB
Goodnight and Sweet Dreams 😴
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Blog Break ⛓️💥 Need Some Rest 😴
Try as I might, my creative ideas for tonight are either too long or too short, so I think I need some rest. But just so y’all know the efforts put into just one image on a regular post, here are some I had created for yesterday’s humor post but didn’t use. I really kinda liked the knitted ones, but I decided to go with the optimistic filter for the atmosphere of it. Still, these were fun and worth sharing, so have fun imagining how yarn can hold water—and fish. 😁
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Prompt Response: Humor in the Humidity
by Crystal A Murray (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
What’s the funniest misunderstanding you’ve ever been part of?
Yes, this story is true. And, yes, it is funny! 🤣😂
See, I spent many years in Northern Arizona where it’s very hot in the summer, but (say it with me), “It’s a dry heat.” Really, unless you are on the backside of the desert between Needles, California and Bullhead City, Arizona on a day when the temperature hits 115°F, it is often more bearable than the extremely humid days during a Midwest summer heat wave.
We got married in early April, so when the summer rolled around in that same year, I experienced a completely different atmosphere in Kentucky. It wasn’t just hot; it was like a sauna in the middle of a steam room! 😮
That’s when the love of my life, who I trusted with every part of me, showed his “genuine” compassion and told me how some people who move from a dry climate to a humid place like Kentucky may have to get their lungs suctioned out.
I’m not naive about a lot of things, and I’m always trying to learn new stuff, but it didn’t seem that impossible to me since just 3 years previous to that moment, my grandmother needed her lungs suctioned because of her battle with cancer. Plus, there was no Internet to search and verify things with in the summer of 1991. And because I trusted my husband, and didn’t yet know about his love of silly storytelling, I believed him without asking any questions.
Fast forward to the next spring. I’ve made it through the crazy hot summer and my first Kentucky winter. Snow and everything. My Arizona uncle called to ask if I’d watched the basketball game where Christian Laettner got the last-minute 3-point shot to help Duke win over Kentucky. We weren’t sports watchers, especially not with a small black and white TV, but that one we saw. 🏀
A little while into our conversation, he noticed a tiny bit of an accent, so he turned the conversation to how I was getting used to Kentucky. When he asked how I was adjusting, I answered, “I guess I’m doing alright. I’ve been here almost a year, and I haven’t needed to get my lungs suctioned out.”
That’s when hubby started laughing really big. And he sputtered the words, “Wait; you believed that!?”
Since then, it’s been one of my funniest stories to share, even if it does make me seem a bit airheaded. 😁 But you best believe that I now check everything—even from trusted sources. Lol 😂
Note: I never believed fish moved in with fluid on the lungs, but because this is a light-hearted true story, I prompted Wombo to add fish to both the lungs and the suction tank. 🐠 🐟
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Word Art Preview
Some days, especially after a serious and word-intense post, I just need to be creative and play with some designs. I dug out these old Word Art images I made back in 2022 at the site: https://wordart.com/ which has even more to offer now with their inclusion of AI tools.
For this design, I added 4 lines of words and told it the shape and colors I wanted. For their free version, you get a 700 x 700 pixel image (I think they used to be bigger), but you’re allowed to use them for anything you want as long as it’s non-commercial. Since I don’t have ads on this page, I should be okay.
So when I say dug out, I mean I searched for these old images in my Amazon Photos, and downloaded them for editing. Then I used my favorite Photo Studio Pro app for Android to add the gradient background along with some butterflies and sparkles. I finished with a sparkling pink frame. And I saved the project in case I want to change any of the decorative steps or add more effects, like a video overlay.
I did one more with the same words but different design elements.
I highly recommend the site if you want to play with words and put them into designs. There are apps and software that can help you grow your image if you want to use it personally but larger, and they have prices for high quality downloads if you want to use them commercially.
One other option I will share is that AI can do some Word Art if you just tell it what you want done. I’ve only tried Gemini so far, and I asked for Psalm 23 in the shape of a lamb. Here’s what it produced:
and Crystal A Murray (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
I noticed a few mistakes, but this was just a trial run, so I didn’t do the back and forth I normally do when I’m creating images. My reasoning for wanting to do this is for my plans in August and September when I will use cliches and fables for my blog post topics. I’ve got some designs in mind for Word Art to go with those posts, which is why I said this was a preview.
So be on the lookout for my first cliche post on August 1st, but the rest is a surprise for now. If you make your own, feel free to let me know in the comments, so I can come see yours.
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🎵The Tongues of Angels
One more thing happened 43 years ago that still matters today; I prayed to be filled with God’s Holy Spirit. My experiences may not match every person who reads my posts, or any person who reads my posts, and that’s okay. I’m just going to share my own experiences.
Missionettes …
Way back when I was about 9 years old, I was part of a group within the Assemblies of God churches called Missionettes. It was like a lot of other clubs for girls where you earned badges for learning skills. The difference was in the skills—they were all biblically or spiritually based. It was an awesome experience with an amazing and sincere group of girls and a great leader for our particular group.
We had a sleepover in the church one night, and these girls decided that I could not go to sleep unless I was filled with The Holy Spirit which would become evident when I spoke in tongues. It was about 2 in the morning when I quit resisting just so I could go to sleep. 😁 But I did speak in an unknown language, and that was followed by some experiences where I truly felt I’d stepped into the Presence of my Holy Creator.
But then …
When life changed and we moved away from our stepdad and his family, my mom took us back to the Baptist church. They were quick to tell me that no one gets filled with The Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues in this day and age. I believed them and did not allow myself any non-English words in my prayers.
A Little Hope …
By 8th grade, I’d found a wonderful friendship with a girl who was in the Pentecostal church, and when we prayed together, I allowed myself to speak in tongues again. But the Baptist church I attended looked down on that as something not okay. Still, between me and God, that moment with my friend Lynette let me know God was still there for me. And that was the year of being on the honor roll, graduating 8th grade with special awards, and getting glowing compliments from my teachers—and even my principal—in my yearbook. I was like a different person from the ways I’d behaved in 7th grade. (Still smoking, though. I guess I was addicted by then.)
A Time of Giving Up …
If you’ve read many of my testimony posts, you know I went back and forth between my grandparents’ home and my mom’s home. While with my mom, we tried other religions, some New Age teachings, and finally tried to find a “God as we understood Him” within our 12 Step groups. In that last one is where I prayed my I Give Up prayer. I said something like, “But, God, I don’t understand You. If You really loved me, why did You force Your Son to die? Why didn’t You do it Yourself?”
After that prayer, I basically gave up trying to serve God because I was thoroughly confused by all the different ideas people had about Him and what it meant to serve Him. Plus, life was filled with chaos, so with foster care and court visits and moving all over the state, I wasn’t thinking much about God anyway.
A Time of Searching …
That all lasted until I was back in Arizona and ended up at another Baptist church just to get a sale on some rolling shutters. If you read that testimony, you know God used Scripture from John 10:30 to answer my give up prayer, but the preacher told me it didn’t mean what I thought. So off I went into my own thoughts and ideas again, not daring to share them with anyone who might correct me.
A Time of Finding …
And then came all those events with reluctantly attending the Pentecostal church where I repented on July 14th and got baptized on July 16th. That was followed by a prayer meeting on July 19th where the ladies wanted to help me be filled with The Holy Spirit. They did not know any of my past experiences at that time, and they had no idea of the battle raging in my mind while I prayed.
See, I wanted that experience from Missionettes back. I wanted the time of victory that I had during my friendship with Lynette. And I wanted these promises this new group of people were making about speaking in tongues “as The Spirit gave the utterance.”
At one point, I felt like I heard this different language in my mind, and just as I did, the pastor’s wife spoke through my mental chaos and fear and said, “That’s the Holy Ghost, Crystal. Just yield to It.” I thought to myself, well, if it’s wrong, I guess they’ll tell me. So I gave up fighting and began to speak in an unknown—yet familiar—language. And as I spoke, I felt like I was on an elevator platform rising upward to hear angelic voices singing with the ladies in the prayer meeting. It was a moment of perfect peace and perfect joy.
My Thoughts …
There are as many ideas out there about the Holy Spirit as there are stars in the heavens, I think. I once heard of a missionary who was serving in an area where no one spoke any English. Someone got baptized and came out of the water speaking praises to God in English! Another time, I watched a deaf and mute girl suddenly begin to speak a language as she was prayed for, and she signed to her interpreter to ask what she was saying. You know she couldn’t have been faking anything or copying anyone.
Even the highly respected Got Questions website has an article stating that we do not need tongues anymore. It suggests that tongues are only human languages used to spread the Gospel.
But what of my own experiences and those I’ve seen on my own? And what about the Apostle Paul talking about speaking in an unknown tongue. He doesn’t say not to speak at all but rather to speak directly to God.
1 Corinthians 14:2, 14 BSB
[2] For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries in the Spirit.
[14] For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/1co.14.2-14.BSB
Paul also makes a distinction between the tongues of men (that would be languages) and the tongues of angels (heavenly language?) in 1st Corinthians 13, so it would appear that he could speak in these non-human tongues for him to bring it up.
1 Corinthians 13:1 BSB
[1] If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a ringing gong or a clanging cymbal.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/1co.13.1.BSB
In a recent move among some Bible teachers, a few are swearing off speaking in tongues at all, believing they only spoke what they did within the emotional hype of the moments in which they spoke. If that is true for those teachers, they should definitely stop speaking until they know that it’s truly The Holy Spirit speaking through them.
I have had times where I didn’t know how to pray or what to pray. In those times, I have sought God in a language I did not know, and answers came to me as a result. I believe it’s because The Holy Spirit spoke in ways that bypassed my human understanding and let me momentarily become a conduit of communication between my needs and what The Spirit in me knew would bring answers. I didn’t need to understand in my mind if God knew what would fix things, and I could just trust Him.
Wrapping up…
These testimony posts have been me being very real with my readers. It’s not easy to share these deep and honest parts of myself. I’m not trying to convince anyone that I, Crystal, am perfect or walk a perfect way that everyone else should walk in.
But I do serve a perfect God who has proven Himself to me more often than I could fit into these posts. (Many are tagged with the word testimony if you do a search to see them all together in one place.) And I am grateful for those moments in my childhood where God’s Heavenly Presence invaded my earthly flesh. It’s possible those moments are why I made it through some of my more difficult experiences with often miraculous victories. And I’m even more grateful that 43 years ago, He showed up for me as an adult with understanding and gave me a strong foundation to build a solid walk upon. May I continue to walk with Him, and if you don’t know Him as your trustworthy Confidant, I pray my honesty plants a seed that will grow into your walking with Him one day as well.
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My 43rd Re-Birthday 🎂
It wasn’t my first baptism, but it was THE baptism that marked a total and complete change in my life. I was desperate to be saved and to have God’s perfect will as the driving force from that moment on.
My first baptism was with many people in a swimming pool. I was sincere, but I was 9 years old, so it wasn’t the kind of sincerity you have after you’ve lived through some of the rough coming-of-age moments that bring you from 9 to 19. In those moments, I had been to juvenile hall; been in foster care; moved around California, Nevada, and Arizona; overdosed; and lived on the streets for a while. I was really ready to stop doing things my own way and see if God’s way was better. (Spoiler alert: life is MUCH better with a loving Creator and Heavenly Father by your side.)
I’d also had a baptism at 14 when my high-school aged boyfriend said he was getting baptized. And since my first baptism was at a Pentecostal church, everyone suggested I needed a Baptist church baptism anyway. Again, I was sincere, and I did make lifestyle changes that followed the baptism. I went from getting suspended in school to being double honor roll and graduating 8th grade with honors.
But the event in 1983 was the significant life change that stuck for the rest of my life—up to and including now. So today, I celebrate 43 years as a new person. The old me was buried with Christ in baptism, and I rose out of the water to walk with Him in the newness of life. ✝️🧬
Romans 6:4 BSB
[4] 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.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/rom.6.4.BSB
Shabbat Shalom to all, and you are welcome to celebrate with me by sharing your own repentance and baptism stories in the comments. 🕊️
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The Love Story that Created a Love Story
Truthfully, if it wasn’t for this couple’s love story, I may not have turned my life around and started really living for The Lord.
It started with a move from LA to Arizona. Then my sister and our mom moved there, and our mom got a switchboard job at the county courthouse. She met Steve, introduced him to Candie, and the rest is 43+ years of history.
But within that history is the wedding where I got to be the matron of honor because I’m the big sister. 😁 And then, a stubborn ultimatum about someone refusing to attend their special day unless I agreed to visit a church service turned into my ultimate turnaround moment.
It doesn’t matter that I didn’t want to be there. It doesn’t matter that I once walked by that very church with a huff, heard the music from inside, and stated, “You won’t catch me dead in a Pentecostal church!” And it doesn’t matter that my heart was not in it when I attended for all the wrong reasons. What matters is that God set all the details in place to make sure He could get me to a place where I would hear His voice.
Since that night, life has been filled with changes—both good and bad, but mostly good. It has had additions and losses, fill-ups and drainages, moves and stays, and bumps and bruises. There have been moments that challenged my faith, but there have been far more moments that strengthened it. And through all those changes, the Creator who pursued this resistant soul has never left me.
So when you think your little rejected invitation, or your prayers for someone’s soul, don’t really matter—they do. Even if you can’t find the perfect words to win someone, speak from your heart anyway. God may decide to use a couple that isn’t even serving Him yet as a tool to draw a daughter who desperately needs to meet her Heavenly Father simply because their event helps put all the pieces in place. And in return, just look at how God blessed their event to become a marriage and a family that serves Him and has lasted 43 years so far.
Happy Anniversary Steve and Candie. Thank you for falling in love. Thank you for getting married. Thank you for letting God use you both in my salvation story even when none of us knew what He was doing. May God’s holy presence fill your every moment and bless you abundantly in return for this major blessing in my life. In YahShua’s name, Amen! 🙏💕
2 Corinthians 4:15 NLT
[15] All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.
https://bible.com/bible/116/2co.4.15.NLT
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Prompt Response: The Word of God
Which book have you read more than any other?
There are a few books I’ve read more than once, though mostly short ones and children’s books because I have so many I want to read that I don’t want to miss the new ones while I’m rereading older ones. But there is one exception to that personal rule: The Holy Bible.
When YahShua asked His closest disciples if they wanted to run away with others who left due to a misunderstanding of His words, Peter answered this way…
John 6:68 BSB
[68] Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/jhn.6.68.BSB
Who else has the words of life? What other book has the amount of good fruit that comes from the Bible? Many testimonies have been given that detail amazing and wonderful life changes as a result of God’s precious words. They include things like…
- Relationship repairs,
- New Hopes and Dreams,
- Miracles and Answers,
- Education and Wisdom,
- Healings and Life,
- Provisions and Jobs,
- Promises and Protection,
- Comfort and Peace,
- Love and Joy,
- And so much more.
When you’ve come to the very end of yourself and have nowhere else to go, you can turn to God’s Word. When you’ve searched for answers in everything else and found none, you’ll be amazed at the good advice His Word can provide. When you feel completely alone, you can look into His Word and find His presence.
It’s no small thing that The Creator of the universe has preserved these holy words through many centuries to speak directly to those who are looking for Him. He says that when you seek and search for Him with all your heart, you will find Him. And most likely, you’ll find Him in His own Word. As the old acronym says: BIBLE… Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth!
I encourage you to try His Word for yourself. Whether you’ve been taught it all your life by someone else and never really looked for it to speak to you personally, or you’ve never opened it up at all, start with just being willing. When you open it, ask Yahveh Almighty to speak from the written words directly to your heart. He wants you to get to know Him, so He will reach out to you. And when you see Him for yourself, you’ll be so glad to meet Him, you’ll want to love and serve Him forever.
Note: The cute little heart in the corner of today’s image is from one of the images I made for my post on February 24th of this year called “I Love the B-I-B-L-E.” That post has three great music videos about the Bible, and a larger size of that cute sticker. Which, by the way, I was thrilled to figure out how to make into a custom sticker. Using my Samsung tablet or phone, I could press and hold the image and be offered the chance to turn the highlighted portion of the image into a sticker. It took a little editing in the Photo Studio Pro app to get the transparent background, but I’m really happy with the result. Have you ever tried making your own stickers? If so, I’d love to know how you did it and see one if you’ve saved it online.
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🎵The Hospitality of Rest: Why the Sabbath Was Made for Us
Sometimes, a roadblock that changes our plans is exactly what it takes to slow us down for just long enough.
Today, my “Operation Cleanout” friend and I had big plans to build a new project. FedEx had dropped off my package a couple days ago, and it looked like it had been through a war zone. How is it that when your tracking shows your item is out for delivery, and then it gets delayed, it often shows up damaged? We didn’t know if the shelf would be as bad as the box, so we dug out all the heavy pieces. Sadly, even with lots of great packing materials to protect it, the mistreatment was more than it could survive. Our plans were instantly derailed.
(That kinda sounds like life, sometimes, doesn’t it? We think we’re all cushioned against the blows, and then reality hits.)
At first, I felt that familiar, heavy spike of aggravation. Broken momentum tends to undo all my other plans as well. Especially after calling Amazon and finding out that I had to deal directly with a seller in another country. But, as much as I dislike my plans being hijacked by circumstances beyond my control, I was actually more at peace because of having the presence of a good friend to share in the frustrations.
So, we started fellowshipping and talking about God and His Word and His precious promises to us. I noted her resilience to stand on The Word and not compromise what it directs her to do. In our conversation of why we do what we do, we talked about that tendency in modern Christianity to identify Friday-Saturday Sabbath as Jewish and Sunday as a “Christian Sabbath Day.” She doesn’t think that way herself, but I mentioned what I had learned in my Messianic Jewish studies about the fact that Sabbath existed before Moses or Abraham or Judaism. It was the 7th day of Creation!
Later in the day, that conversation came back to me. As the evening approached and the thoughts of this week’s Sabbath rolled in, a verse kept circling through my mind: “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”
Mark 2:27-28 BSB
[27] Then Jesus declared, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. [28] Therefore, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mrk.2.27-28.BSB
When we look at the creation story and read about that first Sabbath, we read that God rested on the seventh day. But I found myself asking tonight: If the Sabbath was made for man, why did God rest? He doesn’t get tired.
And then it hit me…
For the first six days of creation, God was working alone. He was building, shaping, separating light from dark, and speaking galaxies into existence. He was being the Supreme Creator and doing Supreme Creator things all by Himself—but not for Himself. At the end of the sixth day, He made us. The prophet Isaiah reminds us of these plans in God’s blueprints in Isaiah 45:18…
Isaiah 45:18 BSB
[18] For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens— He is God; He formed the earth and fashioned it; He established it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited: “I am the Lord, and there is no other.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/isa.45.18.BSB
The seventh day wasn’t a pause because God ran out of energy or creative ideas. He took the time to pause because the home was completed and His family had finally arrived. He finished the work, turned the garden over to man, and then walked in the cool of the day with him.
Isaiah 40:28 BSB
[28] Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching out.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/isa.40.28.BSB
The Sabbath was made for man because God wanted a designated time and space to fellowship with us. It’s not about religious observance and law keeping. It’s about spending time with God and making the time and space for God to spend time with us. It’s preparing a seat at the table, having a fulfilling meal, and then taking a walk together. And though God knew we would need a designated space to fill our wells for the week ahead, He made the Sabbath out of His deep, passionate desire to simply fellowship with us. Picture it like this: The Creator of the universe setting down His tools, turning around with a smile on His face, and saying, “Okay, I’m done working. Now, let’s spend some time together.”
While I collaborated with Gemini on this post, this beautiful statement came out of it:
“The entire multi-day cosmic construction project wasn’t an empty display of power. It was the intentional staging of a home, built specifically so He could move in and share with us.”
So for this Sabbath weekend, the battered box is still in the hallway, and the momentum for that project is still broken. But as I step into this day of rest, I can see my derailed plans as a gift. They slowed me down to talk of this deep subject with a sister in The Lord, and that came back as such a wonderful realization that my future Sabbath days will have a much deeper meaning than before.
If something in your life took a beating this week, and if your own plans got derailed, take a breath and take a break. God has invited us to take a walk in the garden with the One who made it. Let’s meet Him where He’s waiting for us. And as we’re walking, we can sing this wonderful old hymn with a new sweetness in our hearts and voices:
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🎭How The West Was Lost—Or, Pure As The Driven Smog (Part 3–Finale!)
And here we are for the grand finale wrap of my short tenure as a teen actress in LA. (Yes, the San Fernando Valley is still considered LA. Lol 😂)
Recap
- I started as a New York newspaper boy with my long hair tucked up into a beret and a bulky scarf to hide part of my feminine face.
- Costume change two put me in raggedy orphan clothes just after we’d been rescued by a kind-hearted benefactor.
- Costume change three was like the scene above where the Irish nanny was getting the three orphans ready for bed. She had gotten us into clean night clothes and allowed us to dance around singing about living the “Life of Riley” in the song When My Ship Comes In. (Full chorus on yesterday’s post.) And within this scene, she also sang the light-hearted song “I’m Only a Shoplifter’s Daughter” which went something like…
Shoplifter’s Daughter Turned Nanny
I'm only a shoplifter's daughter,
My mother was one of the best.
Sometimes the cops almost caught her,
But somehow she always seemed blest.
One day she lifted a sable,
And wore it right out of the store.
Since that day she has been able...
To not have to work anymore.
Hers was a fine occupation,
She wanted to teach me the trade.
But to my sweet ma's consternation (guessing on this line),
I never could quite make the grade.
I’m pretty happy with remembering (after 45+ years) all but one line in a song I didn’t even sing in the play. And I’m thankful the poet in me was able to create a line with similar syllables and a close rhyme. 😁
The Torch Song (Tears on My Pillow)
Now you may be wondering about the guy peeking through the door. He was the one the nanny had a crush on. Butler? Assistant? Barrister? I’m not sure. But he was totally not interested in her, so she sat down in the corner to sing a song of lament and cry a bit. Of course, we orphans had no clue about what it meant to crush on a guy, and we definitely didn’t know what a manipulative, guilt-inducing torch song was. But you’ll get it by the end of the lyrics.
Tears, tears on my pillow.
Each tear I shed for you.
With a heart that is burning...
With yearning desire.
But with tears like a rainstorm,
To put out the fire.
Some day when it's over,
I hope you'll know it's true.
When they tell you I died,
Please remember I cried...
All those tears on my pillow—
For you!
And on that last “you,” she noticed him in the door getting ready to burst in and repeated it until it came out a little bit angrier.
Mr Crush (I cannot remember his name or his character’s name) shouted that she had to get the kids dressed and packed because they thought they found our father or uncle or some family member we had to go see.
More Costume Changes
- Costume change four was back to the newspaper boy that opened the play in my first post. Only this time, I don’t recall what the headlines were. I think something about orphans finding a long-lost relative.
- Costume change five had me back in day clothes to go with my orphan sisters to find our lost relative.
- Costume change six was likely back to the newspaper boy again, but I’m not absolutely sure how many times I did the little herald. I’m sure it was mostly for the moments the actors needed to get new props and people onto the stage.
- Costume change seven was the final and most complete change. There was no going back to any other costumes because it required me to paint my hair black (my first time using colored hair spray) and slather any visible skin with reddish-brown pancake makeup. This transformed me into an old Indian woman. (I don’t ever recall the word indigenous back in those days.)
And this brought me to my final line in the play…
“Ugh, come, we go. Old man sick. Not long he go Happy Hunting Ground.”
I don’t remember who the old man was other than him being someone who knew who the orphans really belonged to. They may have been children of someone related to the rich and fancy Astorbilts, or maybe to deceased parents who weren’t part of any fancy family.
But I’m pretty sure that the whole play ended on a bunch of happy notes, like the children moving to the mansion because their ship did come in. Maybe Mabel got the guy the nanny liked, and the nanny figured out someone else was interested in her.
Cue Exit Lighting
My age and lack of experience, or maybe being so busy with my own parts in the play, meant I didn’t actually get to watch the play, so the ending I remember best was coming out on stage with the whole cast and doing a group bow to the audience.
We repeated that whole experience multiple times. Maybe once a week or maybe more, and I think for 8-12 weeks. It was definitely more fun at the beginning than at the end when the newness wore off and the crowds got too small. I vaguely recall hearing that Jim and Teddy were trying to sell the entire showcase, actors and all, to an investor, but that was way, way above my head then.
It never got picked up, and soon all the actors found new stages and movies. Me, I enrolled in a trade school to become an administrative assistant (because the school told me I could be “more than a secretary”), and I stayed there until I got a chance to travel with a company selling an all-purpose cleaner called Show Off. That’s a whole adventure for another day, though.
No More Acting
The experience taught me that acting is hard work far beyond memorizing lines in a script. And it taught me that actors behind the scenes like to self-medicate—or at least the young ones in this production. I tried very hard to stay away from the temptations, and they tried everything to get me to give in, including trapping me between two people in a sealed up car while they smoked and tried to give me a “contact high.”
I didn’t let myself get in that type of precarious position again, and it wasn’t right to try so hard to assuage their own guilt by not letting my no be no. But we were all young, and that’s just part of the experience of learning boundaries. I’ve prayed for all of them even without remembering most of their names. And I’m thankful that the glitz and glamour I thought was acting was not everything I imagined, so I was free to go the directions God picked out for me in this life.
If you aren’t sure where your steps should go, please consider allowing The Lord to guide your steps according to His good plans for you. I can tell you from experience, God’s way IS the High Way!
Proverbs 16:9 BSB
[9] A man’s heart plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/pro.16.9.BSB
Psalm 37:23 BSB
[23] The steps of a man are ordered by the Lord who takes delight in his journey.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.37.23.BSB
Jeremiah 10:23 BSB
[23] I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not his own; no one who walks directs his own steps.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/jer.10.23.BSB
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🎭How The West Was Lost—Or, Pure As The Driven Smog (Part 2)
Behind the Curtains
Okay, so maybe the Aquarius Rising Theater didn’t have curtains, but we definitely had a backstage area where all the stress went to play before the play. It’s in that area where one realizes exactly how much work goes into play acting.
I promised you yesterday that I’d introduce you to the powerhouse woman who made all the difference in my stage presence. This castmate was both an actress and a stunt woman, and she had a commanding influence as a trainer behind the scenes. The actress was Spice Williams-Crosby, whom you may have seen play a saloon girl in The Cherokee Kid with Sinbad or the Klingon Vixis in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. If you want to learn more about Spice and her super health conscious endeavors that make me think she is still just as powerful now as then, check her official website.
Since I was only 16 or 17, I don’t recall if Spice was actually an official director or not, but she definitely directed me and others to pull off a truly great performance. She took our little production as seriously as if it were a high-paying, top Hollywood release. By the end of her training, I knew how to speak and act like a New York newspaper boy, a little orphan girl, and an old Indian woman.
Seven Costume Changes and One Tired Teenager
That newspaper boy had more than one headline to sell, and in between those sales, three little orphan girls had to show up in tattered clothing and then change to more appropriate sleepwear. The fun Irish nanny taught us to have hope for tomorrow with a little song that went something like:
Some fine day when my ship comes in,
I won't care about, never think about,
What my life has been.
I'll have chicken every Sunday,
Never go to work on Monday,
When my ship comes in.
That was the chorus, and I know the verse had the line, “I’ll live the life of Riley, hip hooray” in it, but I can’t recall the rest.
Wild, Wild Mabel
For some reason, though, I can recall all the words and the tune for a song I didn’t sing myself, and that’s the song Wild, Wild Mabel that was sung by Spice.
(Chorus)
Wild, wild Mabel,
Wild, wild Mabel.
There's never been a man who was able
To tame her.
Meaner than a lion, she could scratch and claw.
With a red hot trigger and fast on the draw,
Yes Wild, Wild Mabel was her name.
(Verse--partly spoken)
(Speak)
On a cold dark night,
Back in 74,
Mabel went out
To settle a score
(Sing)
With a tall dark stranger who was known as Dangerous Dan.
(Speak)
A shot was fired,
And the silence was broken,
The door swung open,
With the gun still smokin'.
(Sing)
Yes, Wild, Wild Mabel got her man.
(Repeat chorus)
Wild, wild Mabel,
Wild, wild Mabel.
There's never been a man who was able
To tame her.
Meaner than a lion, she could scratch and claw.
With a red hot trigger and fast on the draw,
Yes Wild, Wild Mabel was her name.
When I shared these lyrics with Gemini to see if they exist anywhere online, I got a little history lesson about an embedded joke in the lyrics. Gemini says, “That is a direct, hilarious nod to ‘The Shooting of Dan McGrew,’ the famous 1907 Robert W. Service poem that practically defined the entire ‘Wild West saloon melodrama’ genre!”
It’s a very long poem, but it has some interesting history and alternate texts, so I recommend looking at its Wikipedia page for all the info, like the fact that Ronald Reagan and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney did their own alternating recital of it.
Stay Tuned for Our Final Act: Part 3
While the orphans were getting ready for bed, the Irish nanny had some comedic surprises of her own as she sang to us about failing at being a “Shoplifters Daughter,” and then walked to the corner of the room to sing the ultimate guilt-trip torch song, “Tears on My Pillow.”
You won’t find these lyrics anywhere else on the internet (or if you do, please tell me where), so make sure to check back tomorrow for the grand finale of this fun journey down my memory lane.
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🎭How The West Was Lost—Or, Pure As The Driven Smog (Part 1)
Did you know I used to be an actress? And I played a newspaper boy!
It all started the other day while listening to Forties Junction on Sirius XM in the car. I heard a song I thought was by Judy Garland (I didn’t look at the screen until it was over), and I asked Gemini which movie she sang it in. Well, it wasn’t her, and it wasn’t in any movie. It was from a small theater production and only on the radio.
As we chatted about plays that never make it to the silver screen, my own memories of performing in a repertory theater in my late teens came rushing back. It was a simple showcase that lasted for about eight weeks, and it was one of the most amazing events in my lifetime. (I’ve spent a couple of days collaborating with Gemini to search for real examples of this period, and it’s been a huge help even if we couldn’t find everything. If anyone reading this happens to remember Aquarius Rising in Reseda, California, and has any snapshots, I’d love to hear from you.)
The Reseda Time Capsule
Just a few blocks from the busy intersection of Reseda and Sherman Way Boulevards, a small theater was born from a dying discotheque just off the main drag. Because it was alcohol-free, I frequented it while it was still a disco. I don’t recall how I first found it, but I’m thinking it was because of attending my first concert at Wolf and Rissmiller’s Country Club (later called Chuck Landis Country Club) to see Tanya Tucker and Glen Campbell when someone offered me a free ticket. (His girlfriend stood him up, and he knew I was too young for him to date, but it was okay with my mom to go see one of my favorite singers.)
At first, I danced until it felt like my feet would fall off, but later, my dancing moments came at the beginning and end of the night, with the middle finding me planted firmly on a barstool at the entrance having wonderful conversations with the owner’s wife in the ticket booth. Her name was Teddy Love, and she was one of the sweetest, most interesting people I’d ever met.
As the disco craze began to wane, fewer people at the ticket booth meant more time visiting with Teddy. So when her husband Jim (who worked for Burbank Studios) decided to convert the Aquarius Rising disco to the Aquarius Rising Theater, I was still very interested. I don’t recall if the magic shows were before or after the play, but I still remember their amazing feats of illusion, and the funny show that included the story of Petey the Snake. (Yes, I remember my promise to record it for you one day.)
My Big Break
Besides small plays in school—including a funny mime of being the target in a knife-throwing act and not surviving—I hadn’t done any acting. But it was definitely something I dreamed of, especially being so close to Hollywood. So when Teddy asked if I wanted to be in a play they were getting ready to showcase, I was totally on board—even though it meant I’d have to play a New York newspaper boy. And mine was the opening act for the play, “How the West Was Lost—Or, Pure as the Driven Smog.”
I studied and memorized the lines, but I had no idea how to fake an accent I’d only heard on TV and in movies. Thankfully, a true Hollywood powerhouse was about to join the cast, and she would teach me how to knock out not only the newspaper boy’s voice, but those of the other two characters I ended up playing as well. Because of her excellent guidance, and some great makeup help, audience members didn’t know I played all three roles unless they saw it in the theater program.
Stay Tuned for Part 2
Tomorrow, I’ll take you backstage to join me in my rapid-fire pace of seven costume changes in just under two hours, and I’ll introduce you to the whip-cracking castmate who gave me a no-nonsense masterclass in stage presence and voice control (even if she intimidated me at first). And you’ll love the lyrics to the song she performed in the play: Wild, Wild Mabel.
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America, Bless God!
First, Happy Semiquincentennial (250 years) Birthday, America! 🎂🗽🇺🇸 I’m grateful for this nation that so many flock to because they know there is hope here they may not find in their home countries. It’s up to us to teach them the skills to work for those freedoms, starting with lawfully abiding by the plans we’ve put in place to bring in immigrants and keep out our enemies. We sure don’t want to bring thieves into our own homes and businesses to make it easier for them to case the joint, right?
By the way, that cross in front of the 250 on the cake was unintentional, but I left it there because it seemed right for this post. In the image prompt, I was trying to get 250 candles and sparklers, so I put a “+” sign in front of the 250 to show importance. Wombo turned it into a cross. How cool is that, right?
The Freedom to Bless God
So, what exactly is freedom? Is it getting to make all our own decisions, not answering to anyone above us, and never having any responsibilities? Is it always having everything go our way? Is it a land with no laws that cause someone to feel less than welcome no matter what evil intentions they may be hiding in their hearts?
Or is it a place where we have the freedom to do the right things, and we get to harvest the results of our hard work without someone who thinks of themselves as better than us taking it away just because they can? Even if it’s done under the guise of charity, if we can’t keep what we’ve worked for and choose where to share our abundance, we are missing the true American dream—the dream where we work hard and gain an abundance that we want to share with others.
An Entertaining Example
Even though it’s a Christmas movie (though Christmas in July is a thing now), one of my top movies is “The Ultimate Gift.” It stars James Garner, Drew Fuller (before his 6 seasons on “Army Wives”), and Abigail Breslin in roles that perfectly demonstrate the blessings of hard work and heartfelt obedience out of love. I highly recommend it, and if you’ve got Amazon Prime, it’s there for free. Also, I found it on YouTube with ads. But in case you want to see a preview before you decide, here’s one that’s less than 3 minutes:
Where is the Blessing?
Most of us have likely heard the adage it’s more blessed to give than to receive. That spirit has driven some of the finest moments in the US as a nation. The moments when someone sacrifices for the benefit of someone else even with the risk it may cost them everything. It’s the drive that makes a soldier keep fighting, a woman in labor keep pushing, and a tired parent keep striving to bring a better life to their family. It’s a mix of hope and resilience with a finish line calling out, “Don’t give up!” These people give even before they have a promise of payback much like the biblical patriarchs in Hebrews 11.
Hebrews 11:13, 16, 38-39 BSB
[13] All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
[16] Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
[38] The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground.
[39] These were all commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/heb.11.13-39.BSB
The whole faith chapter:
https://bible.com/bible/3034/heb.11.1-40.BSB
But there is a promise out there. The soldier often survives and makes it back home to a loving welcome and a family. The mother gets to hold her new baby in her arms. The striving parent is able to get a home for their family, or at least a nightly meal on the table. And usually, someone says thanks to them, and it makes all the sacrifices worth it.
Don’t Give Up!
We have a loving Father and Creator who has built a world for us. It’s a place where the law of the harvest allows us to plant exactly what we want to grow. If we care for the plant according to its needs, we will reap a harvest if we’re patient. And all He wants is a thank you and to not be forgotten when things are going well.
Galatians 6:9 BSB
[9] Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/gal.6.9.BSB
An Attitude of Gratitude
In the USA, we have freedoms and blessings now that were just hopes and dreams of our founding fathers. They knew back then that true abundance came by the provision of our Lord and Creator. And beyond the harvests in this life, we have the same great and precious promises our biblical forefathers had. Some happen here, and some come with eternity. All are gifts from God that are worthy of our thankfulness to Him.
People have a choice to be grateful even when things don’t go their way. They can endure the hard things and keep pressing toward the goals they desire, and they can be both satisfied and hopeful at the same time. They can ask God to bless America and still thank Him for the abilities to do the hard work to bring in an abundant harvest. Even more, we can thank Him for the ultimate blessing of His presence through all the moments of this life—good and bad.
Or, people also have a choice to become petulant and ungrateful with a perpetual demand for entitlement—throwing tantrums and filing lawsuits for every minor offense or discomfort. They can demand that God bless them (and maybe America), and all the pet projects they deem worthy of His blessings.
Which do you think will bring people the most genuine happiness? The demand for a blessing? Or the grateful heart that blesses God first and gives more than it receives. I vote for the latter, so I say,…
“America, bless God!”
Note: I’m grateful for a bit of collaboration with Gemini catching a couple issues where the flow went a different direction.
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Shabbat Shalom Patriotic Style
I love that I can get an idea in my mind of something I think would be pretty, and then try it with an AI design tool. I mostly do that with Wombo because I’m so familiar with it. And this made so many designs to stick with my theme of doing patriotic images for all of July. I had one I liked better except for one thing: the candles were dripping. Of course, that’s what most burning candles do, but because someone might think I’m alluding to the colors running, I decided to use a different one.
Because it’s Sabbath and I want to enjoy some rest after a busy (and good) week, I’m keeping this short, but I will throw in a few more pictures. I’m hoping to create an album in Google Drive of many patriotic and firework images. Maybe I should do about 250 of them. 😁
And I just realized today that I’ve been alive for both the bicentennial in 1976 and now the semiquincentennial. Thankfully, it’s the country that is a quarter of a millennium old and not me. Lol 😂. But it is cool to have been born in the right year to live through both of these anniversary events.
Psalm 91:1, 16 BSB
[1] He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
[16] With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation.”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.91.1-16.BSB
I like how sharing the first and last verse of a chapter in the Bible creates a link to the whole chapter. I’ve never tried that before. I guess it doesn’t take much to entertain me. (Grin)
And here are a few extra images before I sign off for Sabbath rest:
by Crystal A Murray (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
(Tech Note: I fixed the Jetpack problem by reinstalling. It hasn’t had a recent update, so I don’t know why that worked other than I’d originally installed it to my tablet by a transfer from my phone, and maybe all it needed was a clean install from the Google Play Store.)
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Blog Break ⛓️💥 Patriotic Butterfly
I created a similar design years ago for Zedge wallpapers, but I can’t share them due to their terms of service, so I just started over from scratch with Wombo Dream AI. Then I used the Photo Studio Pro app for Android to add some glitter and a frame from their recently added patriotic set.
The Jetpack app seems to be broken on my tablet, so I’m using the backup WordPress app. I’m so glad I had both installed. But the timing has me running late for a busy day, so I’m just sharing the image with the note that I hope to do patriotic colors and things all month. I’ve got some wonderful fireworks shots to share when I pull them off my camera memory cards.
Blessings during this whole year of USA 250! 🇺🇸🗽🎂🕊️
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🎵A Heavyweight Dilemma
Many children shout, “I can do it!” as they struggle with a new task. At the same time, parents wrestle with when to step in and when to let them try—even if it means a painful lesson. But just like physical training, learning to lift beyond what is easy means building new muscle and new strength.
The Heavyweight Path of Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts, the 1700s preacher and songwriter dubbed the “Father of English Hymnody,” wrote over 600 hymns, including the one that helped convert Fannie J Crosby. (Alas and Did My Savior Bleed.) But he didn’t reach those heights on a lightweight path.
A gifted writer and linguist from a young age, Watts learned Latin at four, Greek at nine, and Hebrew at thirteen. At only seven years old—the same age I wrote my first song—he wrote an acrostic poem using the letters in his given name:
I am a vile polluted lump of earth
So I've continued ever since my birth
Although Jehovah grace does give me
As sure this monster Satan will deceive me
Come, therefore, Lord, from Satan's claws relieve me.
This early intellectual and spiritual discipline strengthened him for the trials ahead. As a “dissenter” against the Anglican Church in London, Watts faced a lot of opposition. In those days, church worship only allowed the literal singing of Psalms or other Scriptures. Writing songs outside of accepted Scripture made him a target.
But Isaac stayed resilient for most of his life, having learned to fight these spiritual attacks from his parents, who were also dissenters. Yet, in his final years, the attacks seemed to wear him down, leading to an early retirement.
Perhaps spiritual muscles mirror physical ones. Decades of fighting can cause fatigue. Or maybe, as times changed and non-Anglican beliefs became more widely accepted, life grew easier. With fewer attacks, he could lower his guard; and that may have allowed some weakening in his spirit.
The Cost of Lowered Expectations
My husband and I talked about this recently after he shared Watts’ story with me from Robert J. Morgan’s Then Sings My Soul book.
When we first met over 30 years ago, his young nephews were living in harsh conditions. While removing them from those conditions was good, the state’s foster and group home system placements ultimately hindered rather than helped them. Like the strongman in the image above, the system tried to “help” by removing all the weights. They followed that by taking away their self-control with medication and a counseling narrative that drilled into them how they were victims.
By removing the weights, the state stopped their life-muscle building process. The toll of that deficit remains visible in their lives to this day.
State agencies often view themselves as virtuous for saving all of these kids from their hard lives. But we believe it would be far better for them to act like spotters—making sure the weight doesn’t cause injury—rather than superheros who take the weights away entirely.
Consider one of our nephews: he was placed in a remedial reading class with lowered standards and materials. It quickly became a place for the kids to just goof off. During the four years we had custody, we removed him from that school for a single semester. I tutored him myself, and in just that one semester, he advanced four grade levels in both reading and math. Dumbing things down and lowering expectations does more harm than good.
Raising the Bar(bell) for the Next Generation
This brings me to my final point: young people are capable of growing up far earlier than we allow them to. If we expect less and hold them to low standards, that is what we will get.
Biologically, their bodies are proving they are entering adulthood; that they are old enough to become parents themselves. Yet we trap them in a frustrating limbo of zero responsibility and zero freedom. Instead, we should acknowledge their transition to adulthood—like a Bar or Bat Mitzvah—and let them lift the weights that come with it, staying close by to spot them in case they stumble. Given the chance, I believe they will prove themselves far more often than they will fail.
The real dilemma is getting the agencies in charge to finally get on board.
Revisit the Legacy of Isaac Watts
Here are a few of his amazing hymns you might recognize.
And if you’d like a solid 25 minutes of songs by this same YouTube channel (Old Hymns and Lyrics) watch the full collection here.
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Prompt Response: You Make the Lemonade
What’s the best advice you’d give to someone younger than you?
Sometimes, I think people have the idea that getting lemonade from the lemons in life simply means looking for the good in the bad. That’s my specialty. I’m often very good at finding even a thread of hope or promise within a terrible situation.
But what if it’s more than just looking for the thread? What if we learn from a young age to actually be the one responsible for adding just the right amount of sweetness to turn a sour moment into something more palatable to help us survive it. And maybe more than survive it, thrive from it because just sugar or honey in a glass by itself isn’t refreshing at all.
So learn your tastes. Figure out which sweetener is the best to your many tastebuds. Maybe you prefer honey or agave, or you need a sugar-free additive like Stevia leaf. Maybe you’ve even learned that the juice of one orange to about 5 lemons makes a lovely mix of flavor and color in a tall glass of summer refreshment.
In life, even if you’ve grown up as a survivor from a dysfunctional home, you cannot see the future and exactly which lemons might come your way. So get a recipe ready for dealing with the bumps and potholes no matter what they are. The first part of the recipe will always be looking for the golden thread of hope or peace to hang onto until you can get to the sugar jar. And I believe the strongest golden thread is the voice of our Creator as He speaks to us from His Word.
Take Romans 8:28 for instance…
Romans 8:28 BSB
[28] And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/rom.8.28.BSB
Notice it doesn’t say all things (or all lemons) are good, nor does it say we should just give up and wait for them to turn good. It says they will work together for the good. And here’s an interesting factoid: the Greek word used for “work together” in the verse is synergeo—where we get our word “synergy.” That implies partnership, cooperation, and an active blending of ingredients.
And remember this: you are not alone. Whether you are young or carry a bit more experience, your Master Creator is already in the kitchen with you ready to help you with your lemonade mixture. He will provide the ingredients for the golden thread and the sweetness, just like He provides oranges and sugar cane for real food and beverage recipes.
King David learned this, and even though he dealt with many bitter things in life, he ultimately proclaimed:
Psalm 34:8 BSB
[8] Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.34.8.BSB
And later in this same chapter...
Psalm 34:19 BSB
[19] Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him from them all.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.34.19.BSB
Note: Compliments to Google Gemini as my collaborator and for giving me the info on the Greek in Romans 8:28. It fit perfectly with the direction for this post.
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Blog Break—Here’s a Picture
This was the image from Gemini for the day-after-Father’s-Day post, but I was looking for the older image that I see more as God with aged wisdom and like a father figure for that post. Still, for those who love the verses where YahShua says to bring the little children to Him, this represents them well. I left it as a public domain image so people can freely use it.
As for today, I had at least 3 ideas for new blog posts, but a friend went to the hospital for IV antibiotics, and with texting most of the evening and up to about 4 AM, my mind couldn’t put anything together. Please pray for the friend, SM, to feel God’s presence and hear His answers to get through the days of diabetic swelling and ulcers on her feet. It also happened last year, but it was worse because she didn’t catch it as early. I’m hoping this time is better from catching it early (who knew wearing tight shoes could cause such a problem?), and she can get back to her lonely kitties. I’m glad to be available for her when the rest of the world is asleep, but I’d rather her be healthy and at home. Thanks for praying with me for that. 🙏🦋
So I’ll say goodnight for this day and try to catch some nice deep winks to prepare my brain for writing an engaging post for tomorrow.
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Keeping it Light and Melodic
I kinda wore myself out in the last couple of days. Good wearing out, but still a bit tired, so I thought I’d keep the subject light and share one of my favorite digital editing projects.
This was actually a picture of a real keyboard from years ago. My sister-in-law, Denise, had recently shown me how to lasso a section of a picture and then fill in the selection with another picture. For this, I selected each key and filled it in with different kaleidoscope designs I had created. And, yes, it took me a very long time to finish this one.
Later, when I discovered Wombo Dream AI and learned I could upload my own picture as a template, I chose this one and let it create some really cool images from it. I’ll go back and do more with the new V4 filters one day, but for now, I’ll share a few of the colorful designs, and then I’ll hit the hay for some deep rest.
I love the lights under the bottom keyboard here.
This one added some slightly fall-colored flora.
This one used either a prompt of “paper cut” or their papercut filter, or a little of both. I love the swirls on the keys with this one.
(CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
This one is bold and colorful, and just look at the dimension and shadows on those flowers.
(CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
I’m not sure which filter I used for this one, but I really like it.
And this final design has the bold colors on the keys but those pretty little details I’m purple and pink on the top.
(CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
So which keyboard design do you like the best? My original hours-long creation, or one of the quick and amazing Wombo designs? Leave me some comments to read when I return, please. And, just so y’all know, I require an email address to leave comments, but I’m the only one who sees it. And it’s actually only to prevent spammers and bots, so you can feel safe dropping a line or two. 🖍️
Goodnight and blessings to you all. 😴🕊️
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🎵Looking for Love—And a Father
In my last post, I shared the beautiful memory of my birth father—the man who tattooed my name on his arm as a mark of his love for me. But human stories are rarely simple. Sometime shortly after my fifth birthday, he was gone. And a little girl was left wondering: Why did he leave? What did I do wrong?
When your hero leaves, that important space is left empty. A lifelong search begins looking to replace everything that’s missing. Love; a father; protection; a new hero. If you don’t know what a father’s protective love actually looks like, you start looking for it everywhere and in everything.
In the years that followed, my mom made great efforts to replace what my little sister and I were missing. Men came and men went, many who tried to play “Daddy.” While some of them worked hard to live up to the name in their own fractured ways, darkness, addiction, and brokenness sometimes invaded those dynamics. Instead of finding safety, boundaries were broken that love should never have crossed.
When the very people who are supposed to protect you become the source of your wounds, the marks left behind may be invisible from the outside, but they are there nonetheless. These are not marks of love like a tattoo; they are stains of shame you feel the whole world can see on you. And those marks breed a quiet, devastating conclusion: If earthly fathers brought pain and abandonment, how could I ever trust an unseen Heavenly one to love me and stay in my life?
The “Foster Child” Mentality
By the time I was a teenager, I was looking for love—and a father—in all the wrong places, learning all too well how to live with a victim mentality. But God is a master of rescue. Years later, after I began walking with Him, He began the work of healing those old, deep wounds. Eventually, I was even able to find a place of reconciliation and peace with those in my past who had hurt me.
Yet, as wonderful as the healing was, a quiet barrier remained around my heart. Not having a solid and safe father figure while growing up left me entirely unequipped to comprehend God as a “Father,” especially as my Father.
I read the Scriptures about the “Spirit of Adoption” bringing us into God’s family, but in my heart, I still felt like an outsider. To me, God felt like the world’s best, safest “foster parent.” I knew He cared for me, but how could I accept Him as a true Father when I didn’t even know what that word meant? I wanted to be a real child of God, not just someone pulling up an awkward chair at a mixed family table.
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🎵 Daddy Can Never Forget Me
Yes, that’s my name. No, that’s not my dad. Lol 🤣 I looked everywhere for the old photo I had of my dad with a small group of soldiers in Vietnam, but I couldn’t find it. So, I decided to have Wombo recreate it for me. My dad did have my name tattooed on his arm since I was his firstborn, and years later, that ink inspired a song.
While I can’t find the exact words for the song right now—I have a feeling it’s only on paper in one of my many notebooks— I still remember the heart of it. It’s about how no matter how far away my dad went, even getting married and having other children, that tattoo meant he could never totally forget me. Even if he’d had the tattoo removed, the remaining scar would always remind him of the name that used to be there.
There’s a beautiful Scripture about God’s hands where the exact same rule applies. I’ve used bold and italics to highlight the part of the verse I’m referring to.
Isaiah 49:15-16 BSB
[15] “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if she could forget, I will not forget you!
[16] Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are ever before Me.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/isa.49.15-16.BSB
As my song continues, I mention how God also has a tattoo right in the palm of His hand, and that, just like my daddy, Jesus can never forget me. Years ago, when my dad read those lyrics when he was running from The Lord, he told me it brought him to tears.
Dear reader, maybe you are like so many this Father’s Day (including me) where your human father has left this Earth. This year, I’m without my birth father and my stepfather, and others (like a grandfather) who were fatherly toward me.
But that is because this life is temporary. It will always lack the things that would make life “perfect,” but it will never lack The most Perfect Savior and Friend we could ever have. That Perfect Savior let nails pierce right through where our names are written, shedding His perfect blood for us. And because of those scars, He can never forget us.
Here is a beautiful chain of promises from the Scriptures reminding us of that truth—from The Torah, through the Psalms, to the words of YahShua, and into the epistles:
Deuteronomy 31:6 BSB
[6] Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/deu.31.6.BSB
Psalm 37:25 BSB
[25] I once was young and now am old, yet never have I seen the righteous abandoned or their children begging for bread.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.37.25.BSB
Matthew 28:20 BSB
[20] and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mat.28.20.BSB
Hebrews 13:5 BSB
[5] Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/heb.13.5.BSB
I’ll wrap this up with two beautiful songs I found. The first is directly inspired by Isaiah 49:16, titled “Engraved on Your Hands.” It features gorgeous video scenes, rich lyrics, and beautiful moments sung in Hebrew (with both Hebrew and English subtitles).
This second one has amazingly moving lyrics paired with beautiful beach imagery. (It may be AI generated, as I couldn’t locate specific vocalist info, but the message is timeless):
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🎵Prompt Response: Happiness vs Joy
What’s a common misconception people have about happiness?
There are many common misconceptions about happiness, but I think the biggest one is that it means the same thing as joy.
Happiness is an emotion. It is something we can choose to receive or to reject. It fully belongs to us to do with as we wish. And because human emotions are not always steady, it means that happiness will ebb and flow like an ocean tide. It’s mostly based on our current experiences, but for those who are good at making lemonade from life’s lemons, it can show up despite sour events in life.
I’m not saying that happiness is not a gift, though; it is a wonderful gift that often fills us up with what we need to sustain us in unhappy times. But it’s not joy. That is something that comes from only one source—God Himself. Because joy is a fruit of The Holy Spirit, it means it belongs to Yahveh, and it’s in His control. And just like The Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever; joy is always the same and not dependent on circumstances.
See, we really need both of these in this life. We don’t deserve happiness (that’s another message all together), but we need it for balance. It will give us strength and hope to keep us looking for that next happy day and help us to not be so willing to give up because we know what we’d miss.
Sometimes, though, it’s really not easy to feel happiness. Even those with 24/7 lemonade stands sometimes struggle to be happy in the face of hard events or times. If they are followers of YahShua, though, this is where they can lean into joy. Because His Spirit is inside them to sustain them at all times, they can tap into that deep joy (along with the other fruit like love, peace, mercy, etc.) and make it through the hard times with strength to carry them to the next moment of happiness. They can trade temporary smiles of happiness for permanent hearts filled with God’s joy.
Nehemiah 8:10 BSB
[10] Then Nehemiah told them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send out portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/neh.8.10.BSB
Now, for a moment of happiness, look at these adorable pictures from Wombo using the knitting filter.
And when you get the joy, joy, joy down in your heart, you’ll find that the joy of The Lord is your strength.
And while I thought I was almost done with this post, I have to append this note: I was looking for the old Sunday School chorus about the joy of The Lord when I came across the song above. I liked it right away, but before sharing it here, I wanted to research the spiritual foundations of the band. It turns out, they wrote this song specifically for a time of grief in the band when they needed the joy of The Lord to comfort them in unhappy times. (Shout out to Gemini for this important historical note.) That makes me feel like finding this song after everything I wrote before I even looked for it is not just happenstance or coincidence.
And here’s the one I was originally going to share.
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Same but Different
by Crystal A Murray (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
If you’ve known me for any time at all, you know I have a real thing for butterflies. A lot of my text and Messenger signatures have butterflies in them, and my uncle once asked me why I added it.
Many years ago, I was a member of a group called Ala-Teen. It’s where I first encountered the 12 Steps. They are a path of realization and healing that can help anyone. I believe my time studying and applying the steps in my own life set me up with a better attitude for understanding deeper biblical principles when I began walking with The Lord. Though the 12 Steps I’ve linked to, are related to alcohol, they’ve been adjusted on several platforms to line up with healing goals. Like, “We admitted we were powerless over gambling,” or “drugs” instead of “alcohol.” They can be applied as needed because the principles work for all of us made in the image of Our Creator—that is; having a body, a soul, and a spirit.
There’s even a great set of 12 steps for Bible believers that say, “We admitted we were powerless over our sin—That our lives had become unmanageable.” That one, and the other 11, are in a book called A Hunger for Healing by J Keith Miller. It’s on Kindle (including Kindle Unlimited at the time of this writing), but I also recommend the workbook which is better in print format. (Used affiliate links for tracking purposes.) Step 1 in this book and study are based on Paul’s words in Romans 7:15-20…
Romans 7:15-20 WEBUS
[15] For I don’t understand what I am doing. For I don’t practice what I desire to do; but what I hate, that I do.
[16] But if what I don’t desire, that I do, I consent to the law that it is good.
[17] So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me.
[18] For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing. For desire is present with me, but I don’t find it doing that which is good.
[19] For the good which I desire, I don’t do; but the evil which I don’t desire, that I practice.
[20] But if what I don’t desire, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me.
https://bible.com/bible/206/rom.7.15-20.WEBUS
I separated the verses to make them easier to understand, but here I also want to share this in “The Message Bible” because it reads more like you would expect someone nowadays to speak to you.
Romans 7:14-20 MSG
[14-16] I can anticipate the response that is coming: “I know that all God’s commands are spiritual, but I’m not. Isn’t this also your experience?” Yes. I’m full of myself—after all, I’ve spent a long time in sin’s prison. What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary.
[17-20] But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.
https://bible.com/bible/97/rom.7.14-20.MSG
Anyway, somewhere in all of my 12-step discoveries, I was introduced to the concept of metamorphosis as represented by the change a caterpillar makes when it turns into a butterfly. It is literally the same “bug” it was born as, but after the struggle and change, it’s a more beautiful version of that bug.
Knowing that all of us who have been created by God are essentially the same in our most basic ways, and knowing we are all (as King David points out) “born in sin and shaped in iniquity,” means a few things. It means we all need to go through a change (metamorphosis) to become our best; it means we are all able to change; and it means that God loves each of us enough to offer us His mercy and grace before the change along with the love and strength we need to become new rather than staying trapped in our old selves.
So my butterflies mean, change is possible! And for me, they mean change has happened in beautiful ways. The saying goes something like, “I know I’m not yet what I want to be, but I thank God I’m no longer what I used to be.” 🦋
And if you’re interested in an outline of all 12 steps as applied biblically and with a bit more detail, you can visit the Uncuffed Ministries site for what they call “The 12 Steps of Christian Discipleship.”
This next image should bring home what I’m saying. I used exactly the same prompts but a different filter. It’s the same, but yet it’s different. I don’t know how many different filters God used during creation, but I know that He is the common denominator. And HE (His Spirit) is also the filter by which we can change our entire lives into something better and more beautiful. He knows us as we are, He laid down His life for us while we were yet sinners, and He is ready to help us to experience the change that will allow us to rise up to walk in the newness of life.
Just for your information, here are the 12 Steps as applied to sin aka the 12 Steps for Overcomers…
1. **Step 1** – We admitted we were powerless over sin—that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. **Step 2** – Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. **Step 3** – Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. **Step 4** – Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. **Step 5** – Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. **Step 6** – Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. **Step 7** – Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. **Step 8** – Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. **Step 9** – Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. **Step 10** – Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. **Step 11** – Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. **Step 12** – Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
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Blog Break: Sharing Some Pictures
by Crystal A Murray (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
A very long day that ended with a visit to a medical provider for a UTI and antibiotics means I must simply share some nice photos and then go to sleep quickly. I’m thankful I got my first dose by a shot to start healing faster. And I’ll know tomorrow how much the muscle will hurt since they pack the medicine in that way (have not experienced this before), but the advice was to drink lots of water and move a lot. I spent time walking on the treadmill as soon as I got home, and it eased the pain tremendously already.
Now, enjoy some beautiful rainbow images I captured with my Olympus camera some years ago. I had 4 all together, so I made a collage of 3 with the 4th as a background.
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🎵 You’re a Grand Old Flag Day
“America Bless God”
by Crystal A Murray (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
If you could have seen me on June 14th in my younger years, you would have thought, “Oh my, she’s wearing red, white, and blue from head to toe!” It’s still my personal Flag Day rule whenever I leave the house on this special day to wear at least some red, white, and blue clothing and jewelry. And, yes, when I went out to meet some family and a new friend today, I put on very patriotic colors to celebrate the day.
You see, my family raised me to think about the intrinsic value of our homeland—to carry a deep-seated and passionate patriotism that holds respect for flag and country above thoughts and opinions on what’s happening within its borders. It was foundational to my upbringing as a grateful American-born citizen. And I’ve been privileged to witness that same level of patriotism in some not born here but nevertheless grateful to become part of the American experience. It will be exciting to shower my Canadian sister-in-law with red, white, and blue goodies when they move to the states later this year. 🦅
When it was time to prepare for this post, a quick trip through my huge collection of flag photos brought me back to some forgotten snapshots that perfectly capture the spirit of the day. During a visit to the Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum (tucked right below Arnie’s Barn at Top of the Rock) in Branson, Missouri, I found these historic flags from our nation’s history.
What makes these two designs so special is the amazing artistry within their threads. Early congressional resolutions simply mandated thirteen stars, but they did not specify a strict layout. That gave early flag makers complete artistic freedom to represent their personal patriotism within these pieces of folk art.
The flag on the left is famously known as the Cowpens Flag Pattern, named after the 1781 “Battle of Cowpens.” On the right, you see the creative variant often called the Wreath-with-Corners layout. Keeping a star in the middle was a popular choice for 19th-century folks celebrating the 1876 Centennial. For personal citizens, it was a break from the rigid structure used for military flags, allowing their artistry a proud form of display.
These unique pieces of American history are a powerful reminder of the intrinsic value of patriotism. They spark the flint from the very first Flag Day on June 14th, 1777, as declared by the Second Continental Congress during the height of the Revolutionary War.
Though they passed the “Flag Resolution” that included the 13 alternating red and white stripes (colors that represent courage/valor and purity), the blue field (representing justice), and the 13 white stars (for the 13 innocent colonies), the date was not represented yet. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the date, but it wasn’t until August 3, 1949, that National Flag Day was officially established by an act of Congress and signed into permanent law by President Harry S. Truman.
These colors and their history inspired songwriter George M. Cohan while on a street corner back in 1906 where he crossed paths with a Civil War veteran. The old soldier cradled a torn and battle-worn American flag. He whispered to Cohan, “She’s a grand old rag,” and that moved Cohen to pen a song in her honor. Public pushback convinced him to change “rag” to “flag,” but the heart of the song remained the same. Here’s a rendition of it with verses and lyrics.
In case you don’t know, this entire week is actually National Flag Week, so as you fly your American colors, join me this week by choosing your own red, white, and blue outfit or jewelry to celebrate and salute our national emblem. It represents a deep, unshakable allegiance to this place we call home.
As a fun side note for my readers who are history buffs: Betsy Ross may get all the fame surrounding our flag, but she was actually only the seamstress. In fact, it was a signer of “The Declaration of Independence” named Francis Hopkinson who was the true creative mind behind the layout and original design.
And I’ll close with one final image I found from back when the YouVersion Bible app had a companion app called Bible Lens for matching pictures on your device with Bible verses. I love the one it found from Galatians 5:13 to go with one of my flag pictures. Photo Studio Pro allowed me to add some sparkles and a vintage frame. I’ll share the verse and then the image with the verse.
Galatians 5:13 NLT
[13] For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.
https://bible.com/bible/116/gal.5.13.NLT
Note: Some of the words for the historical information were assisted by Google Gemini, but I’ve edited and personalized all of it before publishing.
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🎵 My Brother’s New Music, Makin’ Chains, is Honest and Deep
There’s something thrilling about watching a musician with a dream as he carves out his new path in real-time. As his big sister, I’m super proud of Shayne’s achievements so far, and I know there are plenty more in the future. As a writer, I know the emotional labor that goes into crafting words from the depths of your soul, and with the deep truths presented in this latest release, I know my brother put it all out there.
It’s not common to present something so gritty and raw as only a second release, but with this one, Shayne is building a momentum even I didn’t expect. He put in the studio hours and put out the heart and soul that will prove to the world he’s not afraid to tackle heavy, complex human stories.
Shayne’s latest single, “Makin’ Chains” does exactly that.
If you are expecting the bright, melodic energy of his first release, “Savage Grace,” prepare yourself for a deliberate shift to something much darker, grittier, and cinematically truthful. “Makin’ Chains” is a bit harder for me to write about. It’s not meant to make you feel comfortable; rather it’s an intense, unflinching look at generational patterns, anger, and the harsh cycles we create when pain is passed down as an inheritance.
The track itself is a bluesy rock with the guitar and vocals sounding like a weight being dragged across a hard floor. Shayne sings about the painful links forged into an ever-growing, weighted chain on our lives. He paints a detailed picture of the forger of that weight wanting to be free of it, and he sings a raspy whisper of the solution found in the Light.
But he doesn’t take the listener to the breakthrough in this song. That’s kind of hard for me, but I also know it takes some serious artistic bravery to drop a song that leaves you uncomfortable. It’s a mature stance to step away from the easy and catchy lines and deal with something so tragic and real. It’s genuine storytelling without holding back. I need to learn from my little brother. 😊 Knowing Shayne, though, I’m hoping he’s got a future track prepared where the story moves into that Light he whispers about in “Makin’ Chains.”
To feel the heavy and authentic atmosphere he’s built with this track, you can watch the official video below.
With Makin’ Chains officially live and streaming everywhere, you can find the track, artwork, interviews, and choose your favorite streaming platform at: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/shaynesavage/makin-chains
To keep up with all future releases, merch, and more, bookmark his official website at: https://www.shaynesavage.com/
Note: Some of the words for this review were assisted by Google Gemini, but I’ve edited and personalized all of it before publishing.
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When AI Gets Goosebumps
(CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
Because the last three days were so intense, I’ve decided to share a couple images that came up in my photo memories because of my recent topics on mountains. These were made in the Abstract Fluid and Kintsugi filters; I really love the colors, and especially the gilded edges, on these pictures.
As for the goosebumps, I just had to share the laugh that when I presented my last blog post for editing (part 3 of the Upside-down Mountain posts), Gemini didn’t find any corrections and said the post gave it “literal goosebumps.” A play on words because it’s literary, or a test to see if I’d catch the word literal and say, ” No you didn’t”? I don’t know, but at least it gave me a good smile and laugh. And I’m very happy that Gemini saw the value and hard work I’d put into that post—and all the posts on that subject.
Of course, I was really tired having been up for hours trying to fix a ghost notification on hubby’s phone that was going off every 2 minutes and then showing nothing in the pull-down notification screen. I need to tell you how to fix it in case it ever happens to you. This is an Android issue, and maybe even Samsung-specific.
So, I tried deleting files. I tried updating the Samsung password since my account fuels every Samsung device in the house and it was warning me that it had been 6 months since the last update. I tried every setting I could find that had to do with that notification, and nothing worked. That’s when Gemini came to my rescue.
First, it had me check to see if I was using message/notification reminders where they periodically pop back up if unanswered. Nope; that was clear. Then came a few more tweaks in notifications, privacy, and accessibility, but still: sounds with no words, every 2 minutes exactly. I knew that phone was not an airplane but would likely be tested that way if it kept it up when hubby got up the next day. So, like a bulldog with a bone, I kept digging.
Really, it’s not as hopeless as it would seem. And part of that is due to a very smart app Gemini told me to download from the Galaxy Store. It’s called “Nice Catch” and it can record all the little changes to your phone with about 7 hours of history. And the developer made it free!
Once I got the download open, I switched on the main toggle (and then every toggle) just to try and find the phantom annoyance. Within 2 minutes, the first one came up. And then 2 more, exactly at 2-minute intervals. They were repeats of the flash flood warning that had hit our area the previous morning when 8 inches of rain dropped in 1 hour. Once we had that info, Gemini was able to direct me to the exact setting that was creating the notifications.
If you have a Samsung smartphone, and especially if you’ve ever gotten random notifications with no visuals, this app works. With or without that app, though, here are the steps for making sure your phone’s emergency notifications are set exactly as you want them. I’m guessing these will be close to the same for every Samsung Android device. Go to…
- Settings (the gear ⚙️ icon)
- Safety and Emergency
- Wireless Emergency Alerts
- Alert Reminder (It will likely say 2 minutes by default, and you can change it to once, 15 minutes, or never.)
Other settings on this page include setting your emergency alerts to full volume even when the phone is on Do Not Disturb, and having the alerts spoken to you.
I will research more for my own phone as I’ve found articles saying the Nice Catch developer, “Good Lock” has lots of great customizations in their app suite. Comment below if there’s something you think I should know about or would be interested in. Thanks!
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🎵 The Upside-down Mountain of Blessings; Part 3
The dark clouds roll in with a thunderous crackle, and a howling wind blows blinding sheets of rain against the neighborhood. A flash flood violently surges over the riverbanks, ripping up trees and slamming directly into two houses. From a distance, the two structures look identical. But as the mud rushes over the foundations, their differences become obvious. One house stands completely unmoved against the torrent, while the other one collapses into a catastrophic heap of crushed bricks and broken wood. This is the closing cinematic scene of YahShua’s famous sermon.
After dismantling four millennia of religious chaos and bringing the focus back to its original purpose—grace—He ends with a sharp warning about an unavoidable storm. He forces us to look past the outward appearance of our lives and look directly at what is underneath them. Without explicitly asking Himself, He poses the question: What is your foundation?
Matthew 7:24-27 BSB
[24] Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. [25] The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because its foundation was on the rock.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
[26] But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. [27] The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell— and great was its collapse!”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mat.7.24-27.BSB
So I ask you, dear reader, what is your foundation? Are you trusting in The Lord and built on a rock-solid foundation that is backed up in Scripture? Have you tested the beliefs that frame your spiritual life against the words of The Carpenter?
And if you’ve ever wondered what a house (and rock) made of knitted yarn looks like, check out this cute image…
I loved working on this study with Gemini because it brought up some focal points I may have missed if I’d spent the hours required to search all the sources the AI has access to. One great point was this: The wise builder didn’t build a house to earn the rock; he built on the rock because he trusted its strength. At least it’s a great point to someone who has spent many days and hours trying to perform flawlessly enough to keep the Rock in my life rather than causing Him to give up on me.
I also liked the notes on comparing our walk with Christ to a phone that needs to be charged. A phone doesn’t earn its power by working, it sits passively on a charger to receive power. But it receives power *so that* it can go out and run its apps. Good behavior and holy living are not a currency we pay to get God to love us—they are the natural fruit of a life that has finally let God and His love be the source of power.
Stopping the Grace vs Works Pendulum
We don’t obey God to convince Him we are worthy of His love; we obey Him because we have finally allowed Him to fully love us. His way. Based on His worthiness—poured out in blood at Calvary. We obey because, like a glass submitting to a vessel that’s pouring water into it, we trust Him to fill us up. Good behavior and obedience, including letting God serve us in healings and other blessings, is the fruit of that trust.
The balance of both grace and good works—with grace setting us free from struggling for a paycheck attached to our workload—stops the pendulum. Once we’re free from being servants of sin, we become like children who want to please our holy Father because we love and trust Him. We’re no longer swinging from one extreme to the other trying to figure out which lessons to follow to become perfect or shunning works all together as if they are a type of bondage.
Now, we’re praising God from the top of the upside-down mountain of blessings, and from the valley below. We realize blessings are His gifts of love toward us rather than rewards for our perfection. He pours out gifts because He wants to. No more begging; just receiving, trusting, and loving in all kinds of weather.
As we wrap up this journey on the Upside-Down Mountain of Blessings, look at your own spiritual foundation today. Are you still trying to climb the old mountains of performance, or are you ready to build on the Rock of Christ’s finished work? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below: Which part of this upside-down message speaks most deeply to where you are at in your faith journey right now?
Read Part 1 at: https://crystal-writes.com/2026/06/07/upside-down1/
Read Part 2 at: https://crystal-writes.com/2026/06/08/upside-down2/
And now, enjoy an old childhood favorite about the wise man and the foolish man…
And I’ll finish this in style with the beautiful song “God on the Mountain” by Lynda Randle…
Note: Parts of this study (and a few of the words) were assisted by Google Gemini, alongside website studies at Bible Hub and Got Questions, but I’ve edited and personalized all of it before publishing.
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🎵Upside-down Mountain of Blessings; Part 1
Imagine standing in the desert heat in the Shechem Valley of ancient Israel. You’re listening to the voices of the nation’s tribal leaders shout across two steep cliffs. From one lush green peak, Mount Gerizim, you hear shouts of blessing after blessing poured over the crowds. The shouts promise things like wealth, rain, and victory. And then, from the barren ridge of Mount Ebal, terrifying declarations of curse after curse ring out, warning of catastrophic dangers like poverty, hunger, and exile. This was the environment of the “valley of decision”—the place where God asked for a commitment of loyalty from His people. In Deuteronomy 30:19-20 it says,
Deuteronomy 30:19-20 BSB
[19] I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, so that you and your descendants may live, [20] and that you may love the Lord your God, obey Him, and hold fast to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/deu.30.19-20.BSB
For centuries, this was the landscape of ancient Judaism—a clear-cut line where your physical state (blessing or curse on wealth, health, and safety) was your spiritual “report card.” Originally, it had a beautiful purpose in driving loyalty to The Creator and away from the many false gods of the surrounding nations.
But even good things can become co-opted by human misunderstanding until they no longer resemble their original purpose. Over time, religion began to use those “report cards” as excuses to elevate or destroy people based on how they determined God must be judging them. (Think of Job’s “friends.”) If you were successful, you were deemed blessed, and if not, you were deemed cursed.
Suddenly, instead of “one people” gratefully serving the One Lord who delivered them from the bondage and slavery of Egypt, religion devolved into a caste society of judgmental haves lording themselves over the have-nots. It didn’t help people’s hearts grow closer to Yahveh at all. In fact, His heart broke for every person driven away from Him by those whose service to Him was shallow and purely on the surface.
But fast-forward to a different hill in Galilee. Here, a radical new Teacher sits down with the crowd. He looks far beyond the external “report cards” and instead looks deep into the eyes of the poor, the grieving, and the socially rejected. Even if they only came for a free meal or healing, he doesn’t shout at them from a mountain of curses.
Instead, He catches everyone completely by surprise. He looks right at the broken and says, “Blessed are you.”
Welcome to the Upside-Down Mountain of Blessings, where YahShua (Jesus) rewrites everything we thought we knew about the favor of God.
When we talk about this event, we call it The Sermon on the Mount in the book of Matthew, and The Sermon on the Plain in the book of Luke. On the mountain, YahShua mirrors Moses going up the mountain to receive the laws of God, bringing tried-and-true instructions for Kingdom living to His disciples. On the plain, He acts more like Joshua delivering those historic blessings and curses—except He turns them totally upside-down.
We call them “The Beatitudes” (from the Latin word beatus meaning “blessed” or “happy”) and “The Woes.” Notice how the traditional “report card” gets completely flipped. Here’s the account from Luke 6…
Luke 6:20-26 BSB
[20] Looking up at His disciples, Jesus said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
[21] Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
[22] Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man. [23] Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For their fathers treated the prophets in the same way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[24] But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.
[25] Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will hunger.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
[26] Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers treated the false prophets in the same way.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/luk.6.20-26.BSB
(You can also read Matthew's account of The Beatitudes, which focuses on the blessings without the woes, here: https://bible.com/bible/3034/mat.5.3-11.BSB)
In all of this, you can see how far humanity swung the pendulum of religion away from God’s original intent of “encouraging” people to choose His ways. From the Old Testament mountains to the hills and plains of the New Testament, religious systems had stripped away God’s mercy—leaving a distorted picture that still causes people today to accuse God of being a bully in the Old Testament. But YahShua demonstrated the true heart of The Father by fully ministering to the actual needs of those who followed Him.
And now, as you see your hardships are not a sign of God’s judgment or abandonment, you can release that crushing burden of being required to perform flawlessly for Him to earn your mountain of blessings.
But this leads to a slightly uncomfortable question: If the Kingdom is a place where the empty are filled and the broken are blessed, how do we actually receive it? What does it look like for Our King to roll up His sleeves, kneel down on the ground in front of us, and offer to do the one thing our spiritual pride hates the most—minister to us in our messy and broken conditions?
In Part 2, we will look at exactly that scenario as YahShua declares Himself a servant and washes the feet of His disciples. Read Part 2 here.
In the meantime, check out this fantastic ApologetiX parody of “Venus” by Bananarama and titled “Jesus (Sermon on the Mount). While this specific video isn’t sung directly by them, it’s an excellent parody with great visuals and full lyrics included!
Note: Parts of this study (and a few of the words) were assisted by Google Gemini, alongside website studies at Bible Hub and Got Questions, but I’ve edited and personalized all of it before publishing.
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Sabbath Flora
Some people need to write every day because of how their minds work. My lessons on that have come with years of missed posts, so apparently that’s also how my mind works. But, I also need a Shabbat (Sabbath) rest here and there, so my new plan is to use Fridays to share some of my many image creations.
Today, that starts with a few of my lilies which were used as input images into a few different photo manipulation programs. I’ll share them as simple collages created with the Photo Studio Pro app.
Original lily color enhanced and vignetted.
Original lily with background removed in the Background Eraser app. And when I first got that app, removing backgrounds and replacing them with other colors and designs was about all it could do. Now it includes all kinds of other photo editing tools, so I need to get back and play a bit more. Anyway, after removing the background, I used the Chroma Lab app to change colors and the Photo Studio Pro app to add frames and decorative edges.
(CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
I went back to Chroma Lab and did a whole lot of rainbow filters with some added bokeh (background blur), and I really like the way this collage came out.
Finally, I used the lily image as an input image (like a template) for Wombo Dream AI. A variety of filters later, including one that knitted a rainbow lily for me, I got the following collection I’ve put into a collage for you. I think the pink ones for their pretty pink gingham background from Background Eraser be before I used that as an input to Wombo. These designs are mostly from the Abstract Fluid 2 filter, and they are by far my favorites. Can you believe how much variety can be created from only one image? And if a computer can do this, imagine all that God can do with those of us created in His image!
Sweet flower dreams and Shabbat Shalom everyone! 🌸
Luke 12:27 BSB
[27] Consider how the lilies grow: They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/luk.12.27.BSB
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🎵 Prompt Response: Soul ATM
(CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
If you had an unlimited budget for 24 hours, what would you do?
Day One
When I first read this prompt, my mind immediately went to how many lasting things I could get if I had no limits. I thought of how I’d contact a banker and ask for help with investments that would keep the unlimited flow going long after the 24 hours. And then…
It occurred to me that an unlimited budget did not have to be about any kind of money or finance. What could be worth more than those things and give me unlimited prosperity for 24 hours? Souls! Having a flow of guaranteed souls dispensed to me like an ATM does money, and then being able to send those souls in a new direction—toward the cross of Christ—would be amazing.
I think my mind went there after hearing from a Facebook friend who I met on the site years ago but who has since blessed me greatly with her sincere love for The Lord. She told me about how she tries to use every opportunity God gives her to share her salvation testimony. She is driven to carry the Good News to as many souls as God allows to cross her path.
So, can you imagine having a day with an unlimited budget of souls being sent your way? They need The Lord you serve, the peace He provides, and the promise of eternity. You have the answers that will give them that hope and peace, and this unlimited budget means they are sent right to you and ready to listen.
Most of us will share our experiences and testimonies here and there as a door opens or an opportunity presents itself. A few, like my friend Miha, will create open doors and opportunities. And whether you were only given 2 talents or the whole 5, or even only 1 talent, the Lord wants to gain interest on the investment He made for your soul and paid with His very own blood. Anything that can make interest (usury) is certainly a valuable asset, and we really do have an unlimited budget of hungry and empty people who need God.
In The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) it begins like this…
Matthew 25:14-15 BSB
[14] For it is just like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted them with his possessions. [15] To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent — each according to his own ability. And he went on his journey.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mat.25.14-15.BSB
Each servant spends his investment differently with one of them not spending at all but burying his talent. There are many interpretations of what these talents are, including the possibility of those abilities within each of us that can be called talents, but the end result is always the same. We need to multiply what The Lord has entrusted us with that He will be able to profit on His return. He tells the person who hid his talent…
Matthew 25:27 BSB
[27] Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received it back with interest.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mat.25.27.BSB
So whether it’s financial gain, or actual performance talent, when The Lord returns, we know He is returning for souls. That means interest on that would be more souls.
Over forty years ago, I sat on a church pew in Riverside, California, where I was visiting for a revival. They presented a video set to Steve Green’s classic song, “People Need the Lord.” But it wasn’t a generic Hollywood production. The church had taken photos of their own community—ordinary people on familiar street corners, living out their daily lives. I wept as I watched unfamiliar faces with the same needs as the familiar faces in my own daily life. I understood then that the mission field isn’t always across an ocean; it’s often right outside our own front doors. We are surrounded by a Soul ATM, a world of empty people rushing by with a need for mercy and grace and maybe not even knowing where to look. It just takes one person willing to step out of their own busyness, set up a chair, and offer the only Good News that can truly change their direction and fill them with the hope they need.
Here’s a beautiful rendition of that song…
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Creative Ways to Deal
(CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
This is blog post number two because after I had blog post number 1 completed, my check of links revealed that it wasn’t the best idea to share. I was going to tell you all where to get my free phone wallpapers from Zedge, but the link to the regular website is so different from what I see within the app, it became clear I could not share it. Third party ads with misleading statements about activating your account could’ve made it look like that’s what you needed to do in order to grab my creations, and I just couldn’t serve that info with a clear conscience. I did find an alternative I’ll begin working on to share here later, though.
The other issue was that I had put some sample images in a collage, so people would know what they could expect. As it turns out, even though AI images cannot be copyrighted at this time, the terms of service (TOS) for using Zedge pAInt to design includes not being allowed to use those images on a blog or external website, even if it’s not monetized and is only being used to send people to them. 🙃
So, today’s blog post is a lesson for me, and it can also be for you all to learn from my “almost” mistakes, so none of my readers will risk their own violation of a site’s terms. The big lesson being, even if you know the basic rules, ALWAYS read the TOS for the specific user practices they demand. In the meantime, enjoy the collage of peaceful doves, flowers, and butterflies made in Wombo where they have much more user friendly terms.
And here is one more collage of dove images using the following prompt:
2 white peace doves nestling on colorful flowers with deep royal reds, purples, blues, and greens all with gilded edges. A layer of deep green leaves with gilded edges and veins sits beneath the flowers. Soft glittery rays of sunshine stream from fluffy white clouds in the corner and bathe the doves and flowers. One large butterfly made of stained glass hovers near the doves, and many tiny colorful butterflies flit and sparkle throughout the scene.
(CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
Use that prompt in your favorite AI image generator and then let me know where I can see what you’ve created. In the meantime, have a really creative day!
P.S. The “How to Deal” in the title was about dealing with extreme nerve pain in my back and leg (detailed in the first post), and how that led me to being creative as a way of dealing with what I could not do. Plus I got notes on my phone from apps saying, “Hey, look what we can do now!” It was a good day to be creative, but since it ended up taking me all night to do so, and since I actually wrote 2 posts, I’m officially skipping what would have been published as the date of May 24th and bringing you this for May 25th. Maybe that will set me on a better path forward. Now it’s time for some sleep for me. 😴
Psalm 4:8 BSB
[8] I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.4.8.BSB
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🎵Girl’s Day Memories
First, I really like this knitted filter. 😁 And I’ve also found that it will often create more pictures for me while the other filters keep giving me “restricted content” warnings because my prompt has words like child or daughter or kid in it. It’s sad that people in our world use those words to create content that wouldn’t be deemed as “safe for work” so it causes a warning if anything gets even close to that.
But I’m not writing about sad stuff except maybe the bittersweetness of memories because they cannot be had anymore. So on to the content I planned for today.
My day’s plans were put on hold due to a sciatic flair, so I spent the day on a phone visit with a friend. (The amazing friend who’s been helping me with Operation Cleanout and getting organized.) She understood my lack of ability to move, lift, and twist today, so we enjoyed a time of visiting via voice instead of in person. During that visit, a thing I shared with her hit me as a good topic for my blog readers.
Growing up for a time in government housing meant things like looking for inexpensive ways to find meaning in a day and finding out how to do that at home because we didn’t have a car. Eventually, we established a pattern. When the monthly check would arrive, my mother would treat me and my sister to a girl’s day. Our first stop was usually to take the bus to the nearest “Licorice Pizza” record store and buy ourselves at least one new record to listen to. I can still see the blue label on the Wildfire 45 rpm we loved to sing with. “She ran calling ‘Wildfire,’ she ran calling…” And once in a while, we got a whole new album, like a greatest hits collection by Anne Murray because we all sang with that one.
I don’t recall which stores we shopped at for nail polish, but we always got at least one new color to try, usually one with sparkles in it. We’d get out all the old ones from previous months, and sometimes we painted a different color on each nail just for fun. I think they actually do that in professional manicures now, but we just loved to experiment back then.
On the way home, we got off the bus a couple blocks past our apartment complex, so we could get our favorite dinner treat: Chinese food to go. In those days, the more people you ordered for, the more extra food types you could add to your order. It’s why that one old Doris Day/Brian Keith movie is called “With Six You Get Eggroll.” Of course, we had to have an egg roll and fried rice with every order. 😋 And they always added these paper sleeves with wooden chopsticks, so we always tried to figure out how to use them—at least for the first few bites. 🤣
As a side note, as an adult, I always wondered why fried rice just didn’t taste the same as I’d remembered from my youth. One day, just for my own curiosity, I added a little bit of the oil that floats on top of my natural peanut butter, and there it was….that unmistakable flavor that made me always want more Chinese food. I guess most Chinese restaurants used woks and peanut oil back then, and the taste was totally different. And, I think, so much better!
Anyway, with our bags full of little white boxes covered in red designs and symbols, we headed home for a few hours of unstressed mom and daughters fun. We’d sit on the living room floor and try the foods while the record player dropped a stack of 45s, including the latest purchases. We would sometimes play the music through headphones to more fully hear the nuances of left and right sounds. And then we’d make the house smell like a salon while we played with color.
I wish every day had those good memories, and I wish they were never undone by Mom going on a late night drinking binge, but even with the myriad of imperfect and stressful days, I’m so thankful for those times, those pleasant moments, that brought balance to my life. Now, they bring balance to my memories as well.
Philippians 4:8 BSB
[8] Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think on these things.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/php.4.8.BSB
I know the words are a bit sad, but here’s a video of Wildfire by Michael Martin Murphey with a slideshow of beautiful horses…
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🎵 Buttermilk Biscuit Dance?
Did you know we have a national march for our country? No? Me either! Yes? You should blog about it and teach the rest of us. 😁 I think you’ll recognize the tune when you hear it, though. I’ll tell you later about the biscuit dance, but for now, I’m taking you back to 1897 when a man later dubbed The March King, John Philip Sousa officially debuted the song he’d written the previous year. It’s called “Stars and Stripes Forever,” and it became our national march tune by an act of Congress in 1987. It was even used to close out each show of Sing Along with Mitch.
I actually have a whole Sousa CD because I really like that marching beat. I guess it’s time to get it out to use as some walking beat inspiration. In the meantime, guess what people did with the powerful march at song in the 1930s and 1940s. They made a parody. And if you didn’t know the tune from the march, you likely recognize it from the parody. Though I heard it as Be Kind to Your Fine Feathered Friends, all the videos I could find think it’s Be Kind to Your Web-Footed Friends. So here’s one video (no lyrics, though) by Peter and Mary in 1954, and it actually has verses…
Now, about those biscuits falling out of their mouths while they try to dance like chickens… May 14th is actually Dance Like a Chicken Day AND also Buttermilk Biscuit Day, so I asked Gemini to create a picture for me with people doing the Chicken Dance while eating buttermilk biscuits. I say definitely don’t try this at home because the mess would be huge, but I also say not to try this at all because you could choke. But it’s fun to look at in a picture.
And now I have to ask, do you know how to Chicken Dance? (Which was originally called The Duck Dance by the way.) If not, here’s a great video celebrating Wurstfest (since apparently the song by Werner Thomas is of German origins)…
While seeking help from Gemini to find all these sources, it asked me if I was going to write a poem or haiku to go with the subjects. I tried to cover it all in 2 stanzas…
It's a duck, mother,
Feathered sister or brother,
So be kind to it.
Also remember,
The stars and stripes wave freely,
Even o'er the swamp.
And while you’re eating or dancing or playing a tune, follow the encouragement from the Psalms to praise The Lord on many types of instruments:
Psalm 150:3-6 BSB
[3] Praise Him with the sound of the horn; praise Him with the harp and lyre. [4] Praise Him with tambourine and dancing; praise Him with strings and flute. [5] Praise Him with clashing cymbals; praise Him with resounding cymbals. [6] Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Hallelujah!
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.150.3-6.BSB
Finally, I have one more video I just have to include because of the duck dance reference and because these baby ducks are adorable while flitting around to the Chicken/Duck/Hamster Dance music… 🦆🎶
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Creativity Day
I had a bit of a stressful day today, and I have a really busy day planned for tomorrow, so I decided that tonight was a great night to just do some picture playing while my phones charged before sleep. No deep words of wisdom other than to remind you (and myself) that God’s Word promises us that He will work everything for the good for those who love Him and are the called according to His purposes. To be able to work everything to the good means He is with us in those everything moments. So this is me trying to release any and all fears, anxieties, and issues with my battles with low self-esteem (though I know God sees me better than I see myself, so that helps), into His hands. I’m sure my readers have had their hard days and battles as well, so as I pray for those who visit my writings, I’m also grateful for those who take me to the throne when I’m not as strong as I’d like to be. Thank you with my whole heart. 🙏
Romans 8:28 BSB
[28] And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/rom.8.28.BSB
Philippians 4:6 BSB
[6] Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/php.4.6.BSB
Proverbs 19:21 BSB
[21] Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the Lord will prevail.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/pro.19.21.BSB
And now, more pictures…
Good night and Shalom! 🕊️
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🎵Writer’s Weekend—Blog Break
I found an old golden hour sunset that I was trying to edit, and I couldn’t get it quite where I wanted it without turning on the computer with better software. That’s when I decided to ask Wombo to add the swing and the woman, and now I can take a little break for tonight.
We had a great writer’s meeting today, and I’m so impressed by the hearts and writing talent of those in our group. But it also means I get home a little late and have so much on my mind that a single topic for a blog post is a little hard to focus on. I wouldn’t trade it, though, and I hope it just gives readers an excuse to read old posts they may have missed. 😁
But just for fun, here’s a little squeeze box (accordion) tune to go with the funny fish poem I posted about in April called I Fished in a Tree.
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