I am very concerned that am hearing conflicting messages regarding Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. As a disabled person I rely on two of these programs. I know many people who also rely on these programs. My wife, Karen G Clemenson, is a veteran and she too has had trouble receiving services in the past and now we see veterans being fired and services being slashed. How does this encourage young people to serve our country if they know they won’t be supported if they come home and need help?
The plans of the Trump administration do not serve the everyday people in the United States. Tax cuts for the wealthy do not build GDP or add to our economy. Rich people just hold their money in savings accounts. This might help our interest rates but not the interest of the people. Cutting the programs of the least of these is not going to strengthen America.
I encourage you to assert the power given to you by our Constitution and overpower our reckless president. His tariffs and lack of regard for first amendment rights for citizens and press are childish. His comments regarding being king are unconstitutional. His authoritarian and transactional methods of leadership are not American, at least in the way that we have worked hard to build relationships with other countries over the years.
Nana never spoke about her cancer and I never asked her to. I wish I had. Maybe she would tell me what I am feeling is normal. I have done everything the doctors have told me to do, no matter how painful or humiliating and still the cancer lives inside me. I am a very modest person and I have had more strangers look at me naked in the last 3 years than I have in my entire life and I don’t even get the joy of being a mother. I knew I never would, even when I was young, but sometimes that pain feels new again. I know I am tired of the fight inside me.
Nana was a lady; very graceful and well-spoken. She taught me to be a lady, as well. I was often teased by my friends for some of my lady-like habits and called a snob for my vocabulary. Nana hated swearing. She said there were so many wonderful adverbs to choose from, why did people have to resort to such low speech? I remember, even my father’s second wife would tell me that she hated the look I got on my face when she swore, she felt judged. I don’t know what look she was talking about, but other people said the same thing. All I can say about my father’s second wife, is she is not a lady. In fact, after years in therapy and trying to make peace with not fitting in, I saw her flip off one of my relatives at a Christmas party and my thought came loud and clear: Why am I trying so hard? I don’t like these people and they don’t like me. I wouldn’t put this effort into strangers.
I can’t say I never swear, the fact still remains, I am the biological daughter of a sailor (Coast Guard) and my father was my preferred parent until he left us and between him and the kids at school, I learned a lot of ways to use words that Nana was not going to teach me, but I have to get pretty angry to use those words. But I am beyond even these words right now.
I am exhausted. The kind of tired that sleep can’t fix because when I do sleep, I have nightmares. I know it is stress. Considering radiation for my next cancer step has been difficult. It has been me, accepting that my body has failed the medication route. It is me accepting another, probably, painful treatment and more people looking at my naked body. It is me wondering if this will actually work and worrying about the side effects that the doctors can’t know about because I have fibromyalgia and she is a vindictive bear and she doesn’t like to be poked. It is me having sharp shooting pain in my face as my trigeminal neuralgia is triggered and stiff jaw joints as my TMJ joins in the party.
But is also the memories that are being unpacked that I don’t want to remember. My youngest sibling and my nephew are in town. They are helping my mother clean out her house. She is getting ready to sell her house and move out of state. My mother and I have made as much peace as we can. We know we love each other but we can’t have a relationship. We pray for each other. She emailed me and told me she would put my things in a storage unit and send the key to the gym so we could come get it. I thanked her. But my sibling started emailing me. I have had no contact with this sibling for years. The last time we communicated they told me to stop contacting their children.
All my siblings have said this to me.
Being an auntie was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to me and those relationships were my most dear until I married Karen. I loved listening to the kids. I loved playing with them. I did not want to be their parent. I wanted to be their auntie. But my siblings felt like I wanted too much.
When my sibling wanted me to come to my mother’s house to unpack the garage that I had cleaned so many times over the years, where half of my things went into when we moved there because my new room was half the size of my old room, where I collected things to finally move out one day, even if I could have done it, I could not have done it with them there. I had always done everything alone. This sibling offered up my ability to see my nephew as a prize and it felt a punch in the stomach.
My nephew is a man now. He could choose to have a relationship with me if he wants to. I won’t have his parent be a go-between. I already gave all I could give to them when I helped to raise my siblings, and ALL that entails, and when I helped to take care of their babies, until they didn’t need me anymore and they told me to stay away from their children. As much as I love my nephew and cherish every moment I spent with him, I want a real relationship, not one build on manipulation. Even if that wasn’t the intent, that is what it felt like.
Manipulation is what I remember growing up. If I put up with a certain amount of abuse, I got a few new books. If I got my hair done, I owed a certain amount of chores, more than usual, even though I was on call 24/7 always. On the day my father and his second wife told us they got married (yes they didn’t even tell us they were getting married or invite us, even though they had lived together for a few years) his wife told us that their marriage would be more important than any of us kids. At least that statement was true. I always felt like I was being crushed. If I ever felt happy, there was always someone that knew how to take it away from me, so I learned to swallow myself.
My nieces and nephews were the only people in my family that I let see the real me. I let them see my joy, curiosity, love, mercy, compassion…anything good that was in me. I know that maybe that was hard for my siblings to see because that was not the Summer they ever got. They were raised by an angry, abused, absent Summer. They got the worst of me most of the time. I think my youngest sibling may have seen some of my goodness, but when they told me to stay away from their children, it had been probably years since they had seen anything good from me unless it was directed at their children.
Years later, I had always thought I had taken all the abuse, which is what I wanted, but after so much therapy, it became truth to me that that was probably not true, even though it looked like they had it easier, that doesn’t mean they were in a healthy environment. My siblings have their own traumas, even if they don’t remember them or have PTSD like I do. They might not mean to hurt me but they do. I had to choose myself at some point. And that point came when I was diagnosed with cancer.
I wish Nana and Grandpa were here. They always knew what to say. I was watching an interview of Pete Buttigieg on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and it was so refreshing. Although Grandpa was a republican, Buttigieg being a democrat, doesn’t change the way he speaks from reminding me of Grandpa. He always pauses after a question to consider his words carefully and he uses beautiful words that mean tremendous things and when he has the opportunity to say something negative, he always takes the high road, while having a dry sense of humor. I know that many people, that are no longer in my life, might not agree with me, but I try to live my life in a way that emulates my favorite parts of Nana and Grandpa. People that do not bring out the best in me, or I don’t bring out the best in them, can’t be given much of my time because it is not healthy for either of us. This doesn’t mean I don’t have love for them, it actually means I am giving them the most love I have for them, by not abusing them or myself.
I know I can’t have a relationship with my parents. My father chose his second wife and I won’t have her in my life. I don’t think I can have my siblings in my life because I don’t think I can forgive them for removing their children from my life. I know they didn’t understand my relationship with their kids; they probably thought I wanted more than I actually did but I just wanted to love them and to be part of their life, to watch them grow and listen to what the kids had to say. I know my siblings didn’t like it when I told them what their kids actually wanted, but we come from a family where kids tend to be seen as extensions of the parents and not actually individuals and I didn’t want my siblings to make the same mistakes our parents made. My parents didn’t know me at all, if they did, they sure didn’t communicate it well to me, or they didn’t care. Neither did my siblings. In fact, I don’t know my siblings either.
I am curious about my nieces and nephews. They are all adults now. I assume they are busy with their own lives. Maybe some day they will Google me and reach out. I would love that.
Today, while I wrote this, I defrosted the freezer and cleaned out the microwave. As I washed the plate for the microwave, I thought of Nana because I wash dishes like she does. She often didn’t use a brush or wash cloth to wash just one dish, she just used her hands, scraping at hard spots with her finger nail. The other night I had a dream that Grandpa had set up a new game for one of my siblings and I to play. This particular sibling and I have no relationship. But while we played we were having a great time.I wondered why I would have a dream like that. After praying about it, I know that part of the reason we don’t get a long is that we are too alike, but also we didn’t get an opportunity to be playmates. Dad left too early and I had to become a grown up. Grandpa was letting us play in my dream and we were having fun. I am glad that Nana and Grandpa are still coaching.
If you want to watch that interview with Pete Buttigieg on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert:
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Feel free to leave your comments below!
My name is Summer. That is how you can call me. I hope that I am a blessing to you. I am not perfect. I will fall again. But I am forgiven. For anyone reading this that isn’t a Christian, unapologetically, I am a Jesus Follower, but I believe there is room for lots of beliefs and religions in the world. It is not my intent to offend people with different beliefs than I have and I would be open to open-minded conversations with no goals of changing anyone’s mind, but sharing information. If you are interested in becoming a Jesus Follower…Do you know Jesus? Do want the Holy Spirit to fill you and give you understanding and salvation? Ask Him. Want someone to pray with you? Contact me.
If you would like to know Jesus as your friend, but want to make this amazing commitment by yourself please pray something like this: Thank you Jesus that You are the Son of God, the God that created heaven and earth. Thank you Jesus that You came to earth in the form of a man so that You would be able to empathize with my humanity. Thank You that You did this in order to fulfill the promises You made at the foundation of the world. I realize that I am a sinner and do things that hurt myself and keep myself away from you. Thank You that You died for my sins so that You could defeat death and bring me into Your life. Please forgive me. I ask You to be Lord of my life. I ask you to heal my hurts and show me what my new life, empowered by You looks like. Thank You for Your mercy.
Tuesday I had an MRI. I have had lots of MRIs since my cancer diagnosis. I have had imaging at PeaceHealth St John, Longview Radiology, Legacy Salmon Creek, Legacy Mount Hood, Vancouver Clinic and now Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland and this one was the worst experiences ever. I am not saying this because of any fault of the medical team, they were wonderful, it was the equipment. Although I did stop counting the pokes at 8 for IV for the contrast dye. My veins are thin, deep and they roll. I have made sure to drink 3 liters of fluid everyday and I drank 1 liter and 24 oz before I went in Tuesday. It is all I can do to help. The specialists were busy so they kept trying…<
I have always got to wear my own clothes for MRIs. Not this time. They were focused on my uterus and unlike any other time I have had an MRI on my uterus, there was a nurse that came in to put some gel inside me to make my uterus more visible. This was uncomfortable and messy.
Eventually they decided to start the imaging until the specialist was available to get my IV in place. I’m as positive as I can be because I know if I make their job easier, I can be done and go home faster but I am a big woman with chronic pain and I am not going to lie. This MRI was a struggle.
When the specialists were available they were confident they would find a vein because they brought an ultrasound. They were successful but I swear they scraped my bone to do it. That was very painful; and I have an extremely high pain tolerance.
I didn’t want to go back in that tube. But I kept my breathing exercises going and my eyes shut and when I couldn’t stand it, I would look outside the tube to the ceiling and not think about the tube.
The sounds and shakes and quakes were different then I had experienced before. My body often answers quakes back with twitches but there was no room in the tube for that. So I kept breathing carefully.
I felt so beat up when I was done. I don’t usually let people help me, but this time I was in so much pain and I thought my back had frozen, so I did let the technician help me sit up. They kept complimenting me on how well I did, and telling me how most people can only do 10 minutes. But I knew if we stopped, we would just have to start over. They told me, most people don’t know that, but I do because I pay attention and my goal is always to find the best way to get done and not have to come back.
When I saw myself in the mirror, I kind of understood why they were so complimentary. I looked like I had been in battle. My hair was huge, my face was red, even the whites of my eyes were red.
The reason for the MRI was to be prepared for my consult with a Radiation Oncologist, which I had yesterday. My Gynecological Oncologist had referred me to him because it has been almost 3 years since I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer and although it doesn’t seem to growing, it also won’t go away and my body is showing exhaustion from the treatments. I have always fought my weight and the drugs to treat this type of cancer cause weight gain and since I can’t get down to a weight that Dr Westhoff feels safe having me hang upside down for the procedure while they force air into my lungs and hope they don’t collapse, she really wants me to consider radiation and this particular doctor, at this hospital, has a procedure, she feels would work best for me.
Before I met Dr Dyer, I knew very little about radiation, but I was scared of it. My uterus is close to my hips, which already have damage from arthritis. I was scared that radiation could cause more damage to my hips, but Dr Dyer assured me that there was only a 1% chance of damage to my hips or my bladder or my bowel. I purposely am not willing to Google anything because I have anxiety disorder and I have freaked myself out online before and I am already scared. Dr Dyer appreciated this and he gave me a link to find the answers I needed to help me make an educated decision.
Types of Radiation Therapy:
External Beam Radiation Therapy – A large machine aims radiation at the cancer site through the skin and other tissue to reach the tumor. It is given in small doses, or fractions. It is given 5 days a week for 6 weeks.
Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy – Using many small beams of different strengths, focusing high doses of radiation at the tumor and smaller doses to the normal tissue around the tumor.
Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy – A highly specialized type of external beam radiation therapy used to treat cancer that has spread to the liver, lungs or bone. High doses of radiation are delivered to the metastatic site or sites using very precise beams. This type of therapy is usually delivered in 5 or fewer sessions.
Brachytherapy – A type of internal radiation therapy used for uterine cancer, where the radiation is put inside the body, either directly inside the tumor or close to it. This may be done several times to deliver a safe dose.
Side effects include:
skin irritation, tenderness and redness
fatigue
diarrhea
frequent urination or pain while eliminating
nausea
Most side effects decrease over time when treatment is over. There is a chance that long-term effects on fertility, sexual health and bowel and bladder function will arise.
Since I was diagnosed, I have had several D&C’s in order to do biopsies and to remove any obvious cancer. I have an IUD that delivers hormone therapy to me. I also take Megestrol twice a day. These treatments have kept my cancer in stage 1 but, the treatments have not killed the cancer. The goal, all along has been to have a hysterectomy but Megestrol also causes weight gain. I have always fought my weight so we also tried Mounjaro to help me lose weight. I did lose 50 lbs but then it stopped working, I was tired of the side effects and we just could not afford it anymore. $140 for a month, after insurance was too much. I stopped taking Mounjaro in January, and at my primary appointment with Dr Canada, on February 19, I found I had gained 15 lbs.
I was bummed about the weight gain so I had to realize that I hadn’t been diligent with getting enough fluids in daily. So I fixed that. I also started adding doTERRA MetaPWR oil to my water which tastes great and helps me drink more and not bloat up. I was still faithful to my daily workout. I had got lazy about portion sizes so I reigned that in a bit. I did some research and found that cinnamon was used during bible days to treat diabetes. I already take a tsp every day in my oatmeal and I think that might be why my a1c is 6.5, but I don’t think I can force myself to eat more, every day so I bought a supplement. My stomach is so sensitive and while I was researching something else, I found that ginger root is good for balancing the flora in our gut. I love ginger but I am not going to be able to find a way to get it in my diet every day, so I bought a supplement and since I began taking it, my stomach is so much more friendly to me. I already have a blend of oils I put on my abdomen nightly that has ginger oil in it, but the supplement has helped too. So even though I take a great probiotic/prebiotic, I am loving the ginger too! I also found a video that explained that if I took Camu Camu, Apple Cider Vinegar and Guarana supplements before I went to bed it should have the same affects as Mounjaro, without the side effects, which were brutal. I started taking those on Wednesday. When I weighed in yesterday, I found I had lost 4 lbs. I don’t know if the new supplements are working. The video said these supplements should show a loss of 2 lbs per day. I am always a cynic but even if it is just a placebo effect, I will take it.
Dr Westhoff, my gynecological oncologists, wants me down another 35 lbs before we do the hysterectomy, which is still the plan, even with radiation because she doesn’t want the cancer to be able to come back. With the cancer gone, I can stop taking the Megestrol, which causes weight gain. I can also stop taking Eliquis because Endometrial Cancer also causes blood clots, which I never had before I had cancer. So I can get rid of two expensive medications and have an easier time losing weight.
Dr Dyer was confident that Brachytherapy was the treatment that was going to be the most successful for me. It would be done while I was asleep. About 1 time per week for 5 weeks.
Although I am still scared, I think I am ready to move forward and choose radiation. I want to be done with cancer. I want to stop taking a few of my 15 prescriptions. I want to drop one of my 14 diagnoses.
Karen thought Dr Dyer was very thorough. She feels like radiation doesn’t seem to be super risky, according to what Dr Dyer said. Since I have one of the better cancers to get because it is easier to treat, she thinks that it is good to choose this treatment. We have goals for our future and getting rid of this cancer is a good choice. I think we are on the same page.
When I see Dr Dyer next, he will have to give me a pelvic exam. My images looked different than I have seen them before. My uterus has always been large. It is still large, but no one has ever shown me my vagina and cervix before. It is very narrow and curved. Dr Dyer said he needs to see if he can actually get in there to do what he needs to do. As most doctors do, they downplay pain. As a man, he has no idea what it feels like to have a pelvic exam and I didn’t really need to see a picture to know I am very narrow and curved, but it answered my questions. I told Karen she definitely must come with me because I intend to be stoned out of my mind and so she will have to speak for me. She smiled, and agreed she would. I never leave the house inebriated but I don’t want to remember my next appointment with Dr Dyer no matter how friendly or thorough he is.
My name is Summer. That is how you can call me. I hope that I am a blessing to you. I am not perfect. I will fall again. But I am forgiven. For anyone reading this that isn’t a Christian, unapologetically, I am a Jesus Follower, but I believe there is room for lots of beliefs and religions in the world. It is not my intent to offend people with different beliefs than I have and I would be open to open-minded conversations with no goals of changing anyone’s mind, but sharing information. If you are interested in becoming a Jesus Follower…Do you know Jesus? Do want the Holy Spirit to fill you and give you understanding and salvation? Ask Him. Want someone to pray with you? Contact me.
If you would like to know Jesus as your friend, but want to make this amazing commitment by yourself please pray something like this: Thank you Jesus that You are the Son of God, the God that created heaven and earth. Thank you Jesus that You came to earth in the form of a man so that You would be able to empathize with my humanity. Thank You that You did this in order to fulfill the promises You made at the foundation of the world. I realize that I am a sinner and do things that hurt myself and keep myself away from you. Thank You that You died for my sins so that You could defeat death and bring me into Your life. Please forgive me. I ask You to be Lord of my life. I ask you to heal my hurts and show me what my new life, empowered by You looks like. Thank You for Your mercy.
Someone asked me, today, if I thought all people that supported 47 were a certain kind of people. They used an acronym that I don’t know and that Google doesn’t know so I couldn’t answer their question. They were responding to a post that was actually a rough draft for my post: Why Aren’t People Angry Like Me? that ended up on my blog, so if they didn’t read my blog they didn’t get to read where I went with it. But regardless, I was very angry when I wrote both posts. But I have been thinking about who supports 47.
I still agree with what I wrote, but the level of feeling has died down and I haven’t read any news or watched any news for 5 days. I have been focusing on me. Reading my bible. Reading books that I want to read, which are not light reads, but are not directly related to 47, which tends to be a topic that gets me going pretty fast.
Left to my own peace-loving self, I believe that most people, regardless of where their politics lie, are good people; helpful people. If I had a house and it was on fire, I would not ask that only firefighters of one party show up at my house because the other party would not do a good job. If you were walking down the street and you saw me trying to save my family, you would probably help me pull my family from my burning house, or at least make sure 911 had been called, and maybe even hold a hose towards my house for me, while I helped my loved ones. You might even pray with me while my house burnt down. We would never ask who we voted for. We would just be happy that my wife and I were safe and my cat was counted for and I was even able to grab the safe with our documents in it. We might hug each other and you would be glad that The Red Cross came and we had a safe place to go to that night until our insurance took care of this mess. We would never talk about politics. Even if one of were wearing a MAGA hat. Even if one of wasn’t a Jesus Follower, we still might hold a moment of silence and lift up positive thoughts to the universe for our new friendship. Because I believe that when we don’t let stuff get in the way of the good parts of humanity, we are all connected.
I have never been rich. But I have been related to people with money. I know how to act around people with money. I know what to do with money. I know how to make good decisions with money when I have it. But I love love more than money. I love people more than money. I am a chronically ill person with a body that doesn’t do what I want it to do most of the time and I can’t be a reliable employee so I rely on my disability checks. My wife is a genius but was never encouraged to go to college. When she finally tried, she had a brain aneurism and it has taken her a long time to overcome the financial problems that caused. But she is a hard worker and an asset at every job she has ever had, although, she is rarely paid much over minimum wage and hasn’t had full-time hours in almost a year. But we have love and we really like each other. We have always enjoyed being with each other, even when we were just friends. So I consider us very wealthy.
We will probably never see a year where we make over $60,000, let alone $400,000. I am ok with that. It seems like a lot of responsibility. But you better believe, we are generous with the small amount we now have, so I know it would be just that much more fun to give if we had more! That is the way we live.
I am neither a republican or a democrat. I believe if both parties are truthful to their platforms, they balance each other out and I like that. But I don’t even think either party has been totally truthful to their own platforms for a long time. I miss when republicans wanted a balanced budget. They would have never voted to raise the debt ceiling before now, and especially not at the hundreds of trillions of dollars that 47 has proposed. Republicans like low taxes but in their hay day they would have seen that we can’t afford to cut taxes with our national debt this high. I don’t mind that democrats are often called socialists, a little socialistic behavior is good for the economy when you have children in homes that can’t feed them; how will they ever rise above their situation if they don’t get a good education and healthy food? So schools should be fully funded and children should be fed and have health insurance; they are our future. Anything we can do to help families, we should do because it helps children grow up and, “be best,” to borrow a phrase from our First Lady.
I am saddened that 47 is so set against the growth in civil rights we have made. We live in a world, where it is still not fair to be a person of color, a woman, a queer person, disabled, a senior citizen or a naturalized United States citizen and these groups of people still need help. They don’t need to be stomped on, erased or forgotten. This program to erase Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is downright mean. I don’t know why some white men need to be coddled so much. As a fellow white person, even though my family is only 3 and 4 generations in the United States, so yes, I think immigration is wonderful, I would like to remind you that white people stole this land from Natives. White people should not be the dominate race here.
I am avoiding the news this week. I am doing it on purpose. My anger got too big for me to handle last week. I have cancer. I often forget about that. With my 14 diagnosis, only one of them can be cured and it is the cancer. 4 of them are mental and the rest or physical and I never feel great. So the cramping and the exhaustion, they could also be something else. But I need to not be so stressed out that I am screaming at my wife when she comes home or I can’t answer a question without crying or shaking or having nightmares. My therapist is right. There is nothing I can do to change the trajectory of where things are going in our government. I don’t have time to fact check every post people put out there to make sure it is true, but many of them are complete lies. There are only so many emails I can send to my representatives.
What kind of people do I think support 47?
If I had to guess, people that like money, people that want more money and think he can deliver.
I think people that think it is ok to define other people and people groups, even if they have no idea what it is like to be those kinds of people, and tell them how to live their life, support him because he seems to be doing their beck and call, pretty well.
I think people that don’t have faith in science or believe that we need to change how we use our natural resources before we drown ourselves and scorch the sky, probably support 47.
I think people that believe that vaccines are dangerous for everyone to use and think they don’t need to care about themselves or their loved ones enough to find out if there is a medical reason why they should avoid them, or just a stubborn streak that is stopping them from protecting themselves and their neighbor, probably like the cabinet that 47 has chosen; regardless of the years of science that proves that vaccines cause disease to be eradicated.
I think that many people have thought that government has been too big for a long time, but I am not sure many of them had what is happening in mind when they said to drain the swamp. Or maybe they did, maybe people that support 47 like that hundreds of thousands of people are out of living wage jobs and have no health insurance and many programs that we have grown accustomed to accessing, are working worse that ever now that we don’t have people to man them. Maybe those people are very happy about this. I don’t know. I haven’t done a poll to see what kind of people still support 47. But I know that in April we have been waiting for a year for my wife’s FMLA benefits from when she had her hysterectomy. She has applied for help with the VA several times and she tends to get lost in the shuffle. I have sent in paperwork over a year ago for a disabled plaque so I can park closer to buildings, over a year ago and it has never come. I also ordered a copy of my birth certificate about 2 months ago; I was born in Washington State…it hasn’t come yet. All these federal programs could work better and I don’t think firing people is going to make them more efficient.
I also think that white supremacists and christian nationalist like 47 a lot. I think he likes them too. He gives the racists a freedom they haven’t had a in long time. A place to put their hatred. Even though I have heard him say he is not a christian, I have also heard him say he likes how loyal christians are. They definitely can be that.
I do know that a lot of people that support 47, seem to love the massive amounts of deportations of illegal immigrants, even if they are not criminals and need asylum, even though one of our greatest United States symbols is The Statue if Liberty and at her feet is a plaque that says: Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! The Statue of Liberty – Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. This is what the Clemensons would have seen when they came over from Norway to Ellis Island and created their new name for a new life.
There might be more kinds of people that support 47. I don’t want to take my imagination any further.
One of the books I am reading is the founding documents of the United States. I bought it because I wanted a copy of The Constitution but I am also finding a lot in the other documents that are available in the foundation of the United States of America. Our colonists were really abused by England’s king. Many times, in more than one document it is stated that we will not have a king. The reasons are made very clear in more than one document. A king is not all powerful. He must still answer to his Parliament, however he still has power and he did some horrible things to us in his anger and attempt to own us. We have forgotten this. 47’s comments about being king, whether they are a joke or not, are not only unconstitutional, but need to stop. There is a reason we chose our type of government. We chose a president that answered and was held accountable and had less power than our congress on purpose. Our congress is made up of elected officials that can be voted out so that we the people hold the power. This is important to remember. This our country. The United States of America is 47’s too, but he is just one man and he works for us.
Another book I am reading is called Frauen. Each chapter is an interview of a married woman during the Third Reich. Depending on the social class or education level of each woman, the interview is vastly different. The experiences of these women are sometimes similar and sometimes extremely different. Some of the women knew Jewish people and were empathetic to the situation for them. Some women knew that not only Jews, but anyone that wasn’t what was what was considered perfect (disabled people, elderly, queer, gypsies, spies, criminals, black people, etc) were in the work camps and some camps were specifically death camps. Some women had an idea of what happened in the camps, but they were terrified and didn’t talk about it because they might end up there too. Some women didn’t know any Jews and only knew the propaganda they had been taught about the “dirty Jews.” Each story is hard to read. I spent most of my high school experience studying the holocaust, but it was always from the viewpoint of the survivors of the camps. I have never read anything from the people on the outside. Some of these people lived right next to the camps and they had to “not know.” Ignorant, uneducated people that were very religious, although Hitler did not believe in religion and religion was not part of Nazism, were what he wanted. These people were the easiest to manipulate.
I can see why people keep saying they see similarities to now and the Third Reich. But this is not 1933 and we are not in Germany, where we have just lost World War I and we have not recovered yet.
We are The United States of America. We do things our own way. We need to remember this. 47 is president, but this is our country.
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Feel free to leave your comments below!
My name is Summer. That is how you can call me. I hope that I am a blessing to you. I am not perfect. I will fall again. But I am forgiven. For anyone reading this that isn’t a Christian, unapologetically, I am a Jesus Follower, but I believe there is room for lots of beliefs and religions in the world. It is not my intent to offend people with different beliefs than I have and I would be open to open-minded conversations with no goals of changing anyone’s mind, but sharing information. If you are interested in becoming a Jesus Follower…Do you know Jesus? Do want the Holy Spirit to fill you and give you understanding and salvation? Ask Him. Want someone to pray with you? Contact me.
If you would like to know Jesus as your friend, but want to make this amazing commitment by yourself please pray something like this: Thank you Jesus that You are the Son of God, the God that created heaven and earth. Thank you Jesus that You came to earth in the form of a man so that You would be able to empathize with my humanity. Thank You that You did this in order to fulfill the promises You made at the foundation of the world. I realize that I am a sinner and do things that hurt myself and keep myself away from you. Thank You that You died for my sins so that You could defeat death and bring me into Your life. Please forgive me. I ask You to be Lord of my life. I ask you to heal my hurts and show me what my new life, empowered by You looks like. Thank You for Your mercy.
I want to confess to you that I am very human. That even though I am a Jesus Follower and I have been all of my life and I have seen Him do amazing things that I am still afraid. I wake up every day and thank Him for my blessings, because I am a blessed woman, and I pour my heart out because I am afraid, not just for myself but for people that don’t know the faith I do. I am also angry. So angry. More angry than I have been in many years because people that claim to be christians are so selfish and have voted in an antichrist as our president and prepared his way with bills in Congress so he can’t be impeached, and voted in his budget that will not pay down any of our debt but will increase it by hundreds of trillions every year, take money away from children, elderly, veterans and the sick, while giving more money to people that already have more than enough. Where is the mercy and grace in this? I ask God every day to help me not sin in my anger, but I know the thoughts I think, and they are not pure. I am sorry.
To feel so unimportant, to feel so erased, and to know so many feel this way, doesn’t make me want to pray for our president or our Congress, although, out of obedience, sometimes I do and sometimes it is even the kind of prayers God can honor, because I am always honest with God and He knows I am human and He knows where I fall short and where I let myself imagine letting all the people that are hurting others go in my mind, because I feel powerless, not because I condone violence or murder, but because I feel my pain and the pain of others and in moments of exhaustion, it seems the only way to make it stop. But I know I am wrong. I know violence only begets more violence and peace is what I really want. Yet this president doesn’t like peace, he thrives in chaos and in making people uncomfortable, so while he is in office, this is what we have.
I have accepted that all blame doesn’t belong on 47 or Musk. They have been empowered by Congress. And Congress has been empowered by republicans, regular people that do not want the same things I want. But I am still very angry. Hopefully God will be able to show me what to do with my anger because I don’t believe anger has to be bad. Jesus got angry. For many of the same reasons I am angry now.
I have a friend that tells me government is too big. It shouldn’t be in our religion, schools and such. I agree, government should stay out of religion, although I don’t mind if churches pay taxes. I also think schools need to be fully funded and offer meals to children and if that means that we need federal funding to do it, than so be it. Some families need more help than others and children should not suffer because their parents or their states can’t or won’t excel. I also think, as the bible says, we should mind our own business and get the hell out of each other’s doctor appointments and procedures. Adults should be able to have any medical procedure necessary for their medical and mental wellness and it should not be a political issue but a decision made between individuals and their medical team alone. What a waste of time and resources we have created by politicizingabortion or gender affirming care! But there are other government services that are being cut right now that are important: transportation, food inspection, national parks are just a few. Some government jobs make it easier to work with other countries, get to work, have safe food to eat, prevent disease through vaccinations and new treatments, go to parks to relieve stress and have fun, help people pay their bills because they are too sick or old to work, just for example.
Jesus said it would be hard for the rich to get the heaven. He said this because He expected us to share. He told us to share freely. He said to not store up things on earth, but in heaven. Many of these people that agree with what is happening want to say they are christians but they don’t want to share, even when what they have more than enough.
I read that even though the goal of DOGE is to find waste, that 47 and Musk were talking about giving the money they found to the people, but not to the people that need it, the people that make over $400,000 per year. This statement makes me angry, not because I won’t get any of that money, but because any money they find should go directly to pay down our national debt. This is also why I am angry about tax cuts for the wealthy. Fiscally we have no business cutting taxes when our national debt is the highest it has ever been. I would even not be so angry about the rape of Medicaid and SNAP programs if it was going to pay down our national debt, but it isn’t, it going to make up for the tax cuts for people that don’t need it.
Why aren’t people storming the White House? I don’t understand why everyone doesn’t understand why these decisions are terrible, not just nationally but globally? The decisions that are being made are going to make The United States of America weak in every aspect. Why aren’t people angry like me?
On top of all of my feelings, to be truthful, my fears and anger are not just about other people. My feelings and fears are about me. I feel like I did as a child. Always knowing that I would have a terrible thing to deal with every day, but not knowing what it would be, who it would be about and how much it would hurt. Never knowing which version of my parent would show up. Never having the tools I needed to handle the stress and emotional neglect and violence I had to shoulder in my abusive, while well-meaning family. I hate feeling like I can’t protect myself or my neighbor. I don’t like feeling like a child. I find myself always looking over my shoulder, checking my email for a news article and trying to deal with that constant pain in my stomach and heart because I know people are hurting because of the choices of politicians and people that I can do nothing about, except pray. And even though I know this is enough, it doesn’t feel like it, because you can pray for someone for your whole life and then realize that they get to choose to be who they are and they might never align with your prayers because they have the right to be who they want to be, no matter what you ask God for. I know this because I prayed for my family to love me all my life, to know the God I knew, for them to hear me and they can’t do it or wont do it.
Because we all get to choose who we are, even if they make laws that say otherwise. 47 can make all the executive orders he wants about gender but Queer and Trans people have always existed and they always will. You can’t erase us. You can make abortion illegal, but they will always happen, whether you like them or not. The more pressure you put on humanity, the more we fight back. You can accuse President Zelenskyy of not being grateful or not wearing the appropriate suit when he visits but he still didn’t start the war in his country, and we know that Russia did and if World War III begins, it might just be because 47 has raised tariffs to a ridiculous level against our biggest trading partners, while teasing them with adding them to the United States, antagonizing the world with buying them out and not supporting organizations that we have always supported, to keep the world in balance, until every country gets sick of 47 shooting off his mouth and they decide to shoot at us and then what will we do.
Yes I am very angry.
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Feel free to leave your comments below!
My name is Summer. That is how you can call me. I hope that I am a blessing to you. I am not perfect. I will fall again. But I am forgiven. For anyone reading this that isn’t a Christian, unapologetically, I am a Jesus Follower, but I believe there is room for lots of beliefs and religions in the world. It is not my intent to offend people with different beliefs than I have and I would be open to open-minded conversations with no goals of changing anyone’s mind, but sharing information. If you are interested in becoming a Jesus Follower…Do you know Jesus? Do want the Holy Spirit to fill you and give you understanding and salvation? Ask Him. Want someone to pray with you? Contact me.
If you would like to know Jesus as your friend, but want to make this amazing commitment by yourself please pray something like this: Thank you Jesus that You are the Son of God, the God that created heaven and earth. Thank you Jesus that You came to earth in the form of a man so that You would be able to empathize with my humanity. Thank You that You did this in order to fulfill the promises You made at the foundation of the world. I realize that I am a sinner and do things that hurt myself and keep myself away from you. Thank You that You died for my sins so that You could defeat death and bring me into Your life. Please forgive me. I ask You to be Lord of my life. I ask you to heal my hurts and show me what my new life, empowered by You looks like. Thank You for Your mercy.
I was on Facebook, the other day, and I found myself on a feed of a more conservative perspective, where people were enjoying their right to free speech, and I came to realize that these people were the people that voted in the politicians that are responsible for the chaos we are in right now. I always hate it when people just blame the president for every issue we have because the president only has the power Congress allows them. Congress is more powerful than the president. And it is Congress that has empowered 47 and Musk. But it is voters that empowered Congress and 47 and Musk.
The lack of care for individuals, these people showed, should not surprise me. They were ok with thousands of people losing their jobs and health insurance. They were ok with the impersonal way these people are being let go. They were happy with the fear that some of us feel. They considered anyone that disagreed with them garbage and felt free to say it in all sorts of nasty ways. I didn’t comment because I knew they couldn’t hear me. The inalienable right of every man to pursue their happiness was irrelevant to anyone but themselves.
As we watch our scientists lose their jobs and funding, I wonder if anyone with the power has considered that this investment in future knowledge is part of our culture and power. That our reach for science compels us to find answers for illness and technology that also creates relationships even with our enemies. As we isolate ourselves from a world that we helped create on a global scale, this sudden rejection is not going to make us better or great. As our Congress allows our president to run his mouth, unchecked, one day the other countries will get sick of the stress he brings and we can only wonder when war, which our country had been able to keep off our shores for a very long time, might just come to meet us and there will be no one to help us.
I know that all presidents reject executive orders and projects of previous presidents, but the extent that 47 has done this is extreme. Someone asked me about what I thought about the pipeline project that Biden stopped and laid off workers, that Trump had begun when he was 45. But in actuality, that project was begun when Obama was president and before they could get too far, testing showed that the pipeline would poison the waters that the pipeline would be under. It would affect the fish, animals and people that were around that water, so it was stopped by Obama. 45 started it again because he doesn’t care about our environment or our health. When Biden got into office, the same testing happened with the same results that were found when Obama was in office were estimated and Biden put a stop to the project. At the time, there were no definite numbers as to how many jobs the pipeline would create during the build, but they were only temporary jobs. In the end there would only be 50 jobs created to maintain the pipeline, once the project was completed. This, by far, is a much smaller number that the hundreds of thousands of jobs that have been lost and will continue to be cut because of 47’s crusade to make government smaller, even if we need those government workers.
This same person asked me about nurses, doctors and state, local and federal workers that lost their jobs because they refused to be vaccinated for COVID-19. This was an easy response because I have voiced my opinion many times that my rights are superseded by my responsibility to my neighbors to be vaccinated, because the bible says I must love my neighbor as myself, without prejudice. Since I am not allergic and have no medical reason that stops me from being vaccinated, I am up to date on all my vaccines. As a medical professional, I would expect all my medical team to follow the same standard I do. People that work in the medical field or want to work for the government, unless they have a medical reason for not getting vaccinated must live to a different standard as the general public. If they don’t like it, they should have picked a different job.
One of my friends said this: I think we are in the situation we are in because “we the people” have allowed our government to dictate our lives. We are allowing “agencies” to spend without accountability. The people who were supposed to be accountable were not doing their jobs. The fraud and/or theft that has been discovered is insane. The Fed’s shouldn’t be involved in education or religion or anything not constitutionally put in their power. Including health care and providing for the poor. When you ask a person to work and take part of their labor pay to support the well-being of another, you have made the working class a slave. Our country has been a complete mess for quite some time. You can’t blame this on a month.
I don’t really have an answer for all of this. When she shares her information with me, we often disagree, so we are good at agreeing to disagree, because we love each other.
Except for religion, which I believe should never touch politics, government was needed to create balance in schools where states would not or could not. Without government help, some children have no chance of rising above their situation. As far as helping the poor, a healthy working class creates a healthy tax payer, better parents and more stability in society; it adds to the economy when people spend that money on bills, groceries and goods.
The defunding of research not only holds us back from reaching for the answers we need for the future but the relationships we had with other scientists in other countries. The fact that 47 has referred to himself as the king is unconstitutional and confusing to other countries. The fact that he will raise tariffs on Canada and Mexico in a few days, our biggest trading partners, will either be the biggest mistake 47 has ever made or maybe just another error, we will see. 47 has blatantly lied and said that Ukraine started the war with Russia when we all know it was Putin, all along. 47 has tried to erase all transgender people from existence, that is at least 1.4 million people. He is also making it so that businesses can’t choose to use diversity, equality and inclusion practices without fear of the government coming down on them. He has cut off communication between the CDC and the United States people during a break out of the bird flu, measles and flu so we have to rely on the media. He has also provided a long list of words that you can’t use when applying for grants or you will automatically be denied. Some of these words are: woman, black, trauma, victim…just to name a few. This is just a short list of what 47 has done; there is actually a lot more he has done. It has been a very fruitful month for 47.
Someone did question my christianity. I do not call myself a christian. That word has been ruined by people that have not spent enough time reading the Word or have warped it to suit their own purposes. I am a Jesus follower. I am not perfect, but I try to follow Jesus with all my heart and sometimes that causes me to say things people don’t want to hear. Which is probably just one of many reason that I don’t think that politics and religion should mix. I don’t believe I have the right to tell someone how to live their life and I certainly don’t want you to tell me how to live mine.
I am trying to be fair and relate to others. But to be honest it is hard not to be scared.
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Feel free to leave your comments below!
My name is Summer. That is how you can call me. I hope that I am a blessing to you. I am not perfect. I will fall again. But I am forgiven. For anyone reading this that isn’t a Christian, unapologetically, I am a Jesus Follower, but I believe there is room for lots of beliefs and religions in the world. It is not my intent to offend people with different beliefs than I have and I would be open to open-minded conversations with no goals of changing anyone’s mind, but sharing information. If you are interested in becoming a Jesus Follower…Do you know Jesus? Do want the Holy Spirit to fill you and give you understanding and salvation? Ask Him. Want someone to pray with you? Contact me.
If you would like to know Jesus as your friend, but want to make this amazing commitment by yourself please pray something like this: Thank you Jesus that You are the Son of God, the God that created heaven and earth. Thank you Jesus that You came to earth in the form of a man so that You would be able to empathize with my humanity. Thank You that You did this in order to fulfill the promises You made at the foundation of the world. I realize that I am a sinner and do things that hurt myself and keep myself away from you. Thank You that You died for my sins so that You could defeat death and bring me into Your life. Please forgive me. I ask You to be Lord of my life. I ask you to heal my hurts and show me what my new life, empowered by You looks like. Thank You for Your mercy.
Books are so important. If there is one thing that stands out that my wife, Karen G Clemenson, and I have in common in our upbringing it is that our families ensured that we could read and they were serious about it. The books I grew up with were part of my childhood and part of me. They took me places when there was no one around to take me anywhere. Even as an adult, I am still traveling through books and learning and growing and reading children’s books is saving me from the stress of adult life; I really need this right now. I encourage you, even if you don’t have children that live with you to dig out your favorite children’s books and read them. Let the stress of the day melt off and be reminded of an easier time.
Now without further ado 5 Books for February 2025:
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Standing in the Need of Prayer by Carole Boston Weatherford
I have read and reviewed Standing in the Need of Prayer by Carole Boston Weatherford in the past. It was such an outstanding and powerful, poetry book based on the words of a gospel song and brought to life with the meaningful and strong illustrations by Frank Morrison, that I had found at the Longview Public Library, that I chose to add this book to my personal collection. As I opened the package, last week, I realized that the timing was perfect to share Standing in the Need of Prayer again for BlackHistory Month.
I love this nonfiction book because it doesn’t hide the slave ships that first began bringing stolen people to the United States in 1619, before we were ever the United States of America, yet the artist doesn’t go so far that young children will be too frightened. The chains of oppression are right out in front, but so is hope. The book illustrates how Black people made themselves heard through speeches, music, art, military service, politics, sports, and being willing to stand where others had not before. Within these pages, growth is celebrated.
I also find the resources in the back of this picture book to be helpful and inspiring. We may have more to do, but we have come so far.
When I was a little girl, I enjoyed Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik. This book actually has four stories in it: What will Little Bear Wear?, Birthday Soup, Little Bear Goes to the Moon, and Little Bear’s Wish. Although I enjoyed all of the stories, and I had a hard time choosing between the last two, Little Bear Goes to the Moon is my favorite story because I love when children use their imagination.
Armed with his homemade space helmet, Little Bear, insists he can fly like a bird to the moon, even though his mother bear says that isn’t true. Along with his imagination, he finds that the moon is just like his world and he makes it home in time for lunch, where he can stop living his fantasy and enjoy the lunch Mother Bear made for him.
The illustrations by Maurice Sendak are simple and endearing and add to this classicfiction story, which has a lot of repetition and rhyme, This is perfect for young children learning to read.
The Story of Babar by Jean de Brunhoff moves very fast. there are so many things that happen in this book about animals, elephants, family and France, yet there isn’t time to absorb them. The idea of this story is fantastic but very hard to believe. I was shocked to see that I have read this book before and loved it. It is amazing what a few years can do to one’s perspective.
I do think the illustrations are wonderful and help tell the story quite a lot.
The Story of Babar The Little Elephant by Jean De Brunhoff, was published in 1933 and must have been quite a hit among children. I know I loved it. Even though Babar loses his mother, his adventurous spirit leads him to the city and new human friends. Later he becomes king. What a sweet story that I believe can stand the test of time.
In the book Days with Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel, I found a total of 5 stories: Tomorrow, The Kite, Shivers, The Hat, and Alone. I really had a hard time choosing a favorite but I finally decided on Alone. The reason I chose Alone, is that even the best of friends sometimes needs some time alone and that is what this story is about. Toad went to Frog’s house to find a note telling Toad that Frog was gone and that he wanted to be alone.
Toad spent the day worrying about their relationship, when really Frog was in great spirits and just wanted to spend uninterrupted time being thankful. Being thankful is important, just like spending time with our friends.
I really enjoy the honest and authentic amphibian relationship that Frog and Toad share.
I believe I have read all or at least most of Crockett Johnson’s Harold and the Purple Crayon books, but I must admit, Harold’s ABC’s is my least favorite of these children’s classics. The story and the art was tedious and forced to include all the letters of the alphabet in order. This is very unlike the natural flow of Harold’s natural drawing imagination.
This month our books traveled through many topics: Black History, Imagination, Family, Friendship, and Learning. That is what books do. They are always moving us. I hope you let yourself be moved by books.
Be blessed.
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Feel free to leave your comments below!
My name is Summer. That is how you can call me. I hope that I am a blessing to you. I am not perfect. I will fall again. But I am forgiven. For anyone reading this that isn’t a Christian, unapologetically, I am a Jesus Follower, but I believe there is room for lots of beliefs and religions in the world. It is not my intent to offend people with different beliefs than I have and I would be open to open-minded conversations with no goals of changing anyone’s mind, but sharing information. If you are interested in becoming a Jesus Follower…Do you know Jesus? Do want the Holy Spirit to fill you and give you understanding and salvation? Ask Him. Want someone to pray with you? Contact me.
If you would like to know Jesus as your friend, but want to make this amazing commitment by yourself please pray something like this: Thank you Jesus that You are the Son of God, the God that created heaven and earth. Thank you Jesus that You came to earth in the form of a man so that You would be able to empathize with my humanity. Thank You that You did this in order to fulfill the promises You made at the foundation of the world. I realize that I am a sinner and do things that hurt myself and keep myself away from you. Thank You that You died for my sins so that You could defeat death and bring me into Your life. Please forgive me. I ask You to be Lord of my life. I ask you to heal my hurts and show me what my new life, empowered by You looks like. Thank You for Your mercy.
I am very concerned about our national debt and the stress that is on my family and working families like mine. I know that Trump and the republicans are going to want to extend the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act from 2017 that is about to expire but I am asking you to fight against this with all you have. It doesn’t make sense to make those who have less to pay more than those who have more. I am not asking that the wealthy pay more than their fair share, just the same rate that all hard working United States citizens do. It is the only way that makes sense to get control of our debt without crippling our nation.
My heart hurts so much for the persecution that people have been going through and are going through at the hands of people proclaiming to be christians. White people. I used to be one of them, by proxy, but luckily for me, one day, God spoke to me and said, “It’s time to leave. They can’t teach you anything else.”
I cried with God today. I asked Him why He chose 47. Why He lets christian nationalists persecute people for being Queer or Transgender or Native or Black or Latin or Asian or Women or Disabled or any other group that has been othered. He loves all His creation; even if we are wrong, the bible says God leaves us to our depravity. And He said that is what He is doing. I knew He was talking about the white cisgender male christian nationalists, with all my heart.
The God I know doesn’t work in the ways we always understand because He is Spirit and He knows and sees and hears every aspect; we cannot possibly understand everything He understands. He is love in a way most of us cannot comprehend because it is free of condemnation, ulterior motives or evil in any way. I can understand being afraid of Him because conservative christians tell us we are going to hell for any human act, yet that isn’t what Jesus taught. He taught us to love God with everything you have and love your neighbor as yourself, without exception. This requires humility, the same humility that some christian nationalists say is weak. But humility is what is required to love someone as yourself. To have empathy for someone who is different from you.
Jesus said if you want to be first, you must put yourself last. If you do this God will lift you up. This is not what 47 is doing. This is not what people that are hungry for power are doing. This not what people that are condemning are doing.
Jesus said if you are being persecuted, to know that He was persecuted first. Even if you have never considered Jesus, or you have, and became disenfranchised for any number of reasons, know you have something in common with Him. People hated Him because He loved people and He was true to His beliefs even though the church and government persecuted Him. He never stopped speaking His truth.
Christian nationalists are not following the same God and Jesus I do. Their god is judgmental and ready to send sinners to hell. My God has planned for our salvation before the creation of the world because He was excited to love us and be in a relationship with us. Why would a God like that want to condemn us? My God is creative and has expressed His creativity in this amazing world but also in the individual differences of all of us, that are all made in His image. Why would He create you in His image, if He didn’t love you?
Christian nationalists have warped and misunderstood the bible, their religion and even their responsibility to love us all. They are the depraved. We must continue being strong, supporting each other, loving each other, enjoying our differences and being thankful for each other. Be strong. Be blessed. And when you can’t be strong, remember, you are not alone; grab someone’s hand and borrow their strength.
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Feel free to leave your comments below!
My name is Summer. That is how you can call me. I hope that I am a blessing to you. I am not perfect. I will fall again. But I am forgiven. For anyone reading this that isn’t a Christian, unapologetically, I am a Jesus Follower, but I believe there is room for lots of beliefs and religions in the world. It is not my intent to offend people with different beliefs than I have and I would be open to open-minded conversations with no goals of changing anyone’s mind, but sharing information. If you are interested in becoming a Jesus Follower…Do you know Jesus? Do want the Holy Spirit to fill you and give you understanding and salvation? Ask Him. Want someone to pray with you? Contact me.
If you would like to know Jesus as your friend, but want to make this amazing commitment by yourself please pray something like this: Thank you Jesus that You are the Son of God, the God that created heaven and earth. Thank you Jesus that You came to earth in the form of a man so that You would be able to empathize with my humanity. Thank You that You did this in order to fulfill the promises You made at the foundation of the world. I realize that I am a sinner and do things that hurt myself and keep myself away from you. Thank You that You died for my sins so that You could defeat death and bring me into Your life. Please forgive me. I ask You to be Lord of my life. I ask you to heal my hurts and show me what my new life, empowered by You looks like. Thank You for Your mercy.
I went to a PFLAG meeting this week and the people at the meeting gave me some great resources to read. I got to a part in one of the pamphlets where they talk about coming out to your loved ones. I realized I never really came out to my extended family. I invited them to my wedding. I gave them 3 days notice. It was technically an elopement. They didn’t come. They blamed me for not giving them time to adjust to my announcement.
Karen G Clemenson insisted on it. I didn’t think they would come. I had never felt supported in my endeavors. They didn’t show interest in me as an individual. I was important when they needed something from me. Even now, I am positive I didn’t tell them because I had spent so much of my life trying to be what they wanted me to be, I didn’t know who I was. Being queer wasn’t something I could embrace for myself until a year after I was married, with the help of my therapist.
So many things that my extended family did wrong are mentioned in these booklets. I’m glad I have these resources. Daily I am learning more and more clearly that if you are not part of a group, you don’t get to define it.
I went to this meeting hungry for help finding information about transgender people. This special group of people usually has to fight every day for their right to live in peace. I didn’t realize that my questions, no matter how innocent my intentions were, they could trigger some very strong and negative feelings. At this meeting I was able to find people that were willing to answer some of my questions and give me a few sources to start. These resources have also given me leads to more information.
I know being a cisgender person, I will never really know the transgender or gender expansive experience, but learning more will help me empathize. If we end up fostering a transgender or gender expansive child, this will give me a little knowledge beforehand too; this is my main motivation.
This reading and what is happening at the hand of our current political administration has left me feeling so raw. Often my prayers are, “Please help.” I can hardly say more. Executive orders that erase all gender identities besides male and female must be terrifying for the estimated 1.4 million transgender people in the United States. But white cisgender male christian nationalists are used to getting away with this; they have violated and controlled black people, Natives, Asians, Latinos and any person of color, women and any religion that isn’t theirs. I am exhausted by this thought and how little I can do about it.
I have tried to disconnect because I can only handle so much stress and I want to focus on the research that I have chosen but it is impossible to avoid the daily actions of 47 and Musk…who we never voted on but somehow he seems to have a lot of influence. I guess if you can’t be voted in because you weren’t born in the United States you just need enough money to buy your way in.
I hate what money can do sometimes.
~
Feel free to leave your comments below!
My name is Summer. That is how you can call me. I hope that I am a blessing to you. I am not perfect. I will fall again. But I am forgiven. For anyone reading this that isn’t a Christian, unapologetically, I am a Jesus Follower, but I believe there is room for lots of beliefs and religions in the world. It is not my intent to offend people with different beliefs than I have and I would be open to open-minded conversations with no goals of changing anyone’s mind, but sharing information. If you are interested in becoming a Jesus Follower…Do you know Jesus? Do want the Holy Spirit to fill you and give you understanding and salvation? Ask Him. Want someone to pray with you? Contact me.
If you would like to know Jesus as your friend, but want to make this amazing commitment by yourself please pray something like this: Thank you Jesus that You are the Son of God, the God that created heaven and earth. Thank you Jesus that You came to earth in the form of a man so that You would be able to empathize with my humanity. Thank You that You did this in order to fulfill the promises You made at the foundation of the world. I realize that I am a sinner and do things that hurt myself and keep myself away from you. Thank You that You died for my sins so that You could defeat death and bring me into Your life. Please forgive me. I ask You to be Lord of my life. I ask you to heal my hurts and show me what my new life, empowered by You looks like. Thank You for Your mercy.
When I first heard about the president’s executive order regarding DEI, I felt it was just another phrase for affirmative action and being married to a black woman, that believed we were far enough evolved to not need this anymore, I didn’t let this bother me. However, I have thought more on this, and read several articles and viewed many videos that have educated me that DEI is much larger than civil rights for black Americans, but women, transgender people, queer people, Native Americans, disabled people, the more mature, and any person of color or people who have religious beliefs other than christian. It seems that cancelling DEI programs and practices only benefits white, male, christians. This anti-humanity mindset doesn’t sound like it allows most people to pursue their happiness or enjoy much freedom.
There must be something that can be done to stop this extreme executive order that has caused websites to be washed of medical information that is helpful to many. Businesses are being told how to hire. This not right.
Come to the Garden by Jennifer Wilder Morgan was a lovely Christian read about the main character, Jennifer, and her angel, Margaret. They met on her birthday in her Jennifer’s garden to talk about different experiences that Jennifer had had in her lifetime where God had been communicating and working in her life.
“All of God’s children have the ability to encounter the Divine but must have hearts and minds that are open to the possibility…Anything is possible for one who is willing to believe.” Chapter 2
Throughout the book I found important messages:
God knew me before I was born.
When we worship with music God joins us and rejoices.
Talk to God like He is your friend.
Listen to your dreams.
Listen to His voice.
God is the eye of the storm.
God is always with me. There is no darkness too dark for His light to encompass.
When God speaks, obey.
The past, present and future are all connected.
God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one. They are light in the darkness.
It is the Divine will of the Father that all of His children are restored to Him.
Death is part of life, not the end; it is our way back to our origin.
When we don’t know what to pray our spirit does because God already know what we need.
Heaven is right here.
God wants to be the delight of our heart as we are the delight of His heart.
I have called you by name, you are Mine. Isaiah 43:1
This book was what I needed at this time. Something light, yet not; a reminder that I am a child of God and He is always communicating with me for His good pleasure. I chuckled a lot during the reading of this faithfictionnovel but I also had a few aha moments. I really enjoyed this book.
Have you ever considered what you would do if you came face to face with an angel in your garden? I haven’t, until I read this book. I am still not sure what I would do, but I did enjoy reading Come to the Garden by Jennifer Wilder Morgan. This book about listening to God and hearing what He has to say and learning to hear Him and be of service to him was both lighthearted and yet profound. I would recommend you read this book. It isn’t scary or too much, it is just right.
My name is Summer. That is how you can call me. I hope that I am a blessing to you. I am not perfect. I will fall again. But I am forgiven. For anyone reading this that isn’t a Christian, unapologetically, I am a Christian, but I believe there is room for lots of beliefs and religions in the world. It is not my intent to offend people with different beliefs than I have and I would be open to open-minded conversations with no goals of changing anyone’s mind, but sharing information. If you are interested in becoming a Christian…Do you know Jesus? Do want the Holy Spirit to fill you and give you understanding and salvation? Ask Him. Want someone to pray with you? Contact me.
If you would like to know Jesus as your friend, but want to make this amazing commitment by yourself please pray something like this: Thank you Jesus that You are the Son of God, the God that created heaven and earth. Thank you Jesus that You came to earth in the form of a man so that You would be able to empathize with my humanity. Thank You that You did this in order to fulfill the promises You made at the foundation of the world. I realize that I am a sinner and do things that hurt myself and keep myself away from you. Thank You that You died for my sins so that You could defeat death and bring me into Your life. Please forgive me. I ask You to be Lord of my life. I ask you to heal my hurts and show me what my new life, empowered by You looks like. Thank You for Your mercy.
Don’t let Trump take away money from farmers. The Federal Government needs to keep its word to small family farms and ranches. Our government needs to provide the money they promised they would provide for conservation efforts, improve farming and increase productivity. Farmers were counting on this money when they signed their contracts and spent the money they spent. The letters small family farmers and ranches are receiving telling them that the Federal Government won’t be fulfilling their promise is dishonest and un-American.
Please remove Elon Musk and his team from their position in Trump’s cabinet. The fact that they have been caught installing hard drives in the Office of Personnel Management, the Treasury Department, General Services Administration and other key federal agencies so they can have unchecked access to critical government data and financial systems is not acceptable.
It is clear they have attempted to lock people out of their jobs and are trying to take over the government. They must be stopped.
Sincerely,
Summer D. Clemenson
~
2—— Communication Issues
Dear Representative,
How is it that DJT is allowed to stop communication between the CDC and medical professionals and scientists? I was disturbed by him cutting off communication with United States citizens but I never imagined he would stop communication between medical professionals and scientists whose very job it is to protect our lives.
I’m also very concerned about the scrubbing of the CDC website of important medical information for the general population. How are you protecting us from this man and his cronies and their corrupt agenda?
I am writing to ask you to work with your colleagues with potential changes to the constitution. These following changes, I believe are imperative to our safety and mental well-being as a country:
Candidates running for president cannot be convicted felons. If a candidate is found guilty of a felony during or after their election, they are ineligible for office.
Presidential pardons are not valid toward persons convicted of Federal crimes.
What is the point of law and order if the president of the United States does not have to live up to the same standards as its citizens?
Wednesday January 29, 2025
probably seemed like any other night
Until Headline News screamed
across the television screen
in bright red letters
An American Airlines jet and
a military Black Hawk
doing an annual night proficiency training flight
had collided
~
60 passengers and 4 crew members on the jet
3 soldiers on the helicopter 67 lives lost because of a human mistake
As of Thursday over 100 first responders
are still fishing out bodies from the Potomac
Teen figure skaters returning from
a national meet with
their mothers and coaches
Union steamfitters
from Washington, D.C.
and soldiers we can’t replace are all gone
We will never get them back
~
#47 wants to blame Diversity Equity and Inclusion programs
because he is emotionally immature
#47 wants to blame
#44 and #46 because generally
people like him think the buck stops with the president
And he can’t bear that
But those who have grown beyond their fears
are much more creative
We want to see the families and loved ones cared for
We want to learn how this tremendous error happened
so we don’t do it again
I am writing to encourage you to show Trump that although he is the President, the President is not above the law. I am not sure why he was allowed to pardon all the insurrectionists that were found guilty of Federal crimes, especially those who committed assault or caused any bodily harm to police officers on January 6, 2021, or caused trauma to officers that later took their own lives. This obscene act should be viewed as an act against the people of The United States.
Now, he is ignoring the law that says the Tic Tok is supposed to be gone. I don’t use this platform. I try to avoid supporting China, personally, so I lose nothing in this, however, I see he is being allowed to make his own rules again. As a person that understands the kind of person Trump is, he belongs on a short leash. If you keep bowing down to him, our republic will be shortly replaced by the dictatorship that many have been afraid of.
January has been quite the month. It is the start of a new year and the start of a new presidency. I have been having some dental work done. There are many reasons to turn to children’s books. As I have written before, children’s books are great stress reliever. We don’t have children in our house, but we sure do own a lot of children’s books, not just so I can write this blog, but in case my great nephews come over…or any other amazing short people or just anyone that wants to have a light read wants to grab one.
Now without further ado 5 Books for January 2025:
~
The Berenstain Bears Count Their Blessings by Stan and Jan Berenstain
The Berenstain Bears Count Their Blessings by Stan and Jan Berenstain is just another sweet story, in a long line of high morale children’s classics that help teach positivity. In this story, Mama Bear is a bit stressed because every time Brother and Sister go to visit a friend, they come back, excited about what their friends have, they they don’t have. But on this day, there is thunder and lightening storm that knocks out the electricity. This is the perfect time for Mama and Papa to talk about the weather and counting their blessings as the family huddles around the fire with their hot chocolate.
I find this fictionanimalpicture book to be endearing and educational.
Harold’s Fairy Tale by Crockett Johnson is a fantasy that begins in an enchanted garden with no flowers. Of course Harold must find out why that is, so on his artadventure he ends up in a castle with a sad king. There Harold meets with a witch with giant feet, a swarm of mosquitos, fire, rain and then a beautiful enchanted garden full of flowers and a fairy that gives him one wish, that he trades for a flying carpet that brings him home. When he finds his mother, he asks her to read him a bedtime story.
Curious George is a monkey that always finds himself in an adventure. In Curious George Flies a Kite by Margret Rey, the man in the yellow hat has work to do so George has the day to amuse himself. His new ball is a lot of fun, until George gets distracted by the window and must see who would live in the tiny house next door. This is George’s first experience with rabies and he really enjoys them until he sees a man going fishing. He tries to go fishing on his own but has no success and luckily his friend, Bill, is there to help get George out of the water. Bill has a kite, which turns out to be great fun until George attempts to fly the kite by himself. Fortunately, the man in the yellow hat is able to catch George in a helicopter and bring George and the kite back home.
This fun fiction children’s classic with animals is brought to life by the colorful pictures by H. A. Rey. This picture book is full of humor, morals and the innocent whims of Curious George.
Frank the Farting Flamingo by Humor Heals Us is just another children’s fiction picture book that gives us another reason to talk about farting. I don’t think most kids need a reason for this, but they will enjoy it. Frank is adorable though…and who doesn’t like to fart anyway?
I originally bought a copy of this book for my friend Linea, who insists she has the soul of a 10-year-old boy living inside of her. She loves flamingos and it made her laugh so much that I bought a copy for myself.
I had Frog and Toad books as a child and I was glad to recently obtain the collection. Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel is a delightful collection of 5 stories about amphibian friends, Frog and Toad: Spring, The Story, A Lost Button, A Swim and The Letter. I enjoyed all of the stories about Frog and Toad and their animal friends but my favorite is The Story.
Frog had come to visit Toad and he did not feel well. Toad offered Frog his bed and Frog asked Toad for a story. Toad, not able to think of a story, did all sorts of things to try to make his brain come up with one. He was not successful. But just as Frog felt better, he and Toad switched spots, because Toad no longer felt well. In turn, Toad asked for a story and Frog told Toad a story about a friend that did all sorts of silly things to help him come up with a story to tell his sick friend. By the end of the story Toad was sound asleep.
When I read this classic children’s story, my wife, Karen G Clemenson, had come home for lunch and she very much enjoyed these stories too. She told me that she enjoyed The Letter the most. It was about Toad and how he got sad waiting for the mail because he never got anything. When he told Frog about this, Frog immediately went home and wrote him a letter about how much he enjoyed his friendship. Frog gave the message to a snail to deliver. Four days later, as they were waiting for the mail, both Frog and Toad were overjoyed that Toad got such a lovely letter. I enjoyed this story too because it reminded me of my sister, Jamie Holloway, and I because even though we communicate daily, we also send letters to each other.
I enjoy how these two friends truly love and accommodate each other in this book. What a lovely example of friendship.
My name is Summer. That is how you can call me. I hope that I am a blessing to you. I am not perfect. I will fall again. But I am forgiven. For anyone reading this that isn’t a Christian, unapologetically, I am a Christian, but I believe there is room for lots of beliefs and religions in the world. It is not my intent to offend people with different beliefs than I have and I would be open to open-minded conversations with no goals of changing anyone’s mind, but sharing information. If you are interested in becoming a Christian…Do you know Jesus? Do want the Holy Spirit to fill you and give you understanding and salvation? Ask Him. Want someone to pray with you? Contact me.
If you would like to know Jesus as your friend, but want to make this amazing commitment by yourself please pray something like this: Thank you Jesus that You are the Son of God, the God that created heaven and earth. Thank you Jesus that You came to earth in the form of a man so that You would be able to empathize with my humanity. Thank You that You did this in order to fulfill the promises You made at the foundation of the world. I realize that I am a sinner and do things that hurt myself and keep myself away from you. Thank You that You died for my sins so that You could defeat death and bring me into Your life. Please forgive me. I ask You to be Lord of my life. I ask you to heal my hurts and show me what my new life, empowered by You looks like. Thank You for Your mercy.
Santiago is an old Cuban fisherman. He lives alone because his wife has died. He fishes alone because the boy, Manolin, he used to fish with no longer has permission to fish with him after so many day without fish. This does not stop the boy from caring for him though. Santiago likes to talk about baseball, but he loves to dream about Africa, in his youth and about the lions on the beach.
After 85 days, Santiago set off his fishing adventure alone to go fishing. This time his line is caught be a great fish. A fish longer than the boat and larger than he had ever caught by himself. For 3 days and 2 nights Santiago held onto this mighty fish, that he greatly respects. He finally brought the fish to his demise. He lashed the great marlin to the side of the boat.
As they headed home, 6 sharks attacked the carcass before an entire army of sharks made their way to the boat. Santiago fought them all, but they all got their share of that great fish. Santiago was sad that he had allowed the great fish to take them so far out and that he had even killed the great fish only to have lost him to the sharks.
The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway is a beautiful American Novel about friendship, longevity, respect for life and honesty. It was a wonderful read. It was written in 1952 and in 1954 it won the Nobel Prize for literature. This is the first book by Ernest Hemingway I have ever read, but I am sure it is not my last.
The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway is an inspiring story about an old fisherman from Cuba that never gives up. When his wife dies and leaves him alone. When the fish stop biting and the boy that helps him is no longer allowed to help him.When everything is against him, he still presses on. This fiction story is exciting and inspiring.
My name is Summer. That is how you can call me. I hope that I am a blessing to you. I am not perfect. I will fall again. But I am forgiven. For anyone reading this that isn’t a Christian, unapologetically, I am a Christian, but I believe there is room for lots of beliefs and religions in the world. It is not my intent to offend people with different beliefs than I have and I would be open to open-minded conversations with no goals of changing anyone’s mind, but sharing information. If you are interested in becoming a Christian…Do you know Jesus? Do want the Holy Spirit to fill you and give you understanding and salvation? Ask Him. Want someone to pray with you? Contact me.
If you would like to know Jesus as your friend, but want to make this amazing commitment by yourself please pray something like this: Thank you Jesus that You are the Son of God, the God that created heaven and earth. Thank you Jesus that You came to earth in the form of a man so that You would be able to empathize with my humanity. Thank You that You did this in order to fulfill the promises You made at the foundation of the world. I realize that I am a sinner and do things that hurt myself and keep myself away from you. Thank You that You died for my sins so that You could defeat death and bring me into Your life. Please forgive me. I ask You to be Lord of my life. I ask you to heal my hurts and show me what my new life, empowered by You looks like. Thank You for Your mercy.
Things we have never seen before
have happened at his hand
He has encouraged us to give way to violence
and given control to white supremacist
after they had been taught to be quiet
~
On January 6, 2021 our United States Capitol Building
was attacked by a mob of over 1500
They included Oath Keepers
Proud Boys
and Three Percenters
fueled by his rhetoric that his election had been stolen
~
5 people died
many people were injured
including 174 police officers
Four officers committed suicide after it was over
$2.7 million in damages were caused by rioters
Pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails were found nearby
~
Most people were convicted of federal crimes
But he pardoned them all
as soon as he could get his cult members
to elect him again
Probably because it reminded him
of his 2nd impeachment
~
What does this say to us?
That people are only useful
if he needs them
That the police officers that help us
have no authority
and their lives are unimportant
~
I am beginning to wonder
when the second insurrection
will come
Mary: A Flesh and Blood Biography of the Virgin Mother by Lesley Hazleton is a very special book that helped me to not only understand some of the culture in the Middle East better, but by knowing about Mary, I have a deeper understanding of Jesus. I really enjoyed this nonfiction book.
Mary’s true name is Maryam. She had brown skin and almost black hair. She was from Galilee, Nazareth. A tiny place with only 200 to 300 people living there. Galilee is never mentioned in the Hebrew Torah because it was so small. it’s name means, “small fort.” Galilee is located along the Silk Road to the Jordan River, in Palestine. The villagers were very poor. Though many riches were carried along that road, they were only passing through. Maryam and her neighbors would never have seen any of them. Although we often see Maryam in a while gown and blue shawl, she would have never worn those colors, for those colors were afforded only to the rich. Maryam would have worn black, red or yellow, or faded versions of those colors because there were flowers in the area that were used to color their fabric.
Drought was common in Galilee and water was never wasted. Nothing was wasted. Water used for washing was used to water plants. The remaining wheat, after threshing was used in sleeping pallets. Animal dung was used as fuel for fire. The people were lean just like the land. Although some people in the bible lived very long lives, these people were the rich ones that could afford proper nutrition. Most people were poor, like the villagers in Galilee. Most people did not live longer than 40-50 years. Life was hard. Puberty meant fertility and fertility meant marriage. Mary was 13 when she had Jesus. This was not uncommon.
Maryam and everyone in her village were illiterate but they knew the stories of their Hebrew history. They would tell them every night around the fire. She was not ignorant. Maryam knew of the prophets and of Yahweh.
“What we now think of in the west as the separate spheres of religion, politics, ethnicity, and culture were so deeply intertwined that there was not distinction between them.
A Jew—Yehudi in both Aramaic and Hebrew—was literally someone from Judea, Yehuda. Judean-ness was an ethnic and national identity, and the Jerusalem temple, with it’s recognition of Yahweh as the ultimate god, was the cement binding that identity.”
Before Jesus, the temple was a slaughterhouse for constant sacrifices. The temple was not a place for worship. As parts of Judea changed hands through wars, temples were destroyed. Historians were beginning to see that although people could live under laws, laws did not have to control minds. This was part of John the Baptist’s message. This was the beginning of religion as we know it.
“What Baptist preached was inclusive; every person mattered, registered on the grand scale of things, and made a difference in the world. The temple cult depended on birth, wealth, and influence; the populist one, on faith and commitment.”
The fact that Baptist preached that God was inside you and not in a temple, was a threat to the King’s authority. This is the true reason Baptist was killed.
There was so much oppression from the rich on the poor. Families lost their land and sold their children to pay taxes imposed by the King and the tax collectors. As the people fought back, they would be crucified in plain sight by the Romans. When people were crucified, it was never one at a time, or even 3, like it tells us in the story of Jesus’ crucifixion. There could be hundreds or thousands crucified at one time. The guards were not paid well and did not like to take the bodies down and left them there for days to be ravished by vultures; when they were taken down, the bodies were not buried, but thrown in the open ditches alongside the the area where the crosses were, to be devoured by wild animals, which was disgraceful to the Jews. Because Maryam was a shepherd girl, she would have known all the perfect hiding places and every cave and tree for shade. She would have helped the rebels.
“To be killed in the struggle for independence was to achieve a form of immortality. It was to be celebrated in song and story as a death chosen rather than imposed.”
Maryam’s grandmother was the village healer and midwife. She used herbs to heal people. When Maryam is out in the hills, she collected herbs for her grandmother. Maryam learned all her grandmother had to teach about healing. Maryam knew about birth control and abortion. Both were necessary, especially among very poor families. Her, “Yes,” to God to become pregnant, was also a, “Yes,” to bear and give birth to the child. She could have changed her mind. She had the knowledge to end the pregnancy at any time.
Maryam taught Jesus everything she knew about shepherding and healing. He was an excellent student, as if He already knew how. Jesus was her only son and Maryam was at the cross to witness his death. She must have felt HIs pain as her own. The fact that Jesus was buried is abnormal. The women that joined Maryam to clean and anoint and wrap Jesus’ body were the beginning of Christianity.
After Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus passed Maryam to John, His disciple, to care for her. She couldn’t go back to Nazareth after all the turmoil Jesus had caused, so they may have lived in Ephesus. However there are accounts that lead some people to believe Maryam didn’t stay with John, but joined with the women that were part of the followers of Jesus. They lived and worked together, teaching each other and healed each other and others that came to them for physical, spiritual and mental healing.
“Each time a woman gives birth, each time a woman sits between another’s legs and cradles the emerging newborn’s head, each time a woman sings in joy or wails in mourning, seeks out knowledge or teaches it to others, works for justice or acts for peace or risks her life for freedom, the mantle of Maryam is handed on.”
This book is full of history, politics, relationship and humanity. I feel so inspired after reading it. Maryam is more real to me, than she ever has been. I am thankful that I found this book.
Mary: A Flesh and Blood Biography of the Virgin Mother by Lesley Hazleton is a powerful book that studies many facts and accounts from around the history and culture of the Middle East and the time when Maryam, the mother of Jesus Christ was alive. This account of what may have really happened helps create a true human experience for the woman that gave birth to the Son of God and raised Him to change the world. I found this book fascinating and could hardly put it down.
My name is Summer. That is how you can call me. I hope that I am a blessing to you. I am not perfect. I will fall again. But I am forgiven. For anyone reading this that isn’t a Christian, unapologetically, I am a Christian, but I believe there is room for lots of beliefs and religions in the world. It is not my intent to offend people with different beliefs than I have and I would be open to open-minded conversations with no goals of changing anyone’s mind, but sharing information. If you are interested in becoming a Christian…Do you know Jesus? Do want the Holy Spirit to fill you and give you understanding and salvation? Ask Him. Want someone to pray with you? Contact me.
If you would like to know Jesus as your friend, but want to make this amazing commitment by yourself please pray something like this: Thank you Jesus that You are the Son of God, the God that created heaven and earth. Thank you Jesus that You came to earth in the form of a man so that You would be able to empathize with my humanity. Thank You that You did this in order to fulfill the promises You made at the foundation of the world. I realize that I am a sinner and do things that hurt myself and keep myself away from you. Thank You that You died for my sins so that You could defeat death and bring me into Your life. Please forgive me. I ask You to be Lord of my life. I ask you to heal my hurts and show me what my new life, empowered by You looks like. Thank You for Your mercy.
I have read and reviewed Standing in the Need of Prayer by Carole Boston Weatherford in the past. It was such an outstanding and powerful, poetry book based on the words of a gospel song and brought to life with the meaningful and strong illustrations by Frank Morrison, that I had found at the 
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