THE SISTER OF A SOLDIER

                                                                        

During my brother Ed's two tours in Iraq, I wrote and received dozens of letters. For almost two decades, the letters he sent back were laying in my dresser drawer. I recently gave them back to him because I couldn't read them again. I didn't want to remember that time. 

Having a family member fighting in a war is difficult. You know that at any moment his life could be taken, and throughout each day you are wondering, "Where is he now? Is he safe?" Only those who served know what it's like to actually be there in the middle of a war.  

My brother willingly made the decision to join the army after 9/11.  He said it was both the best and the worst time of his life. The men he served with really meant it when they said, "I have your back." And when he received his release papers and was scheduled to go home for good, they protected him even more.

"Get back in the jeep Soldier, you're going home." My brother will never forget those words. Someone he fought with was willing to put himself in harm's way and take my brother's place because Ed was scheduled to go home. 

I'm proud of my brother. I'm grateful for all soldiers. The video below is a beautiful tribute to our American heroes.

https://t.me/RealGenFlynn/2669

LETTERS HAVE LIFE AND POWER

 

            By Danelle Carvell                                                                        

Even one sentence can bring a little life to your day. 

I have a shoe box under my bed filled with letters from childhood friends, family members, and even people who came into my life for a brief moment and then I never heard from them again. I recently came across a letter with a postmark from 1981. It was from a young man I met while attending beauty school. His sister, Margie, was my favorite classmate at Empire Beauty School in Sunbury. The three of us went to lunch one day and I got to know John during a 25-minute converstaion before Margie and I had to head back to class.  

John was in the Navy and stationed in San Diego. He was home visiting family when we met. His letter mentioned that he joined the Navy to see the world and seek adventure. But in the next sentence he admitted that he gets depressed at times because he's constantly on the move so he can't establish any long-term relationships. He also admitted missing his family and friends. I could feel his sense of loneliness as I read his words. For him, writing to me was a way to ease that loneliness, even though we barely knew each other. 

Writing can be very therapeutic. Maybe that's why God gave me this particular talent. I need a way to clear my head... a way to decompress when I'm hurt, disappointed or frustrated. There's something about writing down my feelings that makes me feel better and a little lighter afterwards. A letter can ease our loneliness, help people to understand us better, and get our concerns across when we need to be heard.

I know someone who recently went through a painful break-up. He had a lot of regrets afterward and he needed to tell the girl why he had been so cautious about their relationship. So he wrote her a letter, took a photo of it and sent it to her. The letter didn't fix things between them, but it did get across to her and she is now better able to understand the reasons behind his guarded heart. And he feels a little less troubled by the whole thing. That simple act of putting a pen to paper brought some comfort to both of them.  

I was impressed by his willingness to communicate his feelings. From my experience, most men are not good communicators and I don't see many of them writing heart-felt letters. Communication can be just as difficult for women. So many people keep their feelings bottled up because it's just too hard to say it or get the person to really listen. So we stay quiet and nothing gets resolved. When problems aren't resolved, you can't really let go of them. They haunt you, and the chances are good that those issues will resurface and cause tension in the future. 

Sometimes people are difficult to talk to. Maybe they snap at you while trying to explain yourself, so you can't get your point across. Or maybe they are too hostile to be approachable for a face-to-face conversation. Or sometimes the person can't  admit any wrongdoing, so they refuse to discuss the matter. In situations like that, a letter is the perfect way to communicate because you can express your feelings without interruption and without the possibility of rejection. I have written letters for all of those reasons.  

One thing I have learned about writing letters while I'm upset is that I have to be careful how I word things. I have regrets about letters I've written in the past because they were accusatory and written in an attacking tone. It's easy to fire back when you're feeling beat-up and burned. But I've learned that the best response always comes from someone who does not feel attacked by my words. 

The goal in writing a letter has to be understanding why you are hurt by their words or actions. If your goal is to pound them with accusations, you are just wasting ink. What I do is remind the person exactly what was said or done that hurt me. And then I explain how it made me feel. I keep the focus on my feelings, so the letter doesn't become a total smear assault on someone's character. That only causes the person to get defensive. 

If we want good relationships, we have to communicate. Face-to-face conversation is the ideal way to do that because we can see facial expressions, body language and hear their tone of voice. All of those things are conducive to a better understanding of how a person feels. But sometimes, there are reasons why we can't talk face-to-face. In John's case, his reason was distance. He lived a lonely life and his circumstances made it difficult for him to sit down and talk to a girl. Writing to me brought him some comfort in his lonely world. 

We also can create a lonely world, even when we have people close by. Without communication, a relationship has no life. The Bible says that words have life and power. And sometimes the power to bring comfort to yourself is just one letter away. And the answer to bringing life to a relationship is as close to you as a pen. 

 

WHY RELATIONSHIPS FAIL

    By Danelle Carvell                                                              

A relationship that weathers every storm takes work. Some people just aren't willing to bend. 

Why are relationships so difficult? Maintaining a friendship with someone you don't live with should be easy, but it is not always simple. Maintaining a marriage is even harder because now you are living together while trying to get along. Two people with totally different world views and opinions come together under one roof. Every day brings new reasons to disagree. 

She's a bit sloppy and he's neat and organized, He's a driven overachiever and she's more laid back, She's carefree with money and he is strict with spending, She wants to attend church and he does not, She likes to quickly finish projects and he likes to take his time. And these are just problems that arise before the children come.

The differences between us make relationships challenging. Two people who were raised differently and had different life experiences are expected to merge peacefully? After being in failed relationships myself and after years of watching others fail in romantic attempts, I learned a few things on the subject. Our relationships fail for specific reasons, but we can work on improving ourselves, and hopefully that change will inspire improved behavior in return.

YOU PUSH OUR OWN IDEAS AND EXPECTATIONS ON OTHERS

I have a friend who left her husband because he was an overachiever who expected her to be like him. He pushed her to the point of exhaustion. I also know someone who moved out because he couldn't take the nagging about keeping their house in order. She nagged him about turning lights off, putting dishes in the dishwasher instead of the sink, picking up his socks, and a list of other things.

It would bother me, too, to live with a lazy, messy person. I do need my home to be somewhat organized and clean. But some people are obsessive about the way they want to live and they push that obsession onto others. They expect more than the person is accustomed to or capable of. We simply can't expect people to be like us and have the same values, beliefs, opinions or habits. We have to find ways to meet in the middle if we want to maintain the relationship

YOUR HEART IS TOO GUARDED

Love has to flow in order to grow. People guard their hearts for many reasons, but the end goal is to avoid getting hurt or having to commit. I dated a man who was head over heels for me at the start of the relationship and then a few months later he started to pull away. Looking back, I realize he was avoiding commitment because of a broken past relationship.

He didn't talk about his past break-up, but I knew about it. He obviously had relationship scars and fortunately I figured it out before I fell hard for him. He also had some issues with selfishness. I recall my exact words when we broke up: "I think that you are an incredibly selfish man. Everything is about you....what YOU want and what is convenient for YOU. You don't stop and think about my schedule and what might be convenient for me. And I think that is selfish."

Bam! Game over. Surprisingly he agreed that he had been selfish, so I'll give him points for that. But his deeper problem was his guarded heart. People who guard their hearts deprive themselves of everything a relationship could be, and their non-commital choices guarantee a lonely life. 

YOU LACK EMPATHY

Empathy is identifying with the feelings, thoughts or attitudes of another person. You are able to put yourself in people's shoes and understand what they are going through.  Empathetic people usually have a lot of friends. Everyone wants to be understood. But some people have little to no empathy, perhaps because they haven't experienced hard times so they can't relate or they just don't have the heart for it.  

From what I've seen, people who lack empathy often have a critical spirit and a tough attitude about life. They believe the answer to every problem is to pull yourself up and get on with it. And there are no excuses for staying down. If you don't get back up, then you are either weak or lazy. That is what an unempathetic person believes. It is a selfish way to look at life and people in my opinion. 

YOU OVER-ANALYZE AND ASSUME 

If you are a conscientious person like me, your mind is going all the time. This isn't a bad thing unless your thinking causes you to assume things that might not be true. Facebook might be the biggest place where we assume things about people. Because it is not a reliable form of communication, we can easily misunderstand a comment or assume that we've been snubbed because that person didn't respond. I have done this myself. But there is a cure for assuming, especially if it's something that is really bothering you. Go to the person and talk about it.  

YOU FAIL TO GO TO PEOPLE PRIVATELY WITH ISSUES

The Bible offers much wisdom, and one of the those bits of wisdom is instruction on how to handle personal conflict. We are supposed to meet the person privately and discuss any matter that is troubling us. But how often do we do that? It's just too hard. So instead of clearing up the matter, we ponder it day after day until it sucks the life out of us or causes built-up resentment. 

One thing we should never do is discuss personal conflicts publicly or in front of family or friends while the person is in attendance. This happened to me recently and I'm having a hard time forgetting it because it was so humiliating, and the thing I was accused of didn't actually happen. I could feel the anger rising up in me, but I had to keep my cool in front of my family. To put it bluntly, someone made an ass out of me in front of my family, and that is not a biblical way to resolve conflicts. 

Another thing we should avoid is sharing our conflicts on Facebook. I made this mistake myself and within a day I got a bad feeling about it so I took down the post. If we can't go to the person privately to discuss our gripes, then we should not air them publicly either.

Another mistake people make is getting too involved in conflicts that should be settled by the ones involved. Some people like to be the peacemakers, so they find their own ways to resolve it. They might force the couple to talk and then serve as a mediator. I learned that if you want people to resolve their conflicts, the best thing you can do is pray. Offer advice when asked, but don't become the ringmaster for people's personal problems. 

YOU HAVE A PRIDE PROBLEM

Pride might be the greatest destroyer of relationships because it makes so many other things impossible...we can't ask for help, we can't forgive, we can't apologize, and we can't see past our own needs and wants. Pride is like a destructive wall that comes between people. Someone who is a constant critic, giving lectures all the time, saying how things should be done, or expressing disapproval on a regular basis most likely has a pride problem. 

I know from experience that no relationship can survive the wall of pride. If you see yourself getting up on your high horse, ask for help from God to better communicate to the person you love. If you don't correct yourself, you will soon find that you are living with a distant stranger who does not want to be in your company. No one wants to be bulldozed by a bully every day. 

YOU HAVE AN ANGER PROBLEM

I remember the last thing I said to a guy before I drove away: "You are an angry, hateful man, and I am tired of being your punching bag." I can't tolerate hateful looks on a person's face or harsh words delivered with a raised voice. I would rather live on the streets or in a tent than with an angry, cruel person.

Both men and women can have anger problems. I saw a bit of the Johnny Depp trial and it was clear to me that his wife Amber is capable of angry outbursts. She basically admitted saying hateful things to her husband. And now they are sitting in a courtroom. 

You simply can't expect love to flourish in an angry environment. It's not possible. And if you don't fix it, you will live with a resentful spouse and children who repeat your same angry mistakes. 

YOU CAN'T ADMIT WHEN YOU MESS UP OR YOU CAN'T FORGIVE

And here is a good place to end. An apology is like a healing balm that can restore a relationship. If we can't admit the times when we disappoint, hurt, or otherwise offend someone, then we have a pride problem or some other problem that prevents us from admitting our mistakes. 

No one gets through life without a list of screw-ups. If you think that you have, you are delusional. If you want quality relationships, you absolutely must learn to apologize. It is an essential skill. If you think that you do no wrong, perhaps you would be better off living alone, without a spouse or any friends...just you and your perfect self and maybe a dog. 

And if you can't forgive, you also have a pride problem. How many times has God forgiven you? I know from experience how unforgiveness destroys a relationship. Whenever someone hurts me now, I pray about it immediately because I know I need help in that area. I tend to rehash hurtful words and actions. I can't easily forget an offense. But I know that if I stay angry, I am only hurting myself. I remind myself of all the times I messed up and I say out loud that I forgive that person until I can get past the hurt. 

We may sometimes need to distance ourselves from abusive people, but forgiveness can always be in our hearts for them. We forgive to set ourselves free from resentment. We forgive because we mess up too. 

Yes, relationships take work and those not willing to put in the work do not ever experience the joy of a good and lasting relationship.   

 

THE JOY OF EATING DIRT

                                                                                        

               By Danelle Carvell                                                               

So many people I know feel like crap. And I'm not talking about older people. My daughter says she feels like crap every day. She's exhausted by mid afternoon, gets frequent headaches, has blurry vision at times, and deals with skin issues. She has undergone every test offered by our health care system and has spent a lot of money trying to figure out what the problem is. 

Yesterday she went to a holistic doctor and is feeling hopeful that she will finally get the answers she has been seeking for two years. Holistic doctors look much deeper and they test for problems that other doctors don't even consider...problems such a mold toxicity, parasites, candida overgrowth, and leaky gut syndrome. 

You probably heard about leaky gut syndrome. It sounds strange, but if you're not feeling well yourself, there's a good chance that you are suffering from it. After reading the book, Eat Dirt, I'm convinced that most people I know have symptoms of leaky gut because their lifestyles and the foods they eat would make it impossible for them to avoid it. 

We have a preoccupation with sanitizing everything in sight. Our food is over-pasteurized and loaded with GMOs and pesticides. We rely on antibiotics too much. The products we put on our hair and skin is loaded with chemicals. Our household cleaners are loaded with chemicals. All of these things come with a heavy price and the price is our health. 

You simply can't starve yourself of actual nutrition, eat toxic levels of processed foods, slather your body with chemical-filled products, use chemicals to clean and scent your home, and over-sanitize everything you touch without destroying your gut health. Seventy percent of your immune system is located in the gut. According to Dr Axe, author of Eat Dirt, all of the above mentioned factors plus an insufficient exposure to dirt leads to a breakdown of the intestinal wall, allowing food, bacteria and toxins to seep into the bloodstream. That's what leaky gut is.

I highly suggest you read the book yourself, but I did highlight what I felt were the important parts and I'm going to give you a breakdown of that below. For the sake of time, I'm making it a list. How many of the things below could you change about your lifestyle and food choices? And if you did change those things, would you feel better? Dr Axe believes that leaky gut is at the root of most of our health problems, including allergies, asthma, food sensitivities, diabetes, digestive diseases, arthritis and every autoimmune disease, thyroid conditions, chronic fatigue, autism and more.

HERE ARE SOME THINGS YOU COULD CHANGE TO FEEL BETTER 

1. Ditch hand sanitizers and use essential oils for personal products (Recipes in the book)
2. Reduce antibiotic use
3. Go barefoot and expose yourself to more dirt because the microorganisms in soil improve the absorption of nutrients, eliminate yeast overgrowth and improve bowel function.
4. Chew 30 times per bite
5. Avoid gluten
6. Take healing epsom salt baths with lavender essential oil
7. Drink chicken bone broth for its healing compounds
8. Move your body, get some kind of exercise each day
9. Stop using antibacterial products and give up your deadly addiction to sanitizing everything. Living in too steril of an environment makes our bodies vulnerable to disease.
10. Use household cleaners, soaps and detergents that are chemical-free (Recipes in the book)
11. Use makeup, hair and body products that are chemical-free
12. Eat organic or locally-grown foods that are not sprayed with pesicides, loaded with preservatives, or genetically modified. Do some research on GMOs if you don't understand. As a rule, if the package doesn't say Organic, you can assume it is GMO because they are so widespread in our food supply at this point.  
13. Avoid white and brown sugar, use natural sugars such as honey, maple syrup, molasses, agave or stevia
14. Lower your stress level. Emotional stress weakens the immune system
15. Get off unecessary medications. They all damage the gut lining.
16. Let your kids make mud pies and get their hands dirty
17. Eat seasonally and locally
18. Spend more time outdoors
19. Find other ways to manage pain besides taking a pill (CBD oil, essential oils, accupuncture, massage)
20. Eat locally-grown honey to boost your immune system during allergy season
21. Check your home for mold, especially in the basement
22. Use air fresheners and dryer sheets that are chemical-free
23. Stop eating processed, easy-made boxed and frozen foods, and start cooking from scratch.
24. Drink 8 to 10 cups of pure water each day (Buy a water purifier, don't drink bottled water)
25. Don't eat convenient bags of produce that are rinsed in a chlorine solution. If you see dirt on the produce, that is a very good thing. 
26. Learn about the health benefits of bentonite clay
27. Eat probiotic-rich foods such as kefir, yougurt and sauerkraut
28. Eat raw honey and bee pollen
29. Get a dog
30. Swim in the ocean
31. Take a good quality probiotic supplement
32. Take a soil-based supplement such as shilajit
33. Avoid emulsifiers such as polysorbate 80 and lecithin (especially found in ice cream)
34. Don't use canola, corn, soybean oil or any hydrogenated oil unless you want gut dysfunction. Switch to extra virgin coconut oil for cooking. Olive oil should not be heated.
35. Avoid deli meats with hydrogenated fats, gluten and nitrites
36. Microwave popcorn and nonstick pans contain PFOA, linked to cancer and hormone disruption
37. Take fewer showers
38. Drink raw,organic fermented milk from goats or sheep. (Or raw cow's milk from Jersey or Guernsey cows). Unorganic milks, yogurts, butters and cheeses are loaded with antibiotics given to the cows.
39.  Coconut or almond milk are good alternatives to cow's milk. Coconut is far superior to almond milk for gut health
40. L-glutamine is one of the best supplements for leaky gut (Take 5 grams of powder twice a day with meals).
41. Take digestive enzymes
42. Use almond or coconut flour instead of wheat flour
43. Learn all the foods that have hidden gluten on page 78
44. Avoid artificial sweeteners such as sucralose, aspartame, and saccharin. Avoid Nutrasweet and Equal, found in diet sodas. These synthetic sweeteners are chemically toxic and dangerous.
45. Eat organic, grass-fed beef and chicken or wild-caught fish, which are high in omega-3 fats
46. Eat more fermented vegetables and sprouted foods
47. Learn about the benefits of essential oils for relaxation and healing
48. Learn about medicinal mushrooms
49. Take blue-green algae or one teaspoon of spirulina every day
50. Do not ever use powerful weed killers such as Roundup anywhere, especially if you have children
51. Avoid chlorine in municipal water supplies and household cleaners

Learn about the damage of chemicals in your products such as sodium laurel sulfate, parabens, phthalates, petroleum-based chemicals, DEA, triclosan and a long list of others. Your favorite lotion could be damaging your gut lining, creating antibiotic resistance, and affecting your body's endocrine system, thyroid, pancreas and adrenal glands. Think about every single thing you put on your hair, face and skin. Are you polluting yourself every day?

That is a long list, and it would be expensive to do everything on that list. But small changes make a difference, and your health is worth the effort, especially if you're tired of being sick and tired. 

WHAT I'VE LEARNED ABOUT MOTHERHOOD SO FAR

By Danelle Carvell

After 60 years of observing mothers and 34 years of being one myself, I have learned a few things about motherhood. Happy Mothers Day to moms everywhere. Don't forget yours this Sunday. 

                                                                               

One of the things I love most about my children is their humor. This is what happens when I request a family photo. That's me in the back waiting and making comments. I did get my photo, and it's now my favorite.

                                                                          

Celebrate, praise and talk about your child's success and accomplishments.

Children need to feel valued and appreciated. That is something we all need actually. Saying, "I'm proud of you" is music to a child's ears. My heart aches for children who receive nothing but put-downs and criticism from their parents. That will scar a child for life. 

Sometimes an unhealthy competition develops, especially between mothers and daughters or mothers and daughters-in-law. This could stem from insecurity, which causes envy. That is another reason to build up your children and instill in them a sense of confidence. Encourage them to believe in themselves and their abilities so they never feel threatened by someone who does something better than they do or by someone who has something they don't have.   

Being happy for a child's success will teach them to be happy for the success of others, which is very important as they develop and maintain friendships. I see encouragement as one of my most important jobs as a mom. I haven't been perfect at it, but I do know how very important it is to cheer my children on as they navigate the challenges of life, and that shouldn't stop when they become adults.  

Don't be a controlling Mother

I've read many articles about what happens to children of controlling mothers. Those children end up feeling inadequate because they had mothers who stepped in to do everything for them. The child of a controlling mother will feel that she can't be trusted to exercise good judgement or do anything right. Without her mother's guidance she fears that she will fail. A child must be allowed to try things on her own so she can develop confidence in herself. 

I watched a mother literally pull something out of her child's hands and begin to work on the project herself. Big mistake. Let children make decisions and complete projects the way they want to do it. Let them pick out their own clothes and decorate their rooms as they wish. You want them to be independent some day, so let them get some practice in. So what if they make mistakes or it's not done perfectly. They will never believe in their ability to fly if you carry them through every challenge.   

Tell your children when you are struggling with any problem that could affect them.

This is a tough one. We don't want to burden young children with our adult problems. But we don't want them to feel that we don't care about them either. For example, if a mother is struggling with a health problem, the chances are good that the child will eventually be affected by that. The mother may not feel well enought to give that child the time and attention that she once did, which will leave the child confused. 

As a mother explains to her child the problem that she's dealing with, she must choose her words carefully, depending on the child's age. But saying nothing will only worsen the situation. Communication is always important. But so many of us are not good at it. Some things are difficult to bring up and even harder to discuss. But force yourself to do it, because eventually the child will start asking questions and by then that child might be so filled with resentment that you will wish you had explained yourself sooner. 

Know that we live in a culture that sets up mother/daughter relationships for failure.

For most of my childhood, my mom was at home. My husband had the same kind of childhood. His mom started working outside the home when he was in his early teens. We both saw the value of having a mother at home, so we made the decision to be a one-income family for several years when my daughter was young. 

We live in a society that is very hard on women. They are expected to be breadwinners, good housekeepers  and attentive mothers to their children. It is an exhausting role for one person to manage. Women are far more scrutinized in our society than men, and much of that criticism comes from other women. There is an intense pressure on women today and that society-wide dynamic is very much contributing to relationship conflicts.

I come from a generation that accepted mothers being at home. My daughter comes from a generation that makes stay-at-home moms feel worthless and lazy. In today's culture, women are praised for what they can accomplish and earn. Focusing on her family is not seen as an acceptable way for a woman to live today. 

My daughter and I grew up in different cultural environments with women playing very different accepted roles. How my generation viewed women and their roles is strikingly different than the way her generation accepts the roles of women. This difference between us could easily contribute to conflicts in our relationship. My life values and the things that I believe in could easily conflict with hers because we grew up in different cultures. The culture women grow up in will very much shape the way they see themselves, the way they see other women and the way they communicate. 

As our cultural values clash, women can easily become critical of one another's lives. I think this happens often, not just between mothers and daughters, but among women in general. I guess the key to avoiding it is to be aware of this potential conflict and to be supportive of one another's decisions and struggles, and to applaud one another's accomplishments. "Women are their own worst enemies," is one of my husband's favorite sayings. He notices that a group of men almost always get along better than any group of women. Women feel the need to criticize and outshine one another and men just want to get together to talk, burp, fart and drink beer (his words).

Life is not a competition, but unwise women often make it one. I am always happy for my daughter's success. I don't understand how any mother could be jealous of her own daughter for any reason. But it does happen, and the expectations and pressure our society puts on women plays a big part in that. My greatest responsibility as a mother is to love and protect my children. If I keep that in mind in every circumstance, there will be no room for cultural conflicts or any other petty problem. 

Being a mother is harder today than it was for my mother.

This is strictly my opinion, but I see a big difference in the way children relate to their parents. When I was a kid, I wouldn't have dared to talk back to my mom or dad. I respected them as authority figures and I did what they asked without question. I didn't argue because that wasn't acceptable. But today, our culture accepts kids being disrespectful and arguing with parents. TV and movies portray disrespectful children as humorous. We laugh at them, and seeing that over and over has made it acceptable. 

I recall no parent/child verbal battles in my childhood home. My siblings and I engaged in verbal battles, but my parents never dealt with stress from the mouths of their children. My dad would unbuckle his belt if we misbehaved and many times that is all he had to do. The shenanigans immediately stopped. My mom endured the stress of our childish actions, but she did not endure the stress of argumentative words coming from her children. 

Compared to the obedient way I responded to my mom as a child, my own children have verbally challenged my discipline and opinions. I blame this on the culture they grew up in. I used to think a child's behavior can always be blamed on poor parenting. But sometimes it is the result of a changed society and the strong influence of what children see as acceptable behavior in the outside world. 

Children make mistakes because they are learning and growing and finding their way in a chaotic world. Mothers must also learn as they go. We have no handbook to follow, only our instincts and what we learned from our own parents. We do the best we can. We must become good at both forgiving and apologizing because the hurt can go both ways. 

Despite all of its challenges, the role of mother has been my favorite role of a lifetime. It's the role I'm most proud of and the role that has brought me the most joy. I have amazing children. I can't imagine not being a mom.  

    

  

WATCH THE SCENERY IF YOU WANT THE JOY RIDE

         By Danelle Carvell                                                       

Seeing this sign was a source of joy during our recent trip to Florida. If you're not paying attention right now, you are missing one fabulous, historical joy ride. 

Are you feeling discouraged about things happening in the world today? Since early 2020, life as we know it has taken some major hits, some big changes, and most of them have not been good. A trip to the grocery store or the gas station is enough to make you wonder what in the world is going on and how bad will things get?

I'm going to share something today that will either give you hope or give you something to scoff at and roll your eyes about. Until now, I haven't had the courage to write this. But lately, I am seeing so much proof that I'm on the right track and I can no longer stay silent. How you take what I'm about to say depends upon your willingness to open your heart and mind to the truth. 

And the truth is that despite the price of gas and groceries, and despite the devastating fallout of Covid and the senile jackal who sits in the White House claiming that he's president, we have so many reasons to be excited about our futures and the futures of our children and grandchildren. 

What gives me this hope and assurance? Why have I been on a joy ride each day while others are living in fear and anxiety? The answer lies in what you fill your mind with each day. The first thing you need to accept is that God is real and He speaks through prophets. If you can't get past that truth, then you need not read any further. Go back to your uncertain life that offers little hope and try your best to be happy. 

You can at least look at a Bible and see that it is real, even though you have never seen God. So go to Amos 3: 7 and read what it says. Then read Psalm 105: 15. There is your written proof from the word of God that we should believe in prophets and bring no harm to them by mocking them. If your pastor has told you that prophets are a thing of the past, I would have to ask why you choose to believe a man over God's word. 

God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. If prophets are mentioned in the Bible, for what reason would they not be with us today? Especially now, at a time when we so much need encouragement from God, do you really think that He would remain silent? I don't follow a God who leaves his children hanging without hope and neither should you.

If you don't follow prophets or reliable sources of world news, you are missing the joy ride. You are missing seeing God's predictions and promises fulfilled each day. You are living in the dark because you are not plugged in to the only source of hope that's available right now, which is God's voice. 

So many people I talk to are without hope. Nothing but negativity comes out of their mouths. They think that the world is going to Hell in a hand basket and nothing good is happening to prove otherwise. Meanwhile, I can't wait to see what happens next because so many good things have already happened. These good things were predicted to happen by prophets like Julie Green, Johnny Enlow and Robin Bullock. 

Since February, I have been taking notes on the prophecies of Julie Green at Julie Green Ministries on Rumble. The other prophets mentioned can be found at Elijah Streams on You Tube and Rumble. Since February, at least 41 of Julie Green's prophecies have been fulfilled and all of them are exciting, good things that are helping to restore our nation back to greatness. 

If someone told you today that a wrongfully convicted man would be released from prison and then it happened, would you believe that person was hearing from God? If someone told you that Twitter, Disney, Facebook, NBC, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and others would be rocked by scandals, takeovers, stock crashes, and other exposures... would you believe that the person who predicted that before it happened was hearing from God?  

Everything I mentioned in the above paragraph was predicted by Julie Green weeks or months before that exact story showed up on a true news source. How many times can someone accurately predict something before it happens without help from God? He is restoring our nation by taking out the wicked leaders who have been destroying it for decades. Mark Zuckerberg, owner of Facebook is guilty of treason and it can now be proven. Many others will be exposed in the coming months and they will have "treason" written on them for all eternity. 

If you think nothing good is happening in our nation, here are some facts from the month of April: Facebook lost 200 billion dollars in one day. The evil empire called Amazon lost 204 billion and Jeff Bezos lost 20 billion of his net worth. Elon Musk is being used by God to make Twitter a platform of Truth. Disney has been hit hard financially as the truth about its sexual exploits of children is being exposed. Trump's Truth Social has become the number one downloaded App, taking Twitter's previous spot. More than 2,000 documents can now prove that George Soros and the Open Society manipulated countless elections in multiple countries. And this week, the film 2,000 Mules will be released, a movie that contains undeniable proof that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen.

So don't listen to the doomsday people who warn about food shortages and other gloomy predictions. While it's always good to be prepared for the worst, God is not giving us gloomy news. He's giving us hope and reasons to be joyful and celebrate. I suggest you tap into some reliable news sources, follow the prophets and come along on the joy ride. Because you were hand-picked to be here and witness this miraculous time when God is putting His kingdom in order. You don't want to look back and realize that you missed everything that led up to this great rescue. We are being rescued from the slavery of an evil system. 

As Donna Rigney said, "God will restore this land to greatness because He needs America to be great once again so it can be used by His hand to bless all other nations in the world." We are living in exciting times and we are blessed to be alive right now. Make plans for your future, open your eyes and watch the good things happen as they are predicted by the prophets. A knowing and understanding of the glory of God is coming to the earth, and we are headed toward a whole new way of living. 

Keep your eyes open, so you don't miss the fabulous scenery.