If you have watched the news over the past week, you might agree that the violent protests taking place in Los Angeles over the issue of ICE removing illegal immigrants has taken our country back to the harrowing events that occurred after the controversial death of George Floyd. Once again crowds of protestors are using fiery chaos and physical violence to make their demands known. And once again the media is showcasing the political side that says these protests are peaceful, while I watch protestors drop cement blocks from freeway overpasses onto police cars and throw fireworks and other projectiles at the national guard and military that have been sent in to quell the violence. These same people burn the American flag while proudly waving flags from other nations. Why is this happening? How can politicians and even some Christians support the such travesty? Why don’t some people understand the concept of law and order? It just boggles my mind.

(LA Times)

Then, last night Israel finally carried out plans to eliminate Iran’s nuclear threat to their country by bombing strategic sites in that country. Retaliation against Israel and U.S. bases in the Middle East is expected. To say that we are living in difficult times is an understatement, but are we living in the End Times when life as we know it ends? The Bible describes the scenario of those times in numerous scriptures. Timothy 3:1-5 says: “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.” Add to that scripture these verses from Matthew 24: “As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. ‘Tell us,’ they said, ‘when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?’ Jesus answered, ‘Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.'” Today’s events do seem to mirror those descriptions. If you move into the book of Revelation, you will find out what happens to the countries that attack Israel. It isn’t pretty!

Does this news cause worry or anxiety as you consider the future? Let me offer a remedy for those feelings. Those of us who have trusted in Jesus as our Savior and repented of our sins to follow Him have nothing to fear from the dangers of today, and eternity with a loving God to anticipate. Jesus told us, “Let not your heart be troubled,” and that He was going “to prepare a place for us” to be with Him forever. Please join in accepting this Savior and you will have peace in the midst of this latest storm.

God bless – Sue

Several weeks ago I finished a seven-month study of Revelation. Many times in this look at the End-Times conclusion of human history on earth, the lessons emphasized the importance of sharing what we were learning with others. From a Christian perspective, this final chapter of the Bible relates what will happen to those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, and the destruction and judgment of those who haven’t. I suppose everyone who participated in this study could think of family and friends who were not ready for this promised end to our time on earth. I was reminded of a sermon I once heard when the pastor said that one of Satan’s best tactics is to put in people’s minds the idea that they have plenty of time to make the decision to accept Jesus. The reality of the situation is that no one is promised tomorrow – we only have today. A perfect example is the tragic account of a high school senior who participated in graduation ceremonies recently and was killed several hours later in an automobile accident. He had his whole life ahead of him. His family went from celebrating to mourning in a matter of hours.

The whole purpose of this post is contained in the title – do you know? Do you know about God’s plan for the world and for you? Do you know that Jesus died to cover your sins and mine, and bring you to a home He has made for you in Heaven? Do you know how much you are loved by your Heavenly Father? Time is passing quickly; everything predicted in the Bible is coming true. Don’t procrastinate – to not make a decision is making a decision. You are worth Jesus’ sacrifice. Accept Him today.

God bless – Sue

It has been an interesting month, one filled with unexpected weather and emotional challenges. I’ve always felt that February is the month that winter weather can really hit in my corner of Virginia. I base this on two big snowfalls that occurred years apart during this part of the winter season. We’ll, 2025 has not disappointed in that respect as we received four inches of snow early in the month, and a week or so later over twelve inches! It was so beautiful as a blanket of white carpeted everything and all activities stopped for several days, except for making soup, brewing cocoa with marshmallows, and shoveling a walkway for our 15-lb dog who jumped like a rabbit through the snow in our yard.

Moving from unexpected but beautiful weather to unexpected emotional challenges in the same time period adds an additional layer to life. Hence the title of my post. In less than a month, I faced the emergency surgery with less than a 50% chance of recovery for our little 8-lb. granddog to the life-threatening illness of a sweet colleague at my Bible study. Where did I go when all these worries that came from nowhere and over which I had no control hit me one after another? I went to my knees and prayed day after day, sometimes hour after hour. Over two to three weeks, our family’s furbaby made such an amazing recovery that his vet called him a “Superstar.” I credit God and lots of medicine and physical therapy from several family members for making the difference in what had seemed like a pretty hopeless situation. I move to outright praise in the situation of my Bible study friend who had battled an illness for over five weeks. Doctors seemingly had no answers or cure as she entered the hospital twice in increasingly worse condition. As the prayers for her increased from her family, our study group, and her church members, she moved from a discussion of hospice care to waking up, recognizing her family, and communicating with others. She has a long recovery ahead of her, but praise God, we are now talking about recovery!

Where do you go when impossibly bad things happen? My trecommendation is to the only One who has the control over the answers. However, I have to be real here. I could be sharing the story of a dog who didn’t recover or a friend whose funeral I had to attend. When we go to Him, we have no more control over the situation than we had before, but we give the bad thing to God Who has control over everything. If the answer is not what we hoped, we accept that He knows better than we do what is best, realizing that He will always be with us in the good times and bad, as was promised in Hebrew 13:5.

God bless – Sue