The Sad State of the World
The attempted assassination of former President Trump is another wake-up call for us to unite as a nation.
God’s Protection
Why was President Trump’s life spared? It’s not because the Secret Service was doing a great job (they failed), but because God has a grand purpose for his life. In my lifetime, never have I witnessed such vicious attack on a human. They tried to destroy him emotional and fined him millions of dollars, tried to him impeached twice, yet he remains steadfast. Anyone else who had gone through that kind of scrutiny would never have survived. He survived because he will protect our country, and we will once again be able to wave our banner for God.
How quickly we forget that when Obama was president we were not allowed to use God in the workplace or wish anyone a Merry Christmas. We need to re-establish God’s rightful place in our country again.
United We Stand
I believe in God and all that His Word stands for. For centuries skeptics have made many attempts to alter the Bible to fit their personal lifestyles. When I see this type of foolishness, I wait for the truth to be revealed. If we all would take time to read and understand the Ten Commandments, our country would be a better place.
The Devil has been assigned to divide our country, and, so far, he has been quite successful. So many doors have been opened wide for demons to bring an army of evil to infiltrate our hallowed ground. Our country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, and our forefathers, who wrote the Constitution, were God-fearing men. For these words to stand the test of time is only a testament of how richly they are filled with the wisdom of God.
If wisdom does open our eyes to the truth, why are so many blinded by lies? The simple answer to this question is this: they are not yielded to receive God’s truth.
Fearing God
I know many God-fearing, good Christians who are misled by the lies that are blaring over the airwaves. They are not voting with their God-given conscience because they lack the wisdom to really comprehend the Word of God. If you are constantly hearing how evil a person is and how he is going to take the rights of Americans away, you have fallen into the pit of lies!
I recently did a study on Luke Chapter One, which is about the annunciation of the birth of Christ. When Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth to share the news of her Immaculate Conception, the baby in her womb leaped with joy. But to those who deny the truth about pregnancies this baby “John the Baptist” is not a real human being! This unborn baby, John the Baptist, had a heartbeat, tiny arms and legs and moved around in his mother’s womb. Yet in today’s world, some well-meaning but misguided Christians would vote to kill him.
More than 40% of transgender adults in the US have attempted suicide!
A new study from the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law finds that 81% of transgender adults in the U.S. have thought about suicide, 42% of transgender adults have attempted it, and 56% have engaged in non-suicidal self-injury over their lifetimes.
Pride Month
This all started in 1999, when then President Clinton declared the month of June “Gay and Lesbian Pride Month.” It continued with Obama who in 2009 declared June LGBTQ Pride Month. In 2021 our current President Biden, added a plus to the LGBTQ+. Do you see a pattern here? I can accept one day, but an entire month is ridiculous! Christmas has one day and so does the Fourth of July.
My prayer is, “Lord, please let the month of June pass quickly.” The media’s constant barrage of parades and news reports of how happy and prideful these events have become is a facade. Where is the joy? These are still the elusive questions. But is there joy in their hearts? Are they free of anger? No, because anger is what they thrive on, and there is never peace when you are in this frame of mind.
I have nothing against a person who, as an adult, decided to change how God created them. I will not judge any decision an adult makes because in the end it’s between them and God. I’m not homophobic or racist, I’m an American grandmother concerned for the future of my grandchildren. Don’t insert your ideologies into the minds of our children, God hates this!

Who Do You Represent?
I stand on the Word of God, and I will continue to share the truth. God gave me this Blog to share my beliefs in Him and to be an example of courage in this fallen world. I’m human and fall short of living a godly life daily, but I know Who lifts me up, dusts me off and gets me ready for another battle. Listen to the Words of God! It will change your heart!
My Prayer
Thank You, Lord, for sparing the life of former President Trump. We all witnessed the miracle of the angels that were surrounding himeto protect President Trump’s life. Lord, I lift up those who were injured at this event and for the gentleman Corey Comperatore who was killed. Comfort them Lord! Amen.
God and Family
God In Us
Living a simple life in Orange County — affectionately known as the “Orange Bubble” — has been a genuine gift, one that has opened many unexpected doors.
St. Norbert Parish stands as one of the primary pathways through which the truth of God is taught and shared. When the catechism season drew to a close in late May, a quiet but unmistakable sense of urgency took hold — there was more to do. Reviewing students’ Testimony Worksheets revealed something beautiful: hearts genuinely hungry to go deeper into the Word of God.
One response in particular stood out. Under the prompt My Life Before I Knew Jesus Christ, a former student — who now faithfully attends Bible study — wrote: “I was lost and unhappy. I didn’t know what — or who — to believe.”
Those words are a testament to the transforming power of encountering Christ.
There is simply no holding back praise for His Name. Teaching the Word of God consistently opens doors to truth, and studying Sacred Scripture cultivates the kind of godly wisdom that the world cannot offer or take away.


Deep within us all God is ever present. I want to hear the Lord say, ” Well done, good and faithful servant.” It’s all for His glory!
Family
This past week we hosted some of our family from Louisiana. Torie is the middle child of my sister Jo. He married his high school sweetheart Stacie. He also played football for Tulane. They have three children, 15-year-old Julia and twins, Jake and Tyson, who are 12 years old.

Before they arrived Jacob and I picked up some plain wood artwork that needed painting. As they were busy painting, Julie shared her tips on how to be a good boyfriend.

Julia’s Advice
When Julia discovered that her younger brother Jake had broken up with his girlfriend — and that the two were no longer on speaking terms — she took matters into her own hands. She sat both of her brothers down and delivered a lesson on what it means to be a good boyfriend.
She came prepared with 30 points. Here are a few favorites:
- Be polite, have good manners, and be respectful.
- Get along with her parents and friends.
- Remember important dates — birthdays, the first date.
- Show that you love Jesus: go to church and pray.
- Be good with kids; be playful.
- Take pictures of her and make sure she looks her best.
- Be funny — but not too funny. Don’t be desperate. Have inside jokes.
- Tell the girl you like her, but only if you know she feels the same way.
- Always pay for dinner.
- Don’t be too flirty with other girls.
- Be friends with her friends — but not too friendly.
- Remind her how beautiful she is.
- Keep your standards high; don’t settle for less than you deserve.
- Don’t stay in a toxic relationship, and never date someone just because she’s popular.
What a lesson. Julia’s rules are pure, sincere, and quietly wise — the kind of wisdom that comes not from experience, but from a well-formed heart. She is well on her way to becoming someone who understands love the right way.
The Car Switch
Organization and planning have never come naturally — not with dyslexia and ADHD in the mix. Reading a text message doesn’t always translate to fully grasping its meaning, and when dates and times are involved, the confusion multiplies quickly. A straightforward phone call is almost always the better option.
And then came the day of the car switch.
Driving any vehicle other than one’s own is already uncomfortable. The plan was simple enough: Torie and the boys would meet Russ and the grandsons at Boomers for miniature golf, while Sonja would meet up to take Stacie, Julia, and Lynda shopping at the Irvine Spectrum. But when everyone arrived — no Sonja. A misread text message had set the whole thing sideways, and suddenly, driving Russ’s car became the only option. No backup camera. No navigation. And on the freeway, it became clear the mirrors hadn’t been adjusted. A full nightmare — in broad daylight.
Eventually, a parking spot was found. Not a perfect one, apparently.
“You parked really crooked,” Stacie said. “There’s not enough room for the other car to open the door.”
“Would you like to fix it?”
Stacie — all five feet of her, give or take — accepted the challenge without hesitation. She got behind the wheel, backed the car up, and then… it wouldn’t go into drive. The car kept rolling in reverse. By this point, it had completely blocked the driveway. No other vehicle could pass. This is Southern California — patience is not a local virtue. The more Stacie tried to move forward, the further back the car crept, inching dangerously close to another parked car.
“Lynda, what do I do? Help me — it won’t go into drive!”
At that point, Julia and Lynda were already out of the car — laughing, helplessly and completely, because there was truly nothing else to be done.
Then, suddenly, something clicked in Stacie’s mind.
“Julia — I’m going to put the car in neutral, and you push it into the parking spot.”
“Do you want to kill her? The car is stuck in reverse — Julia, move out of the way!”
Horns blaring. The phone blowing up with Sonja on the other end, wondering where everyone was. It was, without exaggeration, purely by the grace of God that the whole situation resolved without someone getting hurt — or worse, in Southern California, without someone getting shot.
And through all of it, Julia — operating on a learner’s permit — kept asking if she could drive.
Stacie, still holding the keys, looked up. “Should we lock the car?”
“No — let’s go.”
Too flustered to think, no one noticed where the car had actually been parked. By the time the elevators came into view, Julia stopped short.
She had left her purse in the car.
Two full levels of the parking structure. No car. The heat pressing in, dehydration setting in, and the kind of dizzy, disoriented thinking that makes everything feel slightly unreal. A quiet, almost desperate prayer went up — Lord, help us find this car.
And then — there it was.
This time, everyone stopped and paid attention to exactly where it was parked.
My Prayer
Dear Lord, thank You for the gift of family and for the love that unites us in You. May You always remain at the center of our hearts, and may Your grace continually guide us to love one another well. Amen.
Third Prison Visit

It was too warm to wait outside, so from my car I decided to take a few photos. I got out of the vehicle to take a better picture, then from high on tower #4 came the blaring announcement, “You can’t take photos!” I waved my hand as a gesture to say, “Okay.”
Yellow pants, cream-colored shirt, sports bra, two bracelets, sandals with back straps, and the booking number – but I still got it wrong. The appointment was at 11 a.m., but I didn’t receive clearance for my visit until 12 p.m. At the first check point I was informed that my shirt was see-through.
From a far distance I could see the familiar building where I needed to change. The woman in charge was late, so three of us had to wait another 30 minutes for her arrival.
I started a conversation with a strikingly beautiful young lady dressed all in black. She was driving a Tesla and forgot to bring the card to unlock the vehicle, so she had to store her phone. We had been talking about whether we should have our visit outdoors or indoors, we both decided outdoors. I asked her who she was visiting, and she said a friend whom she had not seen in over a year. In the usual manner I was all up her business and from the looks of the visit this was her boyfriend!
Praise Report
The last time we visited, Mario shared with me that he was not comfortable in the cell he was in. The violence was at a high level due to so many young gang members. Blacks against Hispanics, it was a constant battle. Mario hated it there and prayed to be moved. Praise be to God, he was moved to a another building where there is more peace.
New Ministry
On the drive to visit Mario I called my sister Jo. She mentioned that I must have been very close to Mario because I was visiting him so often. “I’m close to a lot of my nephews,” I answered. But I really felt a calling to continue to visit Mario.
Our parish has a prison ministry but they minister in Tehachapi, which is a four-hour drive north of Orange. I could not wait for all the red tape and delays to get Catholic clergy to visit; so I answered the call.
The prison system does have Christian outreaches that serve Norco Rehabilitation Center, but Mario did not care for the recent message that a particular pastor was sharing. He felt that the pastor was out of the spirit. As a result of his spiritual need, we have Bible studies. These studies are enriching to both of us, and because of this we have developed a spiritual bond. This has become my new ministry.
The Meal (Spiritual)
As soon as I arrived the first priority was to get the Good News Bible. Then we start the visit with a meal. Mario did not want the fried chicken, so I purchased two sandwiches, chips and a Dr. Pepper to wash it down. Mario wanted to study the Book of Haggai.
Haggai
Haggai is a minor prophet with a powerful message: the Lord wanted to call the people of Judah back from the Babylonian exile and to re-establish them. Since we are the Temple of God, this message can apply to all of us who are living a godless life. Those who belong to the world and are thriving in every area of their lives but fail to give God the glory for His blessings are empty. You can have all that the world offers, but deep inside there is a huge void, an emptiness that only God can fill. For the glory of God to live within us, there must be a cleansing of our spirits. This is how we obtain peace.

