“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Matthew 6:24

Halloween is the abbreviation for All Hallows Eve, a pagan holiday that originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The day marked the end of summer harvest and the beginning of winter, it was also a time of year associated with the dead; part of this festival was to dress as ghost to scare away evil spirits. This is not to be confused with All Saints Day or Soul’s Days, which the Catholic Church celebrates on November 1st, and 2nd. Today Halloween has morphed into one of the most  festive holidays in the US, but Satan has tried to make it his, and with the help of Hollywood, evil is thriving.

We are surrounded by the works of Satan. God gave us free will to either serve Him or to serve the world. The world’s views have slowly shifted, and society is lost in all mindless, useless sense of the meaning of life. To each of us this could represent an autonomous nature in which needs have become so egocentric that we forget the true meaning of why we were put on this earth. When you were created it was for a specific purpose, and if you do not have peace in your heart it is simply because you have not attained your calling.

We are all accountable for our actions and even if you do not serve God or believe in Him, you will one day have to answer to Him. We all see what happened with the elections last year and the outcry of hatred that came forth on both sides, but how is it that it has not gone away? Satan is alive in our country, causing such a divide of unsubstantiated enmity that I no longer watch the news. Who is telling the truth? Everything is debatable and tossed in the wind for answers. My answers come from the Lord, because He is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).

October is a month when demons really manifest themselves because Satan has claimed this as his season. Did you know that these demons are really out there? They come as angels of light until they take hold of your soul and convert and twist reality into something distorted. They are continually reminding you that there is nothing more important than yourself. Demons are self-serving workers of Satan and their assignment is to attack anything that is holy. One of Satan’s favorite targets is the youth, Why? Because they represent the future. Another of Satan’s plans is to cause division in the families, mother against daughter etc. There is NEVER peace when there is dissension, and that is the way Satan wants it. I have witnessed such atrocities on social media with the youth that it sickens me. Some young girls portray themselves in such perversion, and yet these are the same young women that march for women’s rights. What a paradox! Humility and the fear of God are absent in the hearts of many. This all leads to the fact that many of these young women have fallen for the lies of the world. How can you make the world equal if you are putting yourself out there as a sexual object?   Call it low self-esteem, but in reality they are just looking for love. I know from experience in serving the homeless for over 17 years that lost souls need God, and nothing will change their circumstances until they develop a true understanding of who God is. There are many that are homeless spiritually, just wondering because you have no peace. I am here to tell you that God is real and he does answer prayer, but the Devil would have you believe otherwise. Satan is working overtime, so that means that we have to work even harder in praying for our loved ones.

There are many entrapments, and this is an example of one of Satan’s favorite ways to lure you into sin, through pornography. These statistics are from the organization: Fight the New Drug.

11 Porn Industry Stats That Really Need To Change:

1. Porn sites receive more regular traffic than Netflix, Amazon, & Twitter combined each month. (HuffPost)

2. 35% of all internet downloads are porn-related. (WebRoot)

3. 34% of internet users have been exposed to unwanted porn via ads, pop-ups, etc. (WebRoot)

4. Porn increased marital infidelity by 300%. (WebRoot)

5. At least 30% of all data transferred across the internet is porn-related. (HuffPost)

6. The most common female role in porn is women in their 20’s portraying teenagers. (Jon Millward.) (In 2013, Millward conducted the largest personal research study on the Porn Industry in the U.S. He interviewed 10,000 porn stars about various aspects of the business.)

7. Recorded child sexual exploitation (known as “child porn”) is one of the fastest-growing online businesses. (IWF)

8. 624,000+ child porn traders have been discovered online in the U.S. (Innocent Justice)

9. Child porn is a $3 billion industry. (TopTenReviews)

10. Porn is a global, estimated $97 billion industry, with about $12 billion of that coming from the U.S. (NBC News)  

11. In 2016 alone, more than 4,599,000,000 hours of porn were watched on the world’s largest porn site. (PH Analytics)

12. Eleven pornography sites are among the world’s top 300 most popular Internet sites. The most popular such site, at number 18, outranks the likes of eBay, MSN, and Netflix. (SimilarWeb)

Viewing Stats That Are Hard To Believe (from NCOSE):

13. 64% of young people, ages 13–24, actively seek out pornography weekly or more often. [1]

14. Teenage girls and young women are significantly more likely to actively seek out porn than women 25 years old and above. [2]

15. A study of 14- to 19-year-olds found that females who watched pornographic videos were at a significantly greater likelihood of being victims of sexual harassment or sexual assault. [3]

16. A Swedish study of 18-year-old males found that frequent users of pornography were significantly more likely to have sold and bought sex than other boys of the same age. [4]

17. A 2015 meta-analysis of 22 studies from seven countries found that internationally the consumption of pornography was significantly associated with increases in verbal and physical aggression, among males and females alike. [5]

18. A recent UK survey found that 44% of males aged 11–16 who viewed pornography reported that online pornography gave them ideas about the type of sex they wanted to try. [6]

So I ask you, is it guns that are taking our country down? Or is it sin?

^” Thou art Lord of all, and there is none that can resist thy majesty.”  Esther 13:11

I have family in Louisiana that I visit at least once a year. My sister Jo fell in love with Frank,  a sailor on leave visiting a friend in California. Jo married this southern boy when she was only 19 years old. She and Frank had four boys. These boys bleed gulf water and love their fisherman’s paradise state. So when Frank, the eldest of the boys, now a man, invited me on a fishing venture, I knew it would be an unforgettable experience. This story is about one day in late June, 2003.

Frank owns his own fishing boat, and though that speaks volumes of his love of the sport, to him it is a passion.

The night before our adventure, Frank called me to inform me that he would pick me up at 4:00 A.M. The day before, my mind was running wild with thoughts of having to use the bathroom while on a small boat. What if I had to use the bathroom in the middle of nowhere?  I tossed and turned all night worrying about this bathroom issue. It was not until 6:30 A.M. that Frank finally pulled up.  Jo reminded me that this was going to be an all-day ordeal and asked me if I was sure I wanted to do this. I did have second thoughts, but only because of the bathroom situation. However, I reluctantly said yes. My other nephew, Nick, was going with us as well, and they invited Resio, a friend of theirs.

I had not buckled my set belt when Frank spoke in a very solemn voice, “Now, look Aunt Lynda, one thing you have to remember that that the hook can take your eye out so you must  be very careful when casting.” It was seven by the time we were gassing up the boat. Frank yelled that this was the last call for the public bathroom. We hit the highway, back into the country of lush green. As we pulled into Port Sulfur, I realized that I needed to use the facility again.”Go in the bushes, Aunt Lynda,”  yelled Frank. What? There was no way I was going to do that!  So I carefully watched as the guys were busy getting ready to launch the boat and found that the truck would be my shield. “I can do this,” I told myself. In the meantime Resio and Nick did the unthinkable and the boat broke away from them. They were both in a panic mode and in a quick motion were able to get the boat tied again.

As the wind hit our faces and the boat bounced off the water, we were headed to the middle of nowhere, surrounded by the natural beauty of the water,  sprinkled with patches of marsh. Our captain, Frank, knew exactly where to go, so as we settled in, he instructed me on how to cast my line into the salty water. At first I could not figure how to hold the fishing line, and so many times my casting went short distances from the boat. Frank patiently reviewed the process over and over, each time saying, “This is the last time, Aunt Lynda.” We were using shrimp for bait and Frank told us to cut the shrimp into three pieces. This grossed me out because this disgusting yellow substance oozed out and got embedded  deep into my fingernails. Many times when Frank was not looking, I used the entire shrimp. When Frank busted me, he told me that I would never catch anything with that much bait. Resio, the self-proclaimed fisherman, was using whole shrimp the entire time. Resio was either fixing his fishing line or messing with the tackle box, and at no time displayed any fishing etiquette, though he shared whopper fishing stories which I did not believe. Frank once tripped on his pole and Nick lost the “big one” because his and Resio’s lines crossed. From my recollection of this trip, Resio was in the thick of everyone’s business. Resio claimed that he almost caught a shark, but unjustifiably blamed me because his line was tangled with mine. I never connected with Resio, as  he was a big talker and a know-it-all.

Along with all these mishaps, we were being eaten alive by flies that seemed to have sharp teeth. Frank told me that they were sand flies.

In the meantime Nick caught the most fish, his quiet demeanor calming the fish as if he hypnotized the redfish into the boat. Then there was Resio, who loudly caught a stingray and almost flipped the boat doing it.  Frank yelled out, “Man, be careful of that tail! It will  really sting you!”  Both Resio and Nick were scared of the smiley fish and Frank had to free the creature. I prayed that the fish would not die.

Frank announced that we would go to a new area. Nick, Frank and I sat next to each other, we were like human sardines, and even the biggest bump from the boat could not move us, as we were butt puzzles. We caught at least three dozen hard head, I caught three but these fish are not edible. Once Frank caught a really big hard head and could not free it, so mercilessly beat it against the boat. Nick too murdered a hard head. I prayed for the the fish to be healed of their hook wounds.

On the last part of the trip, I was anxious because I was the only one on the boat that had not caught a fish. Even Resio had caught a sizable trout. By now I was desperate and prayed out loud. As I opened my eyes I noticed a sea creature close to the boat and it had many arms. Frank said that it was an octopus and for me to not cast my line near it. I was intrigued with its spiny extensions, but it looked more like a giant tarantula than an octopus. Nonetheless I watched its every move.

I finally decided to catch a fish when I came to the realization that Nick was having all the fortune, because he had the best spot, the best pole and the best excuse. From the time we got on to the boat, Nick had to use the bathroom, but his brother Frank showed no mercy and never pulled the boat over. Nick refused to relieve himself  with me on the boat, so in his suffering, God granted him favor. By this time Nick was too uncomfortable to fish. I took his spot, along with his pole, but had to cast to the other side because of that darn octopus scaring all the trout. I could clearly see the difference, as my line made the sound of a real fisherman’s as it cut through the thick humid air. It seemed to reach the ends of the sea, but it was not to be; still no fish. “No more bait!” Frank announced, as it was time to pack it up.

The Fish and Wildlife Patrol boats were docked as we pulled in. Again, Frank schooled me on what not to say. “Remember, Aunt Lynda, you and Resio do not have fishing licenses, so don’t talk to them.” Really? I talk to abandoned cats  and I was not going to miss out on this opportunity to find out if they needed Salvation or friendly attitude on my part. So while the guys were hooking up the boat to the truck, I made small talk with the officers. One asked me what we had caught, and I wanted to tell them about all the hard heads that were wounded but I held my tongue. I asked them what their jobs entailed, and they said they said that they were there to make sure that the fish that were caught were the right size. I added that we measured all the fish we caught. Then I shared with them about the octopus, only to find out that there are no octopuses inshore of the gulf. I looked over at Nick, and he smirkingly  told me it was just seaweed.

On the ride home I thought of  Jesus’ disciples being  fishermen. Simon, Andrew, James and John. There is so much to learn from fishing: having the right equipment, being patient and quiet, and catching the reward. That is how the disciples caught fish and through this training they became fishers of men.

“And Jesus said unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Mark 1:17

“We make our plans, but God has the last word.” Proverbs 16:1

The winds started kicking up, knocking over several planters in the patio. When Mike opened the door to the backyard a strong scent of smoke filled the room. We both ran to the front of the house and from a distance, we noticed that the smoke was coming from where Mikos and Jenny live. Within a few minutes Jenny called, saying that she was picking William up from school early, and from there she was going to pick up her pets. Then she would swing by to pick up Maddie and then head to our house. I thought that I would do the same thing and pick up Sonja’s boys early. We had to take the canyon road back and the traffic was backed up for about a half an hour with fire trucks, police and other emergency vehicles coming through.  We had to merge into into one lane to allow the emergency vehicles to pass us. We were also praying the entire time, the boy’s included the animals in their prayers.

In this part of  Orange County many people own horses, and those large animals had to be evacuated too. I had to allow for several horse trailers to pass through as well.

Both of our children,  Mikos and Sonja, live in harm’s way of the fire, and both families were evacuated. They live on opposite sides, of town about 12 miles from each other. The fire started near Mikos and Jenny’s and quickly spread across to Sonja and Russ’s neighborhood. Sonja and Russ live directionally  across from Peter’s Canyon, a popular walking trail that is also a wildlife reserve. Peter’s Canyon Regional Park was completely destroyed, but all the homes in the area were spared. It is as if Peter’s Canyon was sacrificed to save the homes. Peter’s Canyon contains 350 acres, of which 55 acres are set aside for residential homes. Peter’s Canyon includes wildlife like mule deer, bobcats, opossums, and raccoons. This is the playground for my grandsons, who have caught many gross lizards while hiking.

All nine of us, including two dogs and five cats stayed in our three-bedroom home. Our son Mikos was in Las Vegas on a business trip. Mike has a hard time with our two cats, but he had been gracious with the guest cats until he came into the kitchen this morning and busted me giving our cat water on the kitchen counter. Words could not express his discontent.

The animals all misbehaved last night and the dogs barked, especially Paco, which is no surprise, as he barks at the wind.

As of 8 A.M. the fire has been contained only 5% and the evacuation orders have not been lifted. Both of the kids’ schools are closed as well. So the a  takeover of my house is under way, with all rooms being a mess, but everyone is safe and their homes have been spared. We praise God for that.

We thank God for the work of the brave firemen and women and continue to lift them up in prayer.