1. 
2. BE STILL AND KNOW!!!
3. Trump is president elect and Pence is VP elect... It is what it is and I personally feel that God was involved every step of the way in this process that was "against all odds"!
4. What we "fear" will control us!
5. What we "feed" will grow just as what we "starve" will die.
6. I've said it before, but right now it begs repeating and even looking into for this day... this time... this season.
7. Confession: during y2k (remember that time?) I was a hoarder of peanut butter... Troy used to say "carla do we have peanut butter in every cabinet and in the hills too?" (little did he know) LOL
8. I can laugh about it now... but I will tell you that I KNOW it was "fear" driven by media and news I watched that drove me to ridiculous reactions.
9. (Do you know anyone who has been driven by "media" lately? Do you know anyone who has believed lies (of any sort) because they saw it on TV? Fox, CNN, ABC, or Saturday night live?... Where and from whom do you get your information? Your truth?
10. I divert.....
11. Do I believe preparation is a right and good thing? YES I do!!! BUT
12. I was given a mandate... "Carla... if you are contemplating ANYTHING because you begin with the word...'I'm afraid if I don't do _____that I might need it and not have it."... Then I may NOT do anything until I've come to a point that it is not my "fear" that drives me, but a reasonable and sensible VOICE outside my own that says..."ok.. this is something "I" am asking you to do."... YES, I believe I can (you can) hear God, and I believe HE tells us what to do because He loves me/you.... THAT IS NOT FEAR...
13. Sometimes I do nothing.... sometimes I do something, but what i do is not because I am afraid!
14. I hear the words "fear", "terrified", "afraid", "offended", so very many times in so very many places these days...
15. I get disgusted then I get sad, then bumfuzzled, then sad again... HOW MANY ROLLERCOASTERS are we gonna ride?
16. One of my "God given" sons says... "It is what it is"... and maybe that means that sometimes we just "stand firm" and "BELIEVE" that this life is not ours to control or demand, but GOD'S to do with as HE, in HIS Omniscience, Omnipotent, Omnipresent power does BEYOND my belief or my understanding... Just "Stand" Carla, and do what I ask you to do when and where I ask you to doit.

OUR CALL is only OUR CALL

THE CALL IS OURS ALONE!!
We can never answer the "call" of another's life. Just like a parent wanting to spare their children of hurts and pains, we may stunt their growth by taking away the opportunities to respond to the circumstances the LORD allows. A wise momma told me... "we, as parents, choose the training grounds for our children.".... There is an admonition there as well... Where is your child "training"?... under who's authority? The call on our lives is our CALL only... even as adults... what is the arena that is training us for the success of our call?

In the Interim of the Conventions:
I've heard so much these last few months about "what America needs".
I'm thinking what America needs is TRUTH!!!
Unity is being touted everywhere...
We need to all come together to defeat_____
you fill in the blank?
There seems to be nothing that is "satisfactory".
Schools
Sexual orientation (WHAT IN THE WORLD??)
Education
Religion
Medical directives
Money matters
Stocks
Businesses
Nationality
World issues
You name it... there is division and stress so much that these SYSTEMS are crumbling... so what is the "seemingly" right answer, as the leaders of our nation and others cry "MINE MINE MINE"... as immature 2 year olds wanting their own way?
What I am hearing everywhere is "we need to just come together on this or that"... "we need to just love one another"... "we need unity"...
I am telling you that for me this has become a RED FLAG!!
I am finding that often when there is about to something for me to choose there will be coercive speeches and manipulative words that appeal to my personal biases or stands.... the thing that I see happening is, for me, I am being asked to sacrifice "something" so that I can be part of something else... something "everyone who is smart, wise, loving, generous... whatever... is doing".
Here is the statement that boomed in my heart last week, and I am still testing out the stability of the statement. Is it someplace I will stand? Right now.... I am thinking... yes!

There is absolute truth... it is beyond my belief and it is solid. I believe that "the Truth will set us free"... I believe that Jesus is "the way the Truth and the life"... I believe that as I listen to the political posturing and the religious pundits (I don't care which religion... all are speaking LOUDLY right now!!! I must filter it!) .... I know that I know that I know... I can stand firmly on the Word of God that is sharper than any two edged sword and will get straight to the marrow (heart) of the issues.
 LORD give me wisdom and courage as I discern with the help of Holy Spirit in this time of lies and deceit. Help me find the truth in the words of the men and women YOU raise up for Your purposes in my life, my family's life, my country's life and the world..... YOU are the rock and strong tower to which I hold.