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Are you making 2nd quarter goals? Hope, health, & happiness.

Image source: Katie Harp @ Unsplash

Image source: Katie Harp @ Unsplash

Yesterday I met with our CPA to file our 2022 taxes. So. Not. Fun!

My husband Ray and I now owe even more taxes than the year before. I’m looking to Jehovah Jireh our Provider. 

God provided a ram for Abraham to sacrifice to God instead of his beloved, precious son Isaac. God told Abraham to kill Isaac to test Abraham’s faith in Him. When God saw that Abraham was going to obey, not even withholding from God his son who he waited years into his old age to have and who he greatly loved, God stopped Abraham.

“Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.” (Genesis 22:13, NKJV)

I’m also praying for a payment plan with the IRS to pay the taxes that we owe. Now that we’re into the second quarter of 2023, I’m making other goals as well. Are you?

To summarize them, my new goals are hope, health, and happiness. 

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Blog, Faith, prayer, Spiritual Gifts

What needs reviving in your life?

Colored heartsImage by Rachel Walker @Unsplash

Colored hearts
Image by Rachel Walker @Unsplash

You’ve probably heard of the Asbury Revival at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky. It’s been going about 11 days strong now. Students were having a regular service in the chapel there and a few lingered after the service. The Spirit of God fell and there was worship, praise, and repentance among the university students.

People from across the USA and even the world began coming to witness and to participate in this event. It caught the attention of the media and other places began experiencing similar things. I think it’s powerful and beautiful, and I’m praying nothing weird or warped happens as a result, but that it remains a pure move of God with a hunger and a thirst for Him and that the holy flame of God spreads across America and the world. 

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Blog, Business, Marriage, prayer, Stress

What has you blocked?

Leaves and coffee

On Friday, after having my morning hot, creamy coffee and prayer, I set about to do my work in my office on my laptop. I had a Voxer coaching call also with my biz coach, Diane Cunningham Ellis, which went well. Voxer is like a walkie-talkie app on your phone. It is very cool, fast, and fun!

My biz coach, Diane Cunningham Ellis

My biz coach, Diane Cunningham Ellis

Diane gave me some suggestions on improving my website and advice on how to prosper more in my business. (She often says, “If you’re not making money in your business, it’s not a business. It’s an expensive hobby!” Amen!)

About mid-morning, my husband Ray texted me that a plumber was coming. Ray had gone downstairs on Friday morning and heard the bathtub and the toilet water “bubbling.” (Gurgling)

Uh-oh. Ray said this is usually an indicator of a “blockage.” He did NOT want sewage coming back up through the drain in our basement, our toilets, and tubs, so he called a plumber immediately. 

Ray's ceramic turtle

Ray’s ceramic turtle

You have to understand something: my husband is NOT a man of fast action; he (and God) always seem to move at a turtle’s pace, in my opinion. Years ago, I gave Ray a ceramic turtle as a joke gift, telling him that I feel he and God move slow as a turtle (see pic above). I’m like a race horse, raring to get out of the starting gate and RUN. So when Ray told me that he had called a plumber (so fast!), I knew it must be serious. (Oh, crap, pardon the pun!)

My husband Ray

My husband Ray

When I told Diane on the Voxer Coaching call that Ray had called the plumber and now that was stressing me out (as if I didn’t have enough stress), she said that is just life. Plumbers, air conditioning repairmen, tech issues, unfortunately, it’s all  part of life. You just deal with it and keep moving! In her way, that’s very fast. Then she went on to tell me some more blunt (but needed!) advice about my website and business!

cappuccino and laptop

cappuccino and laptop

As I tried to work later that day after my coaching call, the two plumbers arrived. I showed one of them all of our toilets and told him about Ray’s concern over the “bubbling” that morning. He nodded knowingly, as if to say, “I’ve got this.”

Initially, I instructed the plumbers not to let my cat Natalya out when they went in and out the door, as she’s an inside-only cat. They assured me they’d look after her. I went to my office to focus on numerous to-do’s. Natalya is normally a very sweet cat. I think I did hear Natalya growling once at the plumbers, but for the most part, she sat on the carpet, staring with wide eyes at the strangers as they walked throughout our house.

Natalya in the sunroom

My cat Natalya in the sunroom

Then as I looked out my office window about an hour later, one plumber was RUNNING to their truck. A small army of plumbers suddenly arrived, talking together about the problem. I could hear one of the plumbers in the bathroom down the hall, frustrated and cussing once or twice as he worked under the sink. This was NOT a good sign – and how much was this going to cost us?

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