From Pity to Praise

Having Situational Awareness

I probably don’t have to tell you the world is becoming a scary place. Whether you live in a large city or a small town there are victims of crime every day.

I live in a small rural town, and just a few months ago there was a shooting. I man was shooting at his girlfriend from who was trying to leave a bad situation. He shot her multiple times and shot into a pharmacy. An acquaintance of mine was leaving work, and he saw the bullets flying he hit the floor, the bullet missed him by inches. If I hadn’t seen the bullet he would have been shot. That’s what I call situational awareness.

So many times we have tunnel vision. Our face is in our phone, or we just want to get to where we’re going. We end up focusing our efforts and energy somewhere else, rather than on what’s around us.

Without realizing it, we don’t pay attention to things around us. Just today, my daughter told me about a situation at the grocery store that broke my heart. In the parking lot at the grocery store, she saw an older woman walking her small dog on the grass. Just as she turned her head she saw a large dog, jump from a vehicle and run towards the women and attacking her dog, killing it. Thankfully the woman was not hurt.

My husband is ex-military and has always talked about situational awareness. It’s the ability to understand and react to your surroundings. It involves perceiving potential hazards, understanding their significance, and then making informed decisions to ensure safety. This skill is crucial for navigating everyday situations. And, it’s becoming more important in today’s world to respond effectively to threats and unexpected events.

Here’s a breakdown of key aspects, hopefully, it will help someone.

Perception:

Observe your surroundings:

Pay attention to your environment, including people, objects, and events.

Identify potential hazards:

Look for anything that could pose a risk, like unusual behavior, suspicious activity, or unsafe conditions.

Use all your senses:

Don’t rely on sight, be aware of sounds, and smells.

Limit distractions:

Minimize distractions, don’t have your face in your phone all the time, and stay away from devices that have excessive noise to stay focused.

2. Comprehension:

Understand the situation:

Analyze what you perceive and determine if there is a potential threat or hazard.

Consider the context:

Think about the environment, the people involved, and the potential consequences of the situation.

Recognize patterns:

Identify any unusual or out-of-place behaviors or situations

3. Action:

Make informed decisions:

Based on your perception and understanding, decide on the best course of action.

Choose appropriate responses:

Determine how to react to the situation, whether it’s avoiding a potential threat, seeking help, or taking other necessary steps.

Act quickly and decisively:

Don’t hesitate to take action when needed to ensure your safety or the safety of others.

4. Developing Situational awareness:

Practice mindfulness:

Be present in the moment and pay attention to your surroundings.

Trust your intuition:

Listen to your gut feeling when something doesn’t seem right.

Identity escape routes:

Know the exits and safe areas in your environment. Sit facing the door, sit on the end so you can be close to the exit.

Review your surroundings:

Periodically assess your environment and identify potential hazards.

Limit distractions:

Avoid distractions like phones or electronic devices as well as noises as much as possible.

By developing these skills, you can enhance your ability to perceive, understand, and respond effectively to your surroundings. This ultimately improves your safety and well-being. Its like drawing a mental map that helps us understand where we are.

I’m not saying it will always keep you safe, but in today’s world everything we can do will help.

A lack of situational awareness leads us to a state of situational stupidity, which consists of maintaining a thoughtless and/or ignorant position in which we do not take into account the environmental factors to make decisions. We run the risk of disconnecting from reality and acting on unrealizable desires and irrational expectations.

Spreading Kindness

Write about a random act of kindness you’ve done for someone.

To many times we can be so focused on ourselves and lives we forget about others in our own chaos.

I make it a point of trying to bless someone every day.

Whether it’s giving a genuine compliments, holding the door for someone, or checking in on a friend.

Every week I try to buy someone’s coffee behind me. Granted it’s not a caffe latte cappuccino brown sugar Java almond breeze nonsense, it’s from a convenience store but I know I made a persons a little brighter.

With fear, the need for power and group mentality seemingly trying to be taking over the world. It’s important to spread a little light in each day.

Those random small acts of kindness go a long way in a dark world.

Living A Blessed Life

How do you think people live a blessed life? The humble truth is believe in Jesus and be generous.

Living a blessed life isn’t really about getting it’s about being. The Bible tells us what it means to be blessed over 200 times. Throughout the scriptures, it describes times when God bestows His favor in a variety of circumstances and purposes. It began in Genesis with Adam and Eve. Being blessed is something God intended for mankind from the beginning. But sin has distorted that blessing.

The Hebrew Word for blessing is berakah something that brings prosperity and life. Paul tells the Gentiles in Romans 4:7-8, “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered, blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count as sin.”

Paul quotes from Psalm 32:1 to argue that Gentiles (us) also received this blessing of forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus. He wants to make it clear that God’s blessing and the blessing of Abraham are for all people -that anyone can be blessed by God and can become His.

The ways Jesus describes bring blessed also show us how to live in a way that brings prosperity and life. Matthew 5:3-12 talks about the beatitudes, Jesus list the blessing by naming characteristics that represent His heavenly Kingdom in the Sermon on the Mount.

People whose life situations can seem far from a blessing, and don’t fit neatly in the trendy hashtag, and who mourn, are meek, persecuted, and poor in spirit can be blessed.

For Each blessed one Jesus names, He also announces a spiritual blessing, which far outweigh our earthly circumstances. These blessings include inheriting theearth, receiving mercy, and being called children of God. All these things are gifts from God.

What Jesus called blessed reveals the Father’s heart for us. A deep well of blessing to quench our thirsty souls.

Being blessed is not a spiritual substitute for being lucky. Meaning the good things in life don’t happen by chance. God who made heaven in the earth, still brings good things into our lives.

We become blessed when we are more like Him. It doesn’t come from material things. Being blessed is a perspective, a mindset of joy despite all our circumstances. It’s a pursuit of the knowledge and understanding of God‘s grace. A fierce resolved to seek His kingdom, His Word, Hid truth despite the temptations of blessing from the world.

Being blessed is more than a gift of material prosperity. It’s a state of being inextricably linked with a deep conviction to the One true God and all that He is.

We can live a blessed life by pursuing Christ -Ephesians 1-3

We can life a blessed life by being a does of the Word not just a hearer – James 1:22

We can live a blessed life by examining the lavishness of God’s grace -Romans 4:8

Sometimes it’s a struggle with disconnecting our blessings from physical circumstances because this is not what the world tells us. When we recognize that living a blessed life isn’t something we have to work for, buy, achieve, fulfill, and socially share to live up to that’s when we can truly feel and understand the blessing from God.

When we find we are sufficient in Jesus, we can see the depth of God’s blessing. But we have to fight for it and pursue it daily, or we can forget that we have it and get too comfortable in our worldly surroundings to experience the deep, joy of being blessed by God.

Describing Myself To Someone Who Can’t See

How would you describe yourself to someone who can’t see you?

If I had to describe myself to someone that was blind I would start with my physical appearance.

My hair is brown and thick. I have brown eyes, my skin is medium tan.

I am 4 feet 11 inches tall, but I carry myself with quiet confidence and I have a vibrant laugh one that can be heard from across the room.

No Weapon Formed Against You

Canyonlands National Park – Southeastern Utah

“No weapon that is formed against you will prevail, and you will condemn every tongue that rises against you in judgement. This is the heritage of the Lord’s servants, and their righteousness is of Me, says the Lord” -Isaiah 54:17

Today it seems we are under spiritual attack from every direction, but the good news is that not one of Satan’s weapons can harm you if you follow Jesus and live righteously.

Every morning Satan and his forces of darkness rise against you with every weapon and will do everything they can to take us down spiritually.

If satan can’t get to us with a direct attack, he will wage war in our thoughts, and by words. He whispers in our ears things like, “you’re not good enough,” “you don’t have what it takes, you’re a failure. He reminds us of our past sins and tries to fill us with shame and guilt. These words can cut deeper than the sharpest sword and can do just as much to damage us. Satan’s goal is to discourage us enough in our walk with God and our desire to be used by Him.

The promise that “No weapon formed against us,” declares that satan’s attacks are powerless against us. All his weapons are useless because Jesus protects us. He is standing in the way between us and the enemy.

When I was facilitating a support group years ago. I young lady would come quite often. I would go around the table and have everyone tell us how their week went. On multiple occasions, she would talk about how someone would talk about her, or get in a fight. It broke my heart because she would attempt suicide quite often. I tried to speak to her, about it. But she couldn’t get past people speaking badly about her, she would tell me, she had bad thoughts and would end up trying to take her life. That is satan and his minions (as I like to call them), attacking her.

No accusation can wound us because the blood of Jesus has removed our sin. Satan’s weapons fall useless before us. When you’re a child of God you are surrounded with God’s protection and love.

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that on days I struggle with ugly thoughts. I can stand on God’s promises:

He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world -1 John 4:4
God keeps me in perfect peace when my mind is stayed in Him, because I trust in Him -Isaiah 26:3 (Paraphrased).
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil -Ephesians 6:11
In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one -Ephesians 6:16

We live on a spiritual battlefield the Lord stands with us. When we stay focused on Him no attack or accusation can succeed. Jesus deflects every weapon satan uses against us.

Family Traditions

What traditions have you not kept that your parents had?

Old family traditions like large get togethers are a thing of the past. I think it has been the downfall of the family dynamic.

Our geological areas have made it harder, along with work hustles and cultural shifts.

Family tension and unresolved conflicts often reduce the desire to gather together. And the loss of people who were the anchors of generations.

I miss getting together with my family. Some of my cousins I haven’t seen in over 5 years.

It seems like the only time we get together is for funerals and weddings.

The Hidden Root

Every thing we struggle with in life has a hidden root cause. We live in a hyper connected world. We live in a world where mental heath issues are on the rise. Anxiety, depression, personality disorders, and various other psychological ailments plague people across all age groups. I for one have noticed an up rise since the pandemic.

While there are multiple factors that contribute to mental illness, the underlying cause often goes unnoticed, shame is a deeply ingrained emotional response. I have a friend that works in the clinical psychology field and we were talking about the uprise the last few years. He said fear and shame shapes our self-perception and interactions with society. It has a profound impact but remains largely unaddressed.

Modern society imposes unrealistic expectations on people. Social media sets impossible standards of beauty, success, and happiness. Workplace environments can demand perfection, leaving little room for human error, so much so that they are creating AI robots to take our place. Family and cultural conditioning can enforce rigid beliefs about what is acceptable and what is not.

Every perceived failure whether missing a deadline or struggling in a relationship can fuel our inner critic that whispers “you are not good enough.” Chronic self-doubt leads to anxiety, and over time, depression. When everything people do is met with shame, self-worth diminishes, and an internal belief arises that we are inherently incapable. As time goes on this unresolved shame can manifest as avoidance, low self-esteem, withdrawal, and even gender confusion. We see it happening all around us.

Keep in mind that shame is different than guilt. While guilt arises from recognizing a wrongful act, shame makes a person feel that they themselves are fundamentally flawed. Shame is deeply rooted in the fear of rejection, and failure or being seen as unworthy.

My friend explained it this way to me. Neurologically, shame activates the same brain region that’s associated with physical pain. The body responds with stress hormones, which leads to anxiety, depression, and even physical symptoms like chronic fatigue, digestive issues, and immune dysfunction. If unresolved shame becomes a breeding ground for more severe psychological disorders, like obsessive compulsive disorder, eating disorders, and addiction.

When he talked about this it was like my whole life was re-playing in the background. Everything fell into place, my childhood, my fear of rejection, my alcohol and drug use, all my struggles were because of the shame and fear I experienced. It all finally began to make sense.

I have written time and times again that until we find the root cause of the problems we face, we are not going to be able to fix anything. But I had no idea that the root cause to many things come down to fear and shame.

I don’t get a chance to see or visit with my friend very often, because of his crazy busy life, but every time I do it’s a wide-eyed opening experience.

When Time Breaks

There will be a time when the end of the age will come. The Bible gives of clues before this will happen. God never does anything without warning us first.

The Bible describes various events and conditions that signal the conclusion of the current system of things or the end of the world.

The “last days” are marked by signs like wars on a large scale, famine, earthquakes, disease, crime, and the ruining of the earth.

Deteriorating attitudes, thr breakdown of families, diminished love for God, and religious hypocrisy are also prophesied.

An increased understanding of Bible prophecies and a global preaching work are also expected.

There will be specific end time events

The Rapture: Many people believe in a future event where are believers, living and dead, will rise into the heavens and join Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 tells us, “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with God’s shofar. The dead I’m Messiah will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever.” Im not telling you what to think, but I know something will come to pass mainly because so many things have happened that line up with Bible prophecy.

The great tribulation: A period of unprecedented suffering and distress on earth is described.

The second coming of Jesus: Jesus is prophecies to physically to physically return to earth after the tribulation.

The millennial reign: This refers to a literal or symbolic thousand year reign of Jesus on earth. This interpretation differs among religious denominations.

The end of the world: The heavens and earth, ad we know them, are prophesied to pass away, and a new heaven and earth will be established.

People Study end time prophecy because it offers people hope and purpose while living in a broken world. It demonstrates God’s sovereignty and control over sin and reassures us of the promises of God.

If you believe anything in the Bible you have to believe it all. It’s all connected.

There definitely is a divine intervention going on that mark significant shifts in the unfolding of God plan that reminds us of His power and ultimate authority over all things, including thr passage of time itself.

Having A Typical Day

Was today typical?

I try to structure every day with practices that reflect my relationship with God.

A typical day usually begins at 2 or 3 in the morning doing a bit of writing and prayer and Bible reading. This morning was no different.

I ask God to send me someone to bless, just being able to bless someone with kindness, or grace. Having a prayerful mindset helps along the way. If I can do this my day is almost always typical.

Describing Myself

How would you describe yourself to someone?

I am strong and compassionate but I thrive on solitude. I walk through life with quiet strength with empathy but I keep both hidden beneath a reserved exterior.

I choose solitude not out of Destin for others, but because I find peace and clarity in it.

I may not speak often, but when I do, my words carry weight.

I’m the kind of person who walks alone into the storm to protect others from it. I never expect anything from anyone.

My compassion is quiet, steady and loyal it shows in actions not words.

The Beast System

Do you remember when everyone paid with cash or paper checks?

Credit receipts were made in triplicate -one page for the customer, one for the seller, and one for the bank. And there were machines that imprinted name and account numbers through two lightweight paper sheets, and one tag board sheet, each separated by carbon paper. Personal checks were written out at checkouts to grocery’s or other items, and then the cashier wrote down the payers , drivers license and home phone number.

Research now shows that 46% of Americans don’t even worry about carrying cash. There are Americans who never purchase anything with cash. Americans are largely paperless when it comes to their shopping.

Credit and debit cards have taken in the place of paper checks. And growing list of electronic payment options are available today, like Apple Pay, Google pay. People can access their bank account for payment by scanning the code from their phones. Social cap sharing apps like Venmo, Cash app. Or Google wallet enable people to repay friends and split restaurant bills by sending money electronically with a click of a button.

We are headed to a cashless society. But what does this have to do with the Beast system in the Bible? What does this trend what electronic and passive society have to do with the Bible, prophecy, and the end times.?

The Bible reveals that the antichrist will unite the world under one government -one united economy. Every person will be required to take a mark in order to buy or sell goods of any kind.

This mark can be an actual physical brand, but it could very easily be connected to the technological advances being made today. This means that our access to our money can be shut off at any time. They will know what we’re buying at all times.

Even our phones today, require facial profile , or a fingerprint to unlock them. Our phones have the capability for government agencies to track us.

All of this can have sinister potential. It provides a perfect weapon in an arsenal of tyrant world domination.

The Bible tells us that a despotic ruler will govern the entire world the last half of the tribulation period, and he will likely use technology to accomplish his purposes (Revelation 13:16-17).

If you noticed you look something up on your computer or phone, and start getting ads for those items, you’re not alone. The Internet is society‘s brain, continually patrol by cyber bots that make connections. It’s an omnipresent search engine. Google can target marketing specifically to our interests by following us, around the Internet, noting where we stop, shop, and search.

Not only can they figure out what we like, and want, they create those very needs and wants for us. It’s become frightening to see the development of a wireless chip, getting ready to be implanted directly into our human brain and that’s the kind of control the antichrist is all about.

If it seems drastic to connect financial technology with the mark of the Beast, we can read in the Bible or prophecy, was written with words and from the context of human authors in their day. When a parcel John wrote of the mark, he naturally thought of a slave or a criminal being branded of his day, the kind that would put a literal and permanent mark on the hand or forehead. We cannot be sure the mark of the Beast will conform to John’s conception of it.

Maybe this mark will be an electronic identification signature with a cell phone or other device that will control our ability to make purchases when the world becomes cashless by the time the antichrist comes.

Several Bible verses offer messages of preparation and reassurance emphasizing that God’s plans are for good and not harm, and encouraging us not to be afraid. Be aware, not scared.

Dinosaurs

If you could bring back one dinosaur, which one would it be?

I like Raptors, I also like Pterodactyls. They are a genus of extinct flying reptiles. These winged lizards are not dinosaurs or land dwelling reptiles but they are their flying cousins.

They had a massive wing span of 33 feet. It would be amazing to see one of these flying in the sky.