Tornadoes and More (God is So Good)

 If you know anyone from "Tornado Alley," you may know someone close to God. You see when we pray out this way, we don't do it with all the hype and rituals associated with the prim and proper pious people. Oh no! We pray straight to God and close our prayers with "In Jesus' name" because we know who we're talking to, and we know we don't get to the Father unless we go through His Son!

    Oklahoma has long been associated with being one of the major hubs for tornadoes. We don't call them "twisters," no matter how many movies they make about them. They are all called tornadoes, not even cyclones. Nope, they are called tornadoes, and we know them. We are well acquainted in these parts. 

    When we see them (when we have warning), we watch them until they get really too close, and we head to the lower part of our homes, or to what we affectionately call our "Gary England space,"; giving homage to our all-time favorite weatherman, Gary England, who was actually in the first "Twister" movie -- he's a rockstar! We love the man. All the other great meteorologists living in our fair state are top-notch! They'd have to be if they wanted to show up on our television sets or be heard on our radios. We don't mess around with the weather here in the Sooner State, ma'am or sir!

    So, this weekend, right after we all turned our clocks back, God decided to twist things up in the skies above us. We didn't have that extra hour of sleep in our state, nope, we were jerked right out of bed by KOCO Channel 5's alert, followed by KWTV-9 weather alerts and three minutes later, we heard the sirens. Talk about being ill-prepared. First, I'm in bed, not awake. I'm thrown into reality, but the real part of that word didn't have a chance to catch up before we had to gather the dogs and cram ourselves into the tiny closets that we never got around to fully clearing out because tornadoes don't happen in November...well, apparently, they do!

    I found myself wearing the "wrong" bra, one I never would have chosen, but it was where my hands landed. I had on a pair of sweatpants backward because I had just put my two legs into them. This was followed by me not remembering my glasses, my keys, my purse, or my shoes! Thank God (and I do mean that) I had a pair of slippers in the dang closet. I did turn my sweatpants around in the closet, but I had to stand on top of a chair that I had stashed in it - while my dog lay under the chair in somewhat blissful ignorance of what was happening around her. 

    I darted out of the closet for what probably took fifteen seconds; I found my glasses, my purse, and my keys and checked on my daughter to be sure she had what she needed. We both found the bike helmets we stashed in the closets for these reasons and began praying. We couldn't catch one of the dogs, so we prayed over her as well. The cats never get taken into safety for obvious reasons; they'd kill us while we were trying to save their lives. They fend for themselves. If that sounds incredibly rude or mean, I apologize, but having been torn up by a tabby once, I made that decision long ago.

    The tornadoes passed us, of course, as they do. Then, out of NOWHERE this morning, just 28 hours later, it was time to rinse and repeat! WHAT? That's right - another wave of tornadic weather was beating down on us, and this time, it was beating directly down on our area. More prayers!! This time, and I say that loosely, this time I took three or four seconds to breathe. My alarm had gone off at 6:10, and the alerts hit two minutes later. I was up, found the right clothes, grabbed my glasses, my cell, my purse, and my keys, and I very quietly approached the dog we couldn't catch the day before.

    With everyone in place, we actually never had to take cover. God lifted the storm up to the north, then the other one went south, and we breathed again. We continued praying because there were still lots of folks these things were going to visit. That's another thing we do in America; we pray for others. We know the hardships; we've lived through a few ourselves. When we turn the television on in our house, because we're so busy with our lives, it's either to watch the weather or maybe catch the end of a good game that we remember was being played.

    In Oklahoma we have four seasons; hot, cold, storm, and football -- funny how we can also have all four in one day -- even in November!

PHOTO CREDIT: KOCO - Channel 5 Oklahoma City 11/3/24

STRATFORD -- The Book is Being Written (Chapters 1&2)

     Chapters one and two of Stratford are written, and I think I saw there are about 4600 words, so that's not bad. I think the entire thing will be the same as all of my books; it will be about 30-32 chapters, about 86000-90000 words, and a 5 x 8 book. I've already designed the cover, so I'm at least that far into it.

    Chapters one and two focus on our good friend Eoghan (pronounced Owen) MacRae of Edinburgh, Scotland. He is leaving Edinburgh, leaving Scotland entirely, and moving overseas alone. His wife of less than a full year, has decided to move back to her homeland of the Orkney islands in the far north of the country after suffering a dramatic miscarriage of their child. She was not expecting to lose the child, and doing so completely devastated her to the point she could no longer live around people she felt were uncaring and harsh. This, of course, wasn't how she felt about her husband or his family, but nearly everyone else she had encountered for years left her wanting to return.

    Because Eoghan is such a city dweller, and he had never been comfortable in the country or small towns without the hubbub and bustling of a live surrounding, Alice Ann knew he would be better off remaining where he lived. Theirs was a swift and indeed intense relationship, but it was over, and she was able to make that statement. When his children were carted off to be educated in London, and his mother followed, having sold their house, he lived virtually at the police station where he worked at the front desk. When the police chief let him know that the new budget wouldn't allow for him to be employed by them any longer, he was forced to make a decision to go where he knew he would be loved and welcomed and where he could sustain gainful employment; he moved to Oklahoma to be with Nick Posh and his family.

    Because the remaining Posh novels will contain a good amount of Eoghan MacRae and his experiences, I had to find a way to bring the two men together again so that it made sense to the readers. It really sucks right now for Eoghan, but through the book, he'll begin to understand that family and true friends are deeply rooted, and neither time nor space can separate them from loving one another. It works out. I promise.

    That's chapters one and two. Tomorrow, I'll likely write at least three or maybe four chapters. I'll also likely only write on the weekends, except in November, when I'll be off on my birthday, a Friday, and we're off Thanksgiving. The day after, I'll have a bit more time to finish the book around the end of November and/or the first weekend of December. I'll tweak and fluff it a week or two later, and it will be up for grabs around Christmas, but it won't be the one you want to start with! No, it's number 5 in the Posh series. You can't just pick up #5 and go on!  There are rules, you know!

Photo Credit: Me

Meet Kiba!! (our new puppy)

So, you guessed it - we have a fourth dog. He still counts, even though he'll never weigh more than six pounds. He's about one pound now, at 14 weeks. He was born around the first of July, but we'll give him July 7, 2024, as his official birthday because it's the same day that Laura's dog Yuuki was born in 2007 -- and he's mostly Chihuahua, just like Yuuki. 

    One of my co-workers was talking about his PomChi dog giving birth sometime in the summer; when I think about it, it was around the 4th of July. I just can't remember if it was before or after. I picked up Kiah on the 4th of July and thought to myself that if I had just waited, I could have just picked up one of his pups. But it's a good thing I have Kiah. I really like her. She's an amazing, crazy dog.

    So, my co-worker's little dog mated with a full-blooded Chihuahua, herself being a half-Chihuahua; therefore, the pups are 3/4 Chihuahua, and so was Yuuki, but his other part was Dachshund. This dog will likely only be between five and eight pounds; Yuuki wound up being 12 pounds. Ginger weighs 14-15 pounds, but she's much thicker and more dense than she looks. She's a Chihuahua mixed with Pug and Dachshund, so she's a little bigger.

    My friend was sad about two weeks ago, telling me that his puppies all contracted parvo, and two of the four live-born puppies died from the disease. He hoped the last two would survive, but the expense of having them treated was simply out of the question; he couldn't do it. I don't blame him, when Yuuki was young he also contracted parvo, and if we had to have him treated with all he needed it would have been $$$$ but luckily we had a vet tech friend, and she helped every single day with his IV and other methods of treating him.

    I remembered quite a bit of what she told us, and I could buy the meds he needed for both his puppies and have them sent directly to his house. He took them to the vet for training and consultation, and I paid for that as well. I also bought him some vaccinations online and had them sent to him as well -- the puppies would need them after they got over the virus. We prayed. All of us prayed. Several of my friends prayed, too. We asked not only for their healing but also for my friend to see God's amazing love and power through these little doggies.

    Well, as God would have it - not fate, we don't believe in fate. We believe in God. As God would have it, the puppies lived, and they thrived! Good poops, eating well, drinking well, running around, and they pulled through it completely!! My friend gave them their vaccinations a couple of days ago, and they came through that well too! All is good in puppy-ville! He was visiting his relatives up this way today, and brought Kiba to us!  Laura named the puppy Kiba, which in Japanese means "big fang"....I laughed.  He bit me.  I completely understand now.  (smiles)

    Within minutes of taking possession of the little guy, we headed off to Big Lots to get him some food, a collar, a little harness, and all the stuff he will need -- except because he's about one pound, nothing really fits. We brought him home, and let me just say he's the hit of the parade! All three girls love him; the cats could care less, but as we suspected she would, Ginger has definitely taken possession! She is the mother dog - and he has no problem with that.

    He's gonna fit in just fine. 

Kiba!

Big Decision (Well, for me, anyway)

 I was first licensed to sell life insurance in 1983. April of 1983, to be more precise, and I was one of those people you may have heard about who went from door to door to collect literally only a dollar or two to pay down tiny baby insurance plans that were started in the 1940s. Seriously, people bought policies that cost about three dollars a year, and I would go by their homes and pick up their change and/or checks for the amount, mark their books with a certain pen that nowadays could be purchased online, and they could mark their own books. 

    I've been in the insurance business or working in the industry in one form or another for most of my adult life, even when I was a paralegal or had other positions. I kept my insurance licenses up because retaking the test is a BEAR! I know; I've let the licenses lapse, and taking the test again was not fun.  Well, I'm about to let it go for good now; the life, health, accident insurance, property, and casualty producer licenses. I'm keeping my adjuster license. I am an adjuster. I  need it. I am licensed in about 12 states, and there are 17 more states where you don't need a license to practice, so I'm all over the place - in theory.

    I've decided to let the producer licenses go because I won't sell insurance in the future. I will investigate it, subrogate it, and examine it, but I won't sell it. I don't have a need to. It's something I've thought of doing for about two years, but because my licenses are renewed in about a month, I've decided to simply not renew those. I took some time today to study for the last required credit hours needed for the adjuster's license today - I'm in compliance. I will renew the adjuster's license.

    Laura, my middle kid, will take the adjuster's exam tomorrow, and when she passes, she, too, will be a property and casualty adjuster in the State of Oklahoma. She won't go to work with me, but she'll find a good company with good pay and good benefits. I'll help her do that, and we can share war stories because there are always war stories in this industry. It's the worst - and the best. It's a great industry, and it's very necessary to say the least. EVERYONE must have insurance on their homes and cars -- and other things.

    I'm making a good living at the subrogation company I work for. If I ever left it, I would fall back on my Xactimate education and do actual adjusting, I'm sure. I don't need to now because I'm doing well as a subrogator. It's not hard; it allows me to have the freedom I have and want, and if I had any complaint, it would be that the benefits aren't as good as they could be. Maybe I could pay for a better plan, and I'll check into that. I hope the Rapture comes, and I don't have to worry about it.

    The simple fact is that time has passed, and it's time to give up the producer licenses. I will forever investigate, and I will forever subrogate—I like this side of the equation. It makes me feel good to get into the mix, determine liability, and recover what should be recovered. I'm one of the fair subrogators, and if that sounds like an impossibility, you need to know there are a few of us.  It's best to be honest - honestly...I'm not lying.

Photo Credit: livemint.com

Kiah Update. She's Fine.

 Many people wanted to know how Kiah (my dog) is doing after her spay surgery about 3 or 4 weeks ago.  She's not only over it; she's been over it for a while. The vet told me she was up and at it about 15 minutes after the surgery, and he hadn't expected her to be so active.  He gave her enough meds to keep her sedated, but once he brought her back, he said she only rested a few minutes, and then she was ever so ready to go home.  She was on antibiotics for 10 days but only needed or wanted the pain meds 2x.

    Kiah, if you didn't know, is my new pup. She came to me in the middle of the Summer; in fact, I got her on the 4th of July. It wasn't a big thing; I wasn't going out to find a dog that day, but I was off work, and she was available, so she came home with me when I found her online. The owners said she was a smaller dog, and they had a photo of her, but it was a little deceiving, to say the least. As it turns out, she's half Schnauzer and half Border Collie! That's not a small breed. She'll top out around forty pounds. She's about 22-23 pounds now, at 8 months old.

    Kiah is a bouncy dog; if you know the two breeds in her DNA makeup, you may recognize them as being really active dogs. Both dogs are herding working dogs; the Border Collie is a Scottish dog, and the Schnauzer is a German breed. Both are and have been used in the past for herding sheep and other livestock. She has a nippy thing going on, too; when she wants me to do something, she's been scolded for it.

    Since the day I brought her home from the vet's, she's been going like gang-busters. She runs, jumps, and skips around. I had to keep the cone on her as best I could for 3 or 4 days, but that's as long as it stayed - she was not into it. I managed to keep her from chewing or licking her stitches, and finally, after about five or six days, they began either falling out or being chewed out, but they had done their job by then - she had ONE remaining stitch, and it lasted a full three weeks before I trimmed it and it came out. She was pretty happy about that. I think it sort of freaked her out a little.

    We have other dogs and cats, too, so she was not about to let them have all the fun, all the treats, and the better spots on the couch or bed. She wiggled her way right up into my lap every chance she got, and she still does.  I'm not going to lie, we have a  few animals, but we don't hoard them, we sleep with them. We live with them, we play with them, we love them, they go places with us and meet up with others when we can arrange it.  Kiah is one of the most active dogs I've ever met. I think she could be a good agility dog if I had the time to make that happen. 

    Most Border Collies can clear a fence. Luckily, Kiah hasn't attempted that, but she can do a standing jump, which is quite impressive. She also likes the mini trampoline in my room. I'd say overall, she's been happy to be home, and she probably won't trust me again if I say we're going to see Dr. Crosby. I don't believe in lying to the dogs, so I tell them what's happening. She should have been prepared, but alas, she was completely shocked at the entire ordeal of being spayed. 

    Kiah asked me to tell everyone hello -- so hello from the sweetest, crazy-faced dog I've ever owned.

Photo Credit: ME.  Kiah on the tramp.

    

    

Israel - (Rather Biblical) Watch Her!

    So, here I am, probably one of the few who realize that's happening right now in Israel. Most people, and by most, I mean MOST people, think that Israel is bombing Lebanon and Gaza and wanting to take over land, as well as eliminating Hamas and Hezbollah because of what they are doing or have done to Israel on October 7, 2023, -- it's partly that. That's the final straw. 

    If you read your Bible, you'll know that there must be a few events that take place before the Anti-Christ appears, and if he can't appear until these things happen, and these things are happening, he's either on the scene, and we don't know who he is, or he's on the scene, and we know him, but we don't realize who he is... bottom line, we're edging toward him being revealed, which can't happen until mid-tribulation, literally 3.5 years after it starts, and the Rapture doesn't begin that period. If it is happening, and it is happening, then the Rapture is VERY CLOSE.

    The Rapture of the church is NOT going to start the Tribulation. The signing of the 7-year peace treaty starts the Tribulation. The signing can't come until the Rapture, and the closer we get to a peace treaty that will allow Israel to rest and be falsely lured into a feeling of hope will be AFTER the Rapture. It will spark the Ezekiel 38 war with Russia, Turkey, and Iran coming against Israel, and then the rest of the world (ALL OF IT) coming against Israel as well.

    People now say, "America will not go against Israel", but I'm here to tell you, after the Christians are gone in the Rapture, YES, even America, or what is left of it, will go against Israel.  The Ekeziel 38 war can't happen until Israel is relaxed and at peace, and since they are about to attack Iran in the biggest way possible, the most surprising, the most lethal way, it we are not in the Tribulation...it hasn't started yet, because a peace treaty starts it. This attack will not start the Ezekiel 38 war, but it will start the alliance between Russia, Iran, and Turkey, as mentioned in the chapter. That will happen, and that could happen this week!

    In case you're wondering, here's the order - and no, I'm not speaking out of my hat - this is Biblical.  Israel will do something huge to create an alliance between Russia, Turkey, and Iran. That will be this attack. I can't say that it is the destruction of Damascus, but it could be the complete destruction of Damascus. That's also biblical - Isaiah 17:1, to be exact.  Once the big event (whatever it is) happens, and Iran retaliates, they'll invite Russia and Turkey, or Russia will insist, and Turkey will follow, either way, they align with Iran.

    Then, there will be war - but not the big Ezekiel 38 war. There has to be a treaty signed -- are you following? They'll offer a treaty to stop the madness. Israel will sign it, along with many, and that's going to happen very soon -- but before it does, or before it can, the Rapture must happen because the Rapture must happen before the Tribulation -- even the beginning of it. Some people believe we'll be here on the Earth for half of it, but we can't be. The Bible says we don't know when Jesus is coming, but if we count halfway through the time after the treaty's signing, we can also know when He would return. Nope, we don't, but we do know that the treaty starts the 7-year clock ticking.

    So, where does that leave us? Israel is just about to attack Iran in such a way to utterly surprise the world -- that much we know. The alliance will form. It can happen before the Rapture, but the treaty cannot. We don't know how long the war will last before the treaty is offered, but we know it will be negotiated with the NEW PRESIDENT IN THE WHITE HOUSE.  I'm pretty excited about this election.  Donald J. Trump is a lot of things, and I wouldn't want him to give me relationship advice, but the man is a damned good negotiator - we can't say he's not.

    Keep your eyes on Israel, but more importantly, accept Christ as your Savior while you still have time to do that. If you're still here when the Rapture happens, please find a way to feed the animals -- oh, and yeah, you can still accept Christ, but it will cost you a great deal at that point. Still, eternity in Heaven is worth it -Read your Bible!! Find someone to explain it to you - - it's happening EXACTLY as the Word said it would. 

This is not a drill. 

 

Photo Credit: Jooinn.com

Stratford - The Outline is Done.

 Before I start a book I sit myself down on the couch, usually with a  cup of coffee and at least one dog. I write out the outline of the book by literally listing the events that I think will take place in chronological order, and I break them down somewhat into chapters in order to keep them in some semblance of order.

    Today, I did that with the book "Stratford," and I had two dogs and a fat cat by my side. If you can take those factors into the mix and quantify the book's beginning by the amount of animal involvement I had, this book promises to be good.

    It's October 12, 2024, and at 2:29 p.m., the Red River Rivalry is about to start in genuine. It's been going on for a while, but the game will be televised. I won't see it today because our antenna is out - but it's OK; I'll keep up with it online. There was a time I would have freaked out if I couldn't see every freaking play - those times are gone.

    It is now after 2:30 p.m., and I realize I haven't eaten anything. I didn't even make myself breakfast today. I need to get in that kitchen and drum up something. I have some chicken I can make a pulled chicken BBQ sandwich with, and I can rustle up some veggies or some yogurt with nuts and cranberries. I can do that. I need to do something before I fall through the cracks and die.

    "Stratford" is now on paper as an outline. It has 28 chapters and will be flushed to about 32, probably before the book is ended. It will be about 330 pages and will be finished by Thanksgiving. I'm not rushing it. I want to use AI to write it of course, to guide me, not actually write it - but I want to take the time to read through it more carefully so I catch more mistakes before I send it up -- I am now dealing with having to redo part of "Pinball" now that it's been out a year. I just picked it up and found more mistakes! UGH!!

    Writing can be the biggest headache, but then again, it's the best thing ever—so I do it. I haven't been jumping at the gate to do it lately, but I will enjoy writing this book. It will be a new way of using a creative tool that we have at our fingertips, so why not try it? I'll gain knowledge and be able to write better in the process. It's a win-win.

    Well, I need to get that food down me, and I guess I'll listen to the game online maybe - I may not, I may just check in on it from time to time -- I can't get over how I don't really care anymore. It only proves that time changes things -- maybe the folks in Stratford can figure that out for themselves.

Photo Credit: Pinterest.com

    

STRATFORD -- The Book Cover (is done)

 Others may fuss and fight over what a book cover should look like, but I have a sort of sheer little idea from the second I decide to write a book. I think this one was even faster if that's possible. I knew I wanted to include something distinctly Oklahoman so that when people picked up the book, they wouldn't confuse Stratford, Oklahoma, with any other city by that name. 

    I included oilfields on the back of the book - and on the front, it's just a light sconce from some bank or some other art deco wall. It could be from any building, but it's clearly something you'd see in the 1930s. "Stratford" does take place in 1933 - sometime between July and December; it may creep into 1934 - I haven't written the book yet.  I won't know until I know.

    Right now, all of the characters are sleeping, rolling over, realizing that they're just about to be called upon to be the heroes and villains of my latest book. This book will be the 5th in the Nick Posh Thrillers and will be centered in a small town in the southern central part of Oklahoma. Stratford, Oklahoma, is a very real city with a very real history, and I intend to do my best to expose it - as much as possible. If that sounds really mean, nasty, rude, and unloving, you have not been to Stratford and been "welcomed" by some of their less-than-favorable residents. 

    I am 100% sure there are lovely, great, and fabulous people in the city, but they won't necessarily be the ones I focus on in the book. I don't have to; it's my book. It was my experience, and it will be my retelling -- in the most creative way I can. One of the nicest things about having my creative license renewed as often as I do is that I can say just about anything and everything I need or want to say to get my point across.

    It cost me about $11 in gas to go there and come back, but it cost me $718 in falsified and erroneously rigged charges (IN MY OPINION) that, when explained to me, seemed as if I was not the only person these people had preyed upon—nope, not even close. According to my sources at the Garvin County Courthouse and the Stratford Times newspaper, this Stratford has been cooking the books and pulling the wool for quite some time. 

    In my new book "Stratford," corruption took place on a daily basis and to the point that the Governor of the State, as well as the leaders of the Chickasaw Nation, have commissioned Detective Posh and Private Investigator Eoghan MacRae to expose it all - to take names, and reel in the bad guys!  It will be my pleasure to put a specific law officer and his cohorts at the city courthouse behind bars and in a pauper's grave after the lawman has been shunned by the city, its people, and the entire community he used for ill gain.  One less bad guy -- but he's not alone.

    Please read "Stratford" when it comes out. I think it will be finished and published by Thanksgiving. As with all of my books, the print edition comes out about three weeks before the Ebooks. Right now, I'm converting all the others. It takes a minute, but I don't have to do all the editing. Thank God!

Photo Credit: Me.

New Adventures - New Headaches !

 My excitement level is pretty high—I can't lie about that—but then again, I knew that setting up a new website would have its own tech problems that I wasn't looking forward to. I'm not a very tech-oriented person. I typically lose a few strands of hair over even the act of trying to fix or create something from nothing. If it doesn't have very clear step-by-step instructions (and even if it does), I can't do it.

    I set my mind to making it work, but that didn't stop all the frustration, glitches, problems, stumbling blocks, and things I couldn't understand. It was just nonsense to me. It was pretty easy to go to GoDaddy and register the new domain—it was next to free—but to keep it cost about $60, so it's not free—you need to know that.

    Then, after I got the domain JudeStringfellow.com, I wanted to create a website to go with it. At the top of the domain page was a button directing me to set up my free website - but then again, you MUST KNOW it is not free. After I set it up, worked it, used it, kept it, and improved it, I had to pay $119 or $9.99 a month - charged annually. It's not a bad price, and I'm not complaining about that, but they should tell you that instead of trying to say it's free, it's free if you don't ever want to use it!

    FINE!! After I created it, I wanted to be able to go to www.judestringfellow.com and see my website where I sell my books and offer links to things like my blog, a way to ask me questions about the books, and so on. The real-life problem was that somehow, I managed to buy two Go Daddy products and/or sites, and they wouldn't speak to each other! I had to call the support team and worked with them for over two hours to get it all straightened out - - two hours! They should tell you in the first place that when you click on this new button, it will take you to a separate page where you can't combine whatever you do with the page you currently OWN!

    I had to redo much of what I had already created, but it was worth it. I have the site I want, and I can now say I did it without begging others to help me. I even watched a few videos! I figured it out, and there you go! I'm better at tech than I thought I was -- sort of. I don't really like it. I think you have to like it to be truly good at it. I fuddle - I muddle. I survive. At least now you can go to the site and see the books I'm selling, read the blogs (even this one), and think about talking to me if you have a question for me!

    I'm still working out the final details, and I bet I'll tweak them as I go.  I have to add books, and I may add a page here and there - when it warrants doing so. Thanks so much for visiting my new site. I mean that!! I do really mean that. THANK YOU.

I Got a Rock (I got a few)

 If you know me, you know I love rocks. I don't care about whether it's quartz, citrine, or diamond. In fact, I would probably prefer Jasper and Lapis over a diamond anyway. I'm a little odd. Those little rocks don't interest me as much as the bigger, more common stones do.  To be honest, I'm very impressed with some of the most common rocks in the world. God really knew what He was doing when He made stones.

    I can't tell you how old I was when I first became interested in rocks, but I know I had a few growing up. Our preacher taught and preached that if a rock speaks, we are not praising God as we should. He said (and I clearly remember it) that if you were all by yourself in the woods or at the lake, and suddenly, out of nowhere, you hear a rock speaking, it would be praising God, and it would be there to remind you that you didn't do what you knew you were supposed to do!

    Well, I didn't have a lot of smarts, I suppose, not at the age of five or six, but I picked up a rock, and I held it in my hands. I told it straight out that it was to keep quiet! I never wanted to hear it, but if it did decide to talk, it would be our secret. Then, lo and behold, when I turned 10 years old, the whole pet rock craze came about, and people gave me several of them; different people who all knew I loved rocks! Pet rocks weren't really rocks. I think they were cement or concrete, but it's the thought that counts.

    Over the years, the many, many years that followed, I have ventured into nature stores to pick up a polished rock or two to add to my ever-growing collection. I have a good-sized collection, not to brag or anything.  I have polished stones and rough stones. I have rocks I've picked up outside from almost every place I've been. I pray with a very special rock, but it's not the one I prayed with for over 28 years. I lost that one somehow - - and my heart is broken because of it. Still, it will show up again; God will bring it to Heaven, I'm sure, and I'll keep it forever. I'm sure of it.

    Today, I received my first "box of rocks" from Amazon. I bought a box of rocks, a tumbler, grit, and polishing foam. I will tumble rocks for the heck of it, and see what they look like around my birthday. It's October 2 now, I'll start on October 6 and stop the machine on my birthday, November 22. If I need to do more, I'll do more. I'll put in a few now and then a few more after that. I plan on doing this for a while -- why not? It's a good hobby, and it's permanent! Rocks are meant to last the test of time.

There are many times in the Bible when rocks are mentioned and used. The gates of Heaven are made of 12 specific stones. These same stones are on the breastplates of the high priests.  Moses struck a rock, Jesus was crucified on one - they were used for alters, cairns, reminders, and more. They are permanent; they will be here when we are gone! Rocks are a gift - and they are too precious to just ignore or throw away. The random rock you throw into the ocean probably took two million years to get to the spot where you found it!

    Did you know that rocks are all the same age? Don't let people fool you into believing something else. I'm not talking about the carbonized diamond - - I'm talking about the rocks that are in the ground, the ones that make up the granite mountains, and those that are on the ocean and sea floors -- you know, rock rocks! They were all made on the same day! You don't have to believe it, but I do. 

    Rocks are not crystals and I don't think people should use them for healing. If, in fact, they have healing powers, it's because God Himself put it in them. I don't worship rocks or use them to bring attention to myself or anyone else - but if one actually talks -- we know why! I never, and I mean NEVER want to hear a rock speak -- not until we're all up in Heaven together, singing and praising with the water, the air, the flowers, the bugs, and everything else - - rocks don't have knees, so they can't bow, but according to the Word, they must have the ability to speak - - so they will confess one day that Jesus is in fact, Lord of lords, King of kings, and He is God!

    Ever wonder why God decided to write the Ten Commandments in stone? Think about it. 

Photo Credit: Me