In 1944, when I would go to the grocery store with my mother, there was a freezer in the middle of one of the aisles that had horse meat in it.  Each part was wrapped in white butcher paper and labeled as to what was inside.  It was a lot cheaper than beef or chicken.

"Why do people want horse meat?" I asked my mom.  "Because they can't afford any other meat," she answered.  "They eat it!!??"  I was shocked.  "Yes, they do.  But we don't have to do that.  Your dad has a job.  We can afford chicken." 

It is no longer legal to sell horse meat for consumption in the U.S., but Pat (daughter #1) told me that horse meat is still consumed in Mexico.  "How do you know that," I asked her.  "Well," she said, There is an auction house where I go pick up horses every week or so that are too valuable to kill for meat, and I find them a home. They sell hundreds of horses every week and people truck them to Mexico.  You can't kill them in Oklahoma anymore, so they go somewhere that you can slaughter them for consumption.  The guys who buy them and truck them out tell me stuff.  It makes me sad."

"Some of the horses are young, used up as racing stock, jumpers.  Just not able to do those things anymore, so their owners send them to this auction.  But the auction house culls some of them that they think are worth saving and give people a chance to rescue them before they go on the block."
 She went on to tell me that it costs her $150.00 every time she picks one up, but it is worth it if she can find a home for the horse to live out its days.  "I can't save them all, but it is like the story of the boy who picked up the starfish on the beach and tossed it back in the ocean...I can save one." She gets on the phone and starts calling people.  It's like rescuing stray dogs and cats.  It's heart breaking.

Saving the lost is the same thing.  They are on the auction block.  You can't save them all, but you can rescue one or two.  Your life is "light in the darkness" to the lost.  It may cost you something, but your reward will be great.  You don't have to win the world, just win one, the one that God puts in your path.

I think the world has gone crazy.  The hydrogen bomb that S. Korea set off is the latest.  I hear the U.S. is saying that it wasn't an H bomb.  Maybe not, but it was something very big and very bad.  Kim Jong Un seems to be determined to start a war with the world and specifically with the U.S. since we are allied with South Korea and pledged to defend her.  And anyone who gives him advice that he doesn't like, he executes.  You can't help but wonder what is going on inside his head.  I am sure South Korea citizens are nervous.  Pray for our missionaries there.

And then, there are the Christians in the middle East who are being murdered.  That entire area has become a killing field.  I sometimes wonder what is going on--how long will all of this last.  Evil seems to be winning.  And many of those who are perpetrating such atrocities have no desire for peace. War and death seem to be their game.

But then I remember: you and I know how it is all going to turn out.  God wins.   You and I are going to be citizens of a new kingdom where there will be no more war.  Thank God.

Jesus said: "But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet."  Mark 13:7

The day that Ken got on a plane for Viet Nam--where I knew he would get shot at every day as a fighter pilot--I was left standing in the airport with my three children wondering if he would ever come home again.  It is not a good way to live.  Pat was in the fourth grade, Becky in the second and Scott was not yet four years old.   I don't remember a year without war--somewhere--since then.   The world thrives on hate.  Satan is alive and well.

But God reigns supreme.   And we are His children.  Hallelujah!

Our church has what they call "Game Day" once a month.  Everyone brings something to eat, we have a meal and then I join the group that plays Mexican-Train dominoes.  We spent most of the time saying, "Who's turn is it?"   Or "Did you play yet?"  And laughing.  It is a lot of fun.  Yesterday we had nine women at the table and spent most of the time trying to figure out the rules.  Someone said, "Oh, we'll just make them up as we go along."  And we did.

I love to play games.  I love to work puzzles.  Every morning at my house is the same.  I have a routine when I get up:  Let the dog out, get his breakfast, take pills, etc.  But after I fix my hot cup of peach (sometimes lemon) tea, I go get the newspaper and work the Cryptoquote first, the Suduko second, the Bridge game of the day third, and finally settle down with the Crossword puzzle.

And then, I edit the blog I wrote the night before, post it, get dressed, and start the day.  In the winter, there isn't much to do.  And the things that there are to do, I don't want to do--or I would already have done them.  I have to force myself to do those things.  I try to do one of them every day, but never, never with a very good attitude.  I've told you before, I do things I don't want to do better when I am under pressure.  And I create the pressure through procrastination.   It works for me.

The Educational director of the church I joined hasn't found a place for me to work.  In seven months already!!! At my age, if God is going to get any mileage out of my Bible knowledge, I have to get with it.  I need to be teaching.  It is very frustrating.  I started teaching in church sixty years ago, and this is the longest time that I remember that I haven't had a class.  Do you know what your gift is?  God wants you to exercise the gifts He has given you.  Not using them is a waste of the time God has given you.  "Redeeming the time because the days are evil..."  Ephesians 5:16

Romans 12:6  "In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well..."
Just do it.

When I go to bed at night, I read my Bible for awhile, say my prayers and fall asleep somewhere in the middle of them.  I like to talk to God.  I can't imagine why He listens to me, but I know He does--and it is such a comfort.  Last night, I told Him (after reading in the book of Psalms)  that I wish I could adore him like king David did.  David wrote such beautiful prose with such beautiful words in the Psalms.  I am sure that God loved David so much partly because David knew how to praise God so well.  We all need praise.  And who is there to compliment God if we don't.

Everyone loves to hear nice things, and I am sure that God is no different--we are made in His image.  But I'm not able to do God justice when I praise Him.  I don't have enough words.  Or the right words.  So I usually just tell him that I love Him and appreciate his care over me.  And then start thanking Him for each individual thing He has done for me.  And fall asleep in the middle.

I don't know how people make it who don't have God as their friend and father.  The world is out to destroy you, to disillusion you, to defeat you and tear you down.  But when you have God in your life, you know deep down that He is going to get you through it all.  The thing that is best is that you know that you are not alone.  I do not like being alone.

 When you lose your husband (or wife), it is like cutting yourself in two and only getting to keep only one of the pieces.  If it wasn't for people who love you and a God who cares for you,  loneliness for the other half of yourself would weigh you down.  Things will never be the same, but the blessing of friends and family make it bearable.  You can't spend fifty-seven years with someone and "fix it" when they are gone.  Some things just can't be fixed.

One of the best things that God has blessed me with is friends.  And family.  Who love me and include me in their lives.   I don't have Ken, but I am not alone.

Something went wrong when I went to spellcheck.  Get the update??

With social media so prevalent it is hard to know what is true anymore.  Just because it was posted on Face Book or in the newspaper, doesn't mean that it is valid.  One of the hardest things in today's world is knowing whom to believe.  Or what to believe.

Since I don't go out much, I read and watch a lot of television.  Mostly the news.  It is amazing how I can get two opposite definitions of "truth" simply by flipping channels.  And the spiels are so sincere.  The expressions on their faces so believable.

The best I can do is pray that whoever ends up being our next president will get honest and truthful information on which to base their decisions.  So that we don't end up with a "Weapons of Mass Destruction War" again.  Or (if you are old enough to remember) another "Domino Effect" like Vietnam.  Both of those wars were based on false information and false assumptions.   Honestly entered based on misinformation.  And enough guilt to go around for both parties.  When you've lived as long as I have you get disillusioned by what politicians tell you.

I have never seen such animosity between the political parties as is going on right now.  Civility has gone out the door.  Where are our leaders?  Our statesmen?  I'm going to have to vote for someone next year .  I just hope that in the end, God gives me someone I can respect to vote for.  And someone that will tell me the truth.

Truth.  Jesus said, "I am the truth...no man comes to the Father but by me."  Only God can fix the mess the world is in right now.  Politicians may promise to save America, but God alone can do that.  I think we should probably be on our knees about now.

"God bless America, land that I love.  Stand beside her, and guide her..."  Please God.  Do that.

First day of a new year.  They seem to come quicker than they used to.  I always thought that when I retired, I would get all sorts of things done.  Not so.  I get up every day with nothing to do and go to bed with it half done.

But I somehow fill the day with activity.   Yesterday I went through all my receipts from last year, shredded most of them, and made a file for taxes.  And in the process found that AT&T had been charging me for a land-line that I didn't have.  I hadn't been very careful--since I moved--to check up on them.  Believe it or not, they are going to refund the money!!!  It only took three hours on the phone to get it done.  I was transferred at least five or six times.  Three hours of listening to that awful music they play while I waited!!!  Where is Southwestern Bell when you need them.

I long for the days when I called a number and someone alive and breathing answered on the other end.  I long for the days when I drove up to a gas station and someone came out and pumped my gas, washed my windshield, checked my tires and oil and ran my ticket.  All I had to do was watch.  I really, really, really don't like to pump gas.  I don't like to do anything that gets my hands dirty.

I woke up this morning to another earthquake--4.2.  Nothing fell off the walls this time.  Who ever thought that Oklahoma would become earthquake prone??  Luckily, after living in California four  different times and places, I am used to it and don't get ruffled.   If it gets to a 5.00, I might rethink.
I lived at the north end of the Golden Gate bridge once.  That was fun! 

My times are in God's hands.  I am more than glad to let Him decide what happens to me.

"He (Jesus) said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in His own power."  Acts 1:7    Can't think of anyone I'd rather trust.