Isaiah 46:4   New American Bible (Revised Edition)

I received a letter in early June from the DMV stating that I needed to take a written test in order to renew my license. I was frantic with worry. My thoughts reflected my panic: “A written test! The last time I took a written test was in my teens!” To prepare for the test,  three times a week I would practice to familiarize myself with the questions. I failed miserably! The more I studied, the worse it got. Needless to say, I was nervous about the entire ordeal.

Last Thursday I got the letter out again and reread it.  I had totally missed the part that said I had to appear in person! This new information was forcing me to take action. I got on the DMV website and found what I thought was a practice test. It took over three hours to review and go over all the questions that I’d missed.

To prepare for the test Mike, who also has to renew his license purchased the “booklet” from the DMV.  There are over 100 questions in the booklet, so to try to memorize even half of the answers was a impossible. After practicing the test, I was able to make an appointment to appear in person. One big problem!  The earliest date available was August 29th and my birthday is on the sixth! So I had to go to the DMV in person to take care of the matter.

DMV Visit

Everyone in the entire world knows what going to the DMV is going to entail. The DMV is notorious for making people wait; the experience can traumatize you to never return. As a result, not having an appointment makes matters worse. For starters, I parked in the wrong parking lot and had to cross over a line of teens in cars that were taking the behind-the-wheel test.

It was 11:30 a.m. and I, along with all the losers who did not make appointments, were in a line with over 30 persons. It was well into the high 80’s, and only some of the crowd had covering from the sun. The perfect scenario would be sitting on a bench, under a shaded tree and drinking cold water, but that was a far-fetched dream. The scorching sun was dehydrating me and there was no refuge, just me and a bunch of foreigners from God-knows-where. As the line moved closer to the covering, I stood side-by-side with the young man in front of me. When he looked at me, I smiled and pointed to the umbrella.  All I could think was, “If the line is this bad outside, how is it going to be inside?”

The Broken Kiosk

It was not a bit surprising when an announcement was made that the Kiosk was down. This was par for the course, like the rest of our state.  Those waiting for the Kiosk inside got to go ahead of us. No problem, I thought, “This is what I get for not reading the notification better.”  My greatest fear was getting pulled over and having an expired license.

Inside the DMV

I finally made it inside, was given the number G291, and told to find a seat. “A seat? In this sea of people?” There I was, and, just like all my plane rides, smack in the middle of two strangers. I looked up at the monitor and noticed that G79 was called. The letter G was not the only alphabet being used, so I knew I was going to be there awhile.  I pulled out the booklet that Mike had purchased and started studying. All the information about the different signs and the painted lines on the road were confusing, so I was all studied out and prayed instead.

My Turn

Finally at 2:30 p.m. I heard G291 called. I took a deep breath and walked up to window 25. The kind woman took my right thumb print and asked me why I was there. As usual, I gave her my life story and told her that I needed to renew my license.  She asked,”Did you take the online written test?” I was confused. I answered, “What do you mean? I took a practice test.”  She replied, “Let me check, you did take the test, and passed.” Believe me, I was not only surprised but greatly relieved! The rest is in the history books!

The New DMV

They say a leopard can’t change its spots, but the DMV has changed. Even though I had to wait without an appointment, the four employees I encountered were not only helpful but efficient and kind. They displayed this demeanor to everyone and, from what I witnessed, everyone was given the same professional treatment.

The Real ID

As life would have it, I did not think of getting the “Real ID,” which will soon be required by law. Like Scarlett O’Hara said, “After all, tomorrow is an other day.”

New Hobby

I’ve started making bracelets again.  This time instead of thread, I’m using stretch magic. I was selling these bracelets for $25 a piece. In the past my bracelets always broke apart and I never got return buyers. In some cases I had to return their money. With the recent trip to Spain and Portugal, I purchased more than 30 medals to add to the hundreds I already had.  I pray that my new business endeavor will be successful.

This weekend, when we took a short trip to check on our property in Santa Barbara, I wore two of my bracelets. As I was getting ready to leave, my Jesus medal fell off the bracelet. Not again! When we got back home, I made a quick run to the local bead store and asked for advice. The owner sold me a device that fastens the medals more securely. I worked on getting the ring on one of my religious medals for over two hours, but at this point I’m already in the red! Pray for me.

My Prayer

Dear Lord, thank You for my health and the ability to drive. Lord, help us all to be kinder on the road and to follow the traffic laws. Grant me the grace to not get angry or grow impatient with other drivers. Jesus, deliver us from road rage. Amen.

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!

Matthew 18:6   New Catholic Bible

⁶ But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

There are many decent gay people who do not want to be included in this mess. They live a life of peace.

 

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 In Us

Living a simple life in Orange County (the Orange Bubble) has afforded me many freedoms.

St. Norbert Parish is one of the main pathways that allows me to teach and guide others to God’s truth. For instance when catechism came to an end in late May, I felt compelled to do more. As a result, after reading  from the students’ Testimony Worksheet, I discovered that their hearts were yielded to understand the Word of God deeper.

An interesting question from the survey was  My Life Before I Knew Jesus Christ. “I was lost and unhappy, I didn’t know what/who to believe.”  This is a response from a former student, who is now attending the Bible study.

I sincerely cannot stop praising His Name! Teaching the Word of God always opens the door to truth and studying the Bible gives you godly wisdom.

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

Julia made up these rules when she discovered that her younger brother Jake had broken up with his girlfriend and was no longer on speaking terms with her. Julia sat both of her brothers down for a lesson on how to be a good boyfriend.

There are 30 points; here are a few of my favorites:

Must be polite,  have good manners and be respectful;

Get along with her parents and friends;

Remember dates, such as  birthdays, first date;

Show that you love Jesus, go to church and pray;

Be good with kids, be playful;

Take pictures of her, make sure she looks cute;

Be funny but not too funny.  Don’t be desperate, have inside jokes;

Tell the girl you like her if she knows that she likes you;

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;

Make sure your standards are high, don’t settle for less than you deserve;

Don’t be in a toxic relationship and don’t date her because she’s popular.

What a life lesson for her brothers!  Julia’s rules are pure, sincere and filled with wisdom. She is well on her way to becoming the best girlfriend a boy could ever imagine.

The Car Switch

I do not organize or plan things well because of my disability; I suffer from dyslexia and ADHD. So this  means that when I read a text message, I do not necessarily comprehend the meaning,  and if it includes  dates and times, it’s more confusing.  Understandably, I would much rather have a normal telephone conversation to avoid all the drama.

Aside from my car, I do not like driving anyone else’s vehicle. Torie and the boys were meeting with Russ and our grandsons at Boomers to play miniature golf. Sonja was supposed to meet us there to take  Stacie, Julia and me shopping at the Irvine Spectrum. When we arrived  Sonja was nowhere to be found. Because of a misread text message I was asked to drive Russ’ car. This car is not equipped with back up cameras nor does it have navigation.  When we got on the freeway, I had forgotten to adjust the mirrors. It was a nightmare in broad daylight!

After finding a great parking spot, I parked the car. Stacie was not happy with my parking, “You parked really crooked, there is not enough room for the other car to open the door.” “Would you like  to fix it?” I responded. Stacie is petite, just  shy of five feet and took on the task of fixing the problem. But what happened next was worse than any nightmare. She got into the car, backed it up, then could not put it back into drive. The car kept rolling in reverse! By this time she had taken up the driveway so no other vehicles could pass. We are in Southern California and our citizen’s patience no longer exists. The more Stacie tried to drive the car forward, the further back it was going, to the point that it was about to hit another car. “Lynda, what do I do? Help me! It won’t go into drive!” By this time Julia and I were out of the car laughing because there was nothing more we could do.

In the meantime, because Stacie blocked the driveway for both sides of the traffic, the horns were blowing! In great distress to make the matter better or perhaps worse, I approached the couple in the car closest to us. “We are having problems parking the car, please be patient. Then I added, “Can you help us? ” The Asian man looked at me and said, “NO!” Again Stacie was desperate, “Lynda, please help! What do I do?”

Suddenly a light switched in Stacie’s head. “Julia, I’m going to put the car in neutral, and you’re going to push it into the parking slot.” Then I yelled, “Do you want to kill her? The car is stuck in reverse.  Julia, move out of the way!” Between the horns blaring and my phone blowing up with Sonja wondering where we were, it was truly by the grace of God that we got out of this mess without being shot. To add to the drama, Julia, who only has a drivers permit kept asking if she could drive!

Stacie had the keys and asked, “Should we lock the car?” I answered. “No, let’s go!”  We were so flustered that we did not pay attention to where we parked. By the time we reached the elevators Julia announced that she left her purse in the car! We walked two levels of the parking lot, but still could not find it. Suffering from dehydration and delusional thoughts, I said a silent prayer to help us find the car. Finally we found it, and this time we paid attention to where it was parked.

My Prayer

Dear Lord, I thank You for family and that we can unite in Your love. May we always have You in our hearts, and may You continually guide us to always show love. Amen.