Keep Focus On My Task

~ jesusluvsall ~ 3 Comments

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. Acts 20:24

This was the verse of the day in Bible Gateway yesterday. It is a theme that has been on my mind a lot recently. At my age, the reality of one day being absent from the body home with the Lord is growing in awareness.

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My main task from Jesus is sharing about him with the nations living in my city and in other countries. I do not know how much longer it will be my privilege to do so, I hope to be like a colleague who passed away recently at the age of 80 years old,. She kept teaching up to the last week of her earthly life.

God keeps connecting me with people and those connections could lead to more opportunities to testify to the grace of God in Jesus. Among those are making videos translated into other languages, getting my book Jesus Understands Trauma translated into other languages, and hopefully more divine appointments.

While there are many issues in our society that cause concern, with my time feeling shorter by the day, my attitude is that of Paul in 1st Corinthians 2:2:

For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

There is a hurting world out there with so many wounded souls in need of the healing that only Jesus can bring.

So today will be my Sunday morning group with friends from Brazil, El Salvador, and Venezuela, then worship service and in the afternoon a celebration with friends from Mexico. I would welcome divine appointments today and any day.

What will your day include?

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

Realizing The Real Reason For A Prompting

~ jesusluvsall ~ 5 Comments

It is Friday evening and after a wonderful day of helping my Ukrainian friends and then enjoying a delicious lunch and great fellowship, I felt led to go to one of my coffee shops. Upon arriving, I thought the reason I felt led here was because I was able to get the last chocolate covered Rice Krispie Bar.

After a little time, I realized I had set the bar way too low as to why the prompting to come here. I was sitting down and started catching up on blogs, after devouring aforementioned chocolate covered Rice Krispie Bar, when McKenzie came in with a friend. I met McKenzie the other day in here. I found out she is a Christian and getting ready to open her own counseling practice focusing on teen issues.

I share with her about my book Jesus Understands Trauma that afternoon. This evening she came to my table to let me know she had bought my book. We exchanged emails and will meet after she reads it so we can discuss it.

Speaking of my book, my friend Alexey and I talked about the trauma Ukrainians are experiencing. I hope to get my book translated into Ukrainian, but also realize that people in Ukraine do not have a lot of money to spend right now, So we will make a video of me being interviewed with translation into Ukrainian.

It was encouraging to run into McKenzie this evening. It was a little signal that God is at work.

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

Moving Day?

~ jesusluvsall ~ 7 Comments

Moving day? No, not for me and also I won’t be doing the lifting either. 🙂

My Ukrainian friends were so generous donating used furniture for one family before the family came here that they had more than they needed. So off to my church to get the church pick up this morning. It will take two, maybe three trips, to take the furniture to a donation place. I will only be the driver. The teenage sons will load it and the donation place will unload.

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What will be my pay for my labor today? Lunch at my friends’ home after we are done. I am looking forward to some delicious Ukrainian food for lunch. That and knowing my friends will be able to use their garage.

The fellowship during lunch will be my reward as well. This family is the one I know the best out of the Ukrainian families I have gotten to know. Then it will be time for English class at the Ukrainian church. It is a Ukrainian Friday for me.

Tomorrow afternoon will be a time to hang out with some Brazilian friends. Sunday morning will be a time with my Hispanic friends and Brazilian friends.

3 different cultures, 3 different languages in 3 days means more than just having fun. It means sharing the love of Jesus with the world.

What are your weekend plans?

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

Thankful Prayer Is Not Like Internet Connection

~ jesusluvsall ~ 12 Comments

Yesterday one of the main internet providers in my city had a major outage that lasted several hours. So what started as a humorous intent for a blog post of what to do about coffee shops, ended up being fortuitous. I had added unlimited data for my cell phone for mobile hotspot thinking of my coffee shop unaware that it would be needed to be able to host my Zoom class last night.

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Technology is great when it works, but when it doesn’t, it can really mess up plans. I am thankful for technology in the classroom such as the computer cart that connects to the projector, My handwriting is terrible, so I use the computer/projector to type for students to see.

Zoom allowed classes to continue during the shutdown in 2020, but for some students it was a bit tricky. Internet connection is so important in our daily lives now, it could make one wonder how people survived before the internet. 🙂

Thankfully our connection with God in prayer does not depend on the internet. Jesus opened the way for us to pray and nothing can stop our prayers. There is no buffering, slow connection, or any such thing when it comes to praying.

The only interference in our prayer lives is ourselves. At times I can feel lazy, or let things that happened hinder me from praying. Satan can try to hinder me from praying but that only works if I allow it. The interference is never on God’s part. He always wants to hear from his children.

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

May Is Mental Health Awareness Month- Loneliness

~ jesusluvsall ~ 8 Comments

I watched a video by a young woman on YouTube titled- I Have No Friends So I then typed the title into the YouTube search bar and found there are numerous such videos. Loneliness is at an all time high in this social media age.

My therapist Dezi repeatedly would tell me that isolation is an aspect of depression, so that is why we need to get out and not be isolated. But a person can sit in a place like a coffee shop and still feel alone.

That is why I arrange to meet people in coffee shops such as this afternoon I will meet with my friends from Ukraine Alexey and Ruslana. We will meet at my alternate coffee shop. It will be good to sit in the outdoor seating area and talk. I also meet with my friend Todd at a coffee shop about once a month and other friends at other times. I still like sitting alone in a coffee shop to write, but make it a point to also have times I meet friends.

Having been a member of the same church since 1994, I have seen so many people come and go. But there are some who have been there the whole time that I interact with every Sunday and at other times. I value those friendships.

The friendship I value most is with Jesus. Jesus calls us friend. He said so himself in John 15:15

 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you

The creator of the universe wants friendship with us. That is so incredible and a truth we cannot fully fathom, but can accept by faith.

Jesus has also given us the church, his family, a place where we can meet people and connect. I am thankful for my friends at church.

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In this age of social media, people are feeling more isolated. Seeing people posting photos of the great times they are having when we are feeling low makes it worse. Getting off our cell phones, tablets, etc,. long enough to interact with others is so important.

What are your thoughts on loneliness?

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

By Consensus Dilemma Solved-Update On Book Translation

~ jesusluvsall ~ 5 Comments

A few days ago I posted- My Dilemma- What To Do About Coffee Shops, sharing about trying to decide what to do, which one to choose.

Crowd sourcing the problem with my fellow bloggers led to a decision. It was unanimous among the responses to continue with both coffee shops by alternating. Pure Glory asked me if $10 is in my budget for the unlimited data for mobile hotspot which caused me to realize I was being too stingy. 🙂

So both coffee shops will remain on my agenda. How the time will be divided I think will depend on my mood each day or even better on how Jesus leads that day.

It is already in process. A friend from the Ukrainian church I work with ordered a copy of my book Jesus Understands Trauma. He is one of the pastors and is fluent in English. After he reads it, we will talk about translating it into Ukrainian and perhaps doing a video interview with a translator. Another friend has offered to help me with the Spanish translation. There are other languages Jesus has placed on my mind.

This afternoon will be nap time due to it being the day after methotrexate. I injected yesterday and still have the after taste in my mouth. A nap will be needed before teaching this evening.

How is your day?

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

Music Mondays- Second Chances by Iveth Luna

~ jesusluvsall ~ 3 Comments

God never runs out of second chances for us. We cannot earn a second chance. We can only receive them by God’s grace and mercy and returning to God.

If we have made mistakes, he is there to help us pick up the pieces and start over. If obstacles overwhelmed us, he is there to help us overcome. If we are in the midst of a trial. his grace is there for us.

We do not need to dwell on our failures. We can come to Jesus and ask for help and then focus on the here and now not the past.

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

A Video About Why I Wrote Jesus Understands Trauma

~ jesusluvsall ~ 6 Comments

This is a simple video about why I wrote Jesus Understands Trauma. It is one I can post in my Author’s page with Kindle On Demand but only shows in other countries-not the USA. Not sure why that is. 🙂

This morning I spoke with a woman at church who is the Director of Royal Family Kids Camp. It is a wonderful ministry for children who have suffered abuse. They have a summer camp each year and also an ongoing Saturday morning meeting during the school year for the children.

I had a preliminary discussion with I’ve Got A Name. They work to free teens and women from sex trafficking and to prevent it.

I have communicated with Love Justice an organization that frees victims of trafficking around the world.

These are a few examples of ministries/organizations I hope to network with by donating one dollar from each book sold to one of them each month.

Also in the plans are to have the books translated into various languages.

Here is the video. It is not high production. Just a simple video message from me to you.

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

My Dilemma-What to Do About Coffee Shops?

~ jesusluvsall ~ 18 Comments

I am at a quandary of what to do about my coffee shop situation. My original coffee shop has constant wifi issues. My alternate coffee shop has no wifi issues. The baristas at my original coffee shop know my name and get my order ready when they see me walk in. The baristas at my alternate coffee shop are still getting to know me. I have had divine appointments at both.

My original coffee shop holds many memories for me such as writing my books there, writing my blog, and getting to know fellow educators who hang out in the summer there.

My alternate coffee shop is already making memories for me and the manager likes talking with me. In fact she told me I brighten her day each time I come in. Too bad she is 22 years younger than me. 🙂

My original coffee shop has an organic store next to it, for now, where I can buy my lunch from their deli and stay gluten free.

My alternate coffee shop has an ice cream shop next door.

Oh the dilemma. What is a coffee drinker to do?

Perhaps I will spend the extra ten dollars a month to have unlimited data on my cell phone for mobile hotspot, so the wifi thing is not an issue.

What would you do if you were in my situation?

Whatever I do, one thing I know for sure. Jesus will continue to give me divine appointments wherever I go.

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

My Book-Jesus Understands Trauma- Is Ready

~ jesusluvsall ~ 29 Comments

It is exciting for me to announce that my book Jesus Understands Trauma is ready and available to purchase on Amazon. I am thankful for Jesus giving me the strength and grace to complete the book in what has been a turbulent year for me these past several months. I am also grateful for my pastor encouraging me throughout the process. I am also thankful for all of the people who prayed for me.

There are three ways to obtain a copy of my book. It is available in paperback for $10.95, available for purchase as an e-book for $5.95, or if you are a member of Kindle Unlimited you can read it for free.

Here is the link- Jesus Understands Trauma.

The next few weeks will be spent on getting my other book Lifted Out Of The Pit/Called To The Nations ready for publishing on Amazon.

So it is back to my office aka the coffee shop 🙂

Thank you for reading. God Bless.