Golden Cottage Update & Our New Friend, Kathy

 

 Greetings Gail-Friends and welcome back.  Sorry that it's been almost two months since I last posted.

I've been working very long and hard on my newest book and I'm so excited about it.  It is an illustrated children's book, which means I've been learning a whole new set of skills.  I've worked with both Chat GPT and Canva to bring to life a long-time dream of mine.  I had this idea back in the 1990's and drew the illustrations with pen and ink.  Now, with AI, I'm able to bring those drawings to life with full color enhancements.  I'm still working on this project and hope to finish it up within the next week or two.  

In the meantime, I want to give you an update about happenings at Golden Cottage.  Last update was on July 4.  Jem was in a local Independence Day parade representing the Valiant Air Command of the Tico Warbird Air Museum.  I wasn't able to attend that day, but was able to watch the parade live on YouTube.

Here are a few screenshots of Jem.  He is so amazing.  He walked the entire parade two-mile  route all the way to the end in the ninety degree heat.   He could have ridden on the truck, but didn't.  That's the kind of guy he is.  

 

He had a birthday in August and we celebrated all month.  He got some new fishing gear and we went fishing nearby.  No catching, but he did have a few bites.  He's been inspired by the YouTube videos he's been watching.  His favorite is Dat Louisiana Life.  They catch fish, then cook them.  It's also inspired him to cook, which I am all for.  I have been cooking for over sixty years and I love it when he cooks, y'all.

He didn't want a birthday cake, but really enjoyed his key lime pie at a new local restaurant.  Just add seventy-nine candles, and you'll know how old he is now.  I love this man so much!!!!

 

 

 

Speaking of YouTube, we rarely watch television any more.  We watch YT videos instead.  My favorites are very eclectic.  Some British ones, like Kirsten and Yorg - Two Germans in Britain and Escape to the Country, and Nanny and the Moose - Crushing Their 80's.  I know it's weird, but I love to watch videos about tiny house living.  But, my favorite of all are the music videos.  I want to share a couple of channels that are a great blessing to me:  

The first channel is Christian Instrumental  - which has hours-long playlists of music and hymns combined with birds and Bible Scripture.  I keep the channel playing most of the day because it is so relaxing and inspiring when I work around the house and/or walk through the living room and see a Bible verse that inspires or comforts me.  

The second one, newly discovered, is The Voice of Zion.  Oh, how I love this one.  Beautiful music background with the speaking and singing of scripture.  Some videos combine Hebrew with the English. Y'all, it is just beautiful.  My favorite is Psalm 91.  So, so lovely.

 A few weeks ago, Jem and I went to our favorite breakfast restaurant, which is Denny's.  By the way, did you know that they have a senior menu? You can get two scrambled eggs with cheese, four turkey sausages, and two pancakes for about $8.50?  That is the exact same meal as a Grand Slam, which is almost twice the price.  Ah, one of the many perks of being over fifty!  Anyway, I digress -- the hostess who greeted us was....I pause to find the right words.  I was fascinated by her hair style and also by her demeanor.  She had quiet peaceful air about her.  I asked if I could take her photo and she agreed.  We came back and couple of weeks later and I asked if I could have her permission to put her photo on my blog.  Thankfully, she agreed.

 

We talked a little bit both times and I learned that Kathy was, indeed, a hippie.  I had to tell her that I have a friend who was/is a hippie, too, and she still says, "Groovy"!  We laughed about that.  She and I have a lot in common -- we lived through the same era,  we have similar conservative and moral beliefs -- so we chatted about that.  We also talked about her confidence in wearing such a creative adornment.  She said, "I'm at the age where I dress and do my hair the way I like.  I do the things that make me happy."  Well, I'm with her on that for sure.  Kathy and I are not slaves to fashion.  We are creative and living life to the fullest.  I enjoyed talking with her so much.  She inspired me and brought me joy.  

Kathy also reminded me of a song from the sixties called I Love the Flower Girl by the Cowsills.  Click on the link to listen and read the lyrics.  I know you'll love it.  And, Kathy, if you're reading this, I wonder if the song was written about you.  It's perfect. 

Tonnie Woo and Lucy Loo are doing good.  Toonie is getting old and has slowed down a lot lately.  But, he still spends most of his day out on the screened-in back patio.  How he stands the ninety degree heat I'll never know, but he loves being out there.  Occasionally, he will come in and lie in the sun on the floor.  I love this pic that shows him "cooling it"  and I love the shadow of the Magen David (Jewish star) on the floor.

 

 Lucy is such a hoot and makes us laugh every day.  I caught this shot of her sleeping on her flamingo pillow.  And, don't the jaguar spots of her blanket look like heart-shaped eyes?

 

 And I have to caption this pic with  "I'm not a hoarder...I'm a toy maximalist"  

 

 

Lucy is getting fat - but she can still run like the wind.  And, she's the best watch dog we've ever had.  We love them and spoil them like children.

Blessings to you, Gail-Friends.  Have a good week and I hope to finish this book and see you again soon.

 

 

A Golden Romance

Gail-Friends, I'm so excited!!  Our love story has been published!  And yes, it did start with a cheeseburger!  If you, or someone you know, has given up on finding true love, this book is a must-read.

 

Who Knew?

That a strong-willed, independent woman in her fifties, twice divorced, who’d compared marriage with having your teeth drilled without Novocaine™, could find marital bliss. Well, it happened, and this is my story. I hope you will be encouraged to know that God is the very best matchmaker of all.

I often compare our love story to the Israelites who wandered in the wilderness for forty years. I like to think of it as a story of God’s power and patience to bring about His will in spite of our willfulness. He knows what’s best for us. I hope you will be encouraged and inspired to trust Him in all things.

 

Available on Amazon in print or as an e-book,   

If you prefer to order directly from me, you may.  Just send an e-mail request to gailg491@gmail.com   Please put "love story" in the subject line. 

Blessed to Be FREE!!! And an Update

 

 Dear Gail-Friends:  

I have been super busy, y'all!  I have finished my sixth book.  It's titled A Golden Romance and should be available on Amazon next week.   I'll keep you posted.  This book took me twenty years to write.  It's the story of how it took God forty years to put Jem and me together.  We were like the Jews wandering in the wilderness.  But, God is powerful and patient -- and He's the best matchmaker of all.

More about that later.

We've been getting ready for the 250th anniversary of our nation.   Jem has put out 250 American flags and they are so beautiful.  Look at that again.  Now, when people drive by, they will say, "They must really love America!"  Yes, we do. And we love our president and are doing all we can to help him Make America Great Again!

I want you all to be blessed by one of my friends.  Her name is Rhonda Mallard.  She's a singer and a song-writer.  Here's the link to her YouTube channel  https://youtu.be/xY91A_9j4dQ?is=JJOIJFeepA7UnU4_

 She posted this on her Facebook page yesterday:   

"Every day until our 250th on the 4th of July, I’m going to post a song I wrote from my patriotic album, “Fabric of Our Nation”, with prayers the songs will uplift and encourage your hearts about our great nation!!    I’m so proud to be an American living in a beautiful, free country, and wrote the song “Blessed to Be Free” with lyrics of some of the personal things I enjoy about our freedom, and hope the song will spark great memories of the things you love too! God Bless America!"

 

Y 'all come back now, ya hear?  And have a wonderful Independence Day.  And pray for our country.  God is moving in a mighty way.  More about that later, too.

 

Rededicate 250

 

Just a few of the many wise words spoken at the Rededicate 250 rally in Washington today:

 (from a Facebook post - author unknown)

1.Donald Trump

Donald Trump read from 2 Chronicles 7:

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

 

2. Tulsi Gabbard

Tulsi Gabbard askedAmericans to humble themselves before God.

She reflected on how America’s founders “didn’t stride forward in pride” but instead “knelt” and “asked for God’s mercy” just weeks before declaring independence.

“They asked for his guidance because they knew that the cause before them was beyond their own strength," Gabbard said. “Now, today, exactly 250 years later, we gather here on the National Mall to do the same, to give thanks, to ask for forgiveness, and to humbly ask once more for God's mercy and guidance as we enter the next 250 years of this Republic."

Gabbard also said leaders too often see themselves as “the controllers.”

“We lose sight of the fact that we are tiny, and our time on this planet is extremely short, and yet we see ourselves as the controllers competing with each other over who is number one,” she said. “But the truth is, there's only one number one, and that's God.”

 

3. Vice President JD Vance

Vance said America has “always been” and remains a “nation of prayer”, pointing to George Washington’s 1789 Thanksgiving proclamation, and argued that faith has been part of America’s identity since before the nation’s founding.

“The duty Washington describes to honor, obey, and give thanks to our creator was woven into America's character long before the founding,” Vance said. “… We have always been and still are a nation of prayer. And thank God for that. In times of suffering and in times of triumph, millions of Americans continue to turn to prayer and their faith in God.”

Vance also quoted the late Charlie Kirk while arguing America’s moral foundation is rooted in religion.

“As my dear friend, the late, great Charlie Kirk put it, all law reflects a morality. Neither law nor morality appears in a vacuum, but ultimately come from religion."

The vice president also praised what he described as a growing return to faith among young Americans, saying many are seeking “meaning,” “direction” and “closeness with God. Prayer is not merely something we do in times of crisis."

 

4. War Secretary Pete Hegseth

Hegseth said George Washington and his troops faced cold and starvation while the future of American independence appeared grim when they took refuge at Valley Forge in the winter of 1777.

As men began to desert, Washington wrote to Congress asking for help, writing that the army may starve, dissolve or disperse, according to Hegseth. But Congress could offer little help at that time.

Even Washington’s pastor had lost faith, according to Hegseth, writing to the general that he should surrender and ask forgiveness from the British king.

“But George Washington did not lose faith,” Hegseth said. "We know the painting of him at Valley Forge. One hangs in my office. Kneeling in the deep snow, his hat and sword nearby, Washington bows his head amid all the bleak nights, the loss and despair, the lack of proper support, George Washington performed a profound act. He prayed.”

“Let us pray as he did. Let us pray without ceasing. Let us pray for our nation on bended knee. And let us ask our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, as Washington did on that momentous day.”

 

5. House Speaker Mike Johnson

“Heavenly Father, we thank you," Johnson said. "Thank you so much for this great day that you've given us here, and we remember that your mighty hand has been upon our nation since the very beginning."

Johnson reflected on the Revolutionary War and the founding of the U.S., noting that the Second Continental Congress held a day of “humiliation, fasting, and prayer” before the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

"Just weeks later, Lord, on July 4th, 1776, you gave 56 patriots the courage and the conviction to sign their names to the Declaration of Independence, forming 13 distinct and disparate colonies into a new nation which would become, by your mercy and grace, the freest, most successful, most benevolent nation in the history of the world.”

“Our founders acknowledged and boldly proclaimed the self-evident truth that every single person is created in your image, and that we are endowed by you, our creator, with our unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

 

6. Cissie Graham Lynch, granddaughter of Billy Graham

Lynch said Sunday that America “especially” needs God now, arguing America’s strength comes from faith and prayer with a foundation rooted in the belief “we need God.”

“For 250 years, this nation has returned again and again to the God who created this beautiful country that we get to call home. We do this not because we're perfect people. We're not. But woven into the fabric of America is a deep and persistent belief that we cannot persevere on our own — that we need God,” Lynch said.

Lynch argued America’s “true source of strength” is found “when we humble ourselves before God.”

 

7. Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King

"This nation was founded on godly principles," King said. “We are one blood” and people of all races “can learn to live together as brothers and sisters.”

She also pushed back on the idea of a strict separation between church and state, saying “It's never a good idea to try to leave God out of anything.”

“It's time for us all to repent — to go to God and say we got it wrong, help us get it right”

 

8. Jonathan Roumie, actor playing Jesus in “The Chosen”

Roumie urged Americans to recommit to faith and the idea of being “one nation under God” and said prayer has been central to both his life and America’s identity.

“At the center of faith lies prayer,” Roumie said. “… Prayer is a kind of heavenly cargo shuttle, lifting our wants, our needs, and our gratitude toward heaven, open to anybody and everybody, willing to humble themselves at the feet of their creator, faithful and fallen alike."

Roumie said faith is essential to playing the role of Jesus “because if God hands you the assignment of portraying on a global stage his own son, the Savior of the world … and you do not have faith, Lord help you.”

“For 250 years we have endeavored to be one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. May we be that nation once more. May we rededicate ourselves to all that the Lord is calling us to these next 250 years. And may we, the citizens of the United States of America, never cease praying for our leaders, for each other, for our nation, and for the world.”

Shabbat 250 and America Re-dedication Day

 

 This is a wonderful article about Shabbat (Shabbat 250) linking this day with  this coming Sunday, May 17 - the day President Trump has designated as America Re-dedication Day and to Shavuot.  Wouldn't it be wonderful, Gail-Friends, if Yeshua our Messiah came during this week?  I'm ready -- and I hope you are, too.

Shabbat Shalom my friends.

 This is the link for the article - at First Fruits of Zion.  I highly recommend their site. 

Shabbat 250 and the Coming Messiah

And here is the link to information about the Rededicate 250 observance on Sunday, May 17.  The event in DC will be aired by Intercessors of America on YouTube:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPqlkz7Ys3Y

Something Big Is Happening

 

 This article is by Yehudah Glick - from Facebook

 

"Something very big is happening.

 

President Trump called on the Americans to dedicate a national Shabbat in honor of America’s 250th anniversary.

 

Charlie Kirk has written a book calling people back to the Sabbath — not as a cultural accessory, not as nostalgia, but as a response to the spiritual exhaustion of our time.

And I don’t think this is small.

I think this is one of the most important religious developments happening in the West right now.

Because Shabbat is not just a “Jewish day off.”

Shabbat begins at the very beginning of the Hebrew Bible.

Before Sinai.

Before the Exodus.

Before the Jewish people are even formed as a nation.

At the end of creation itself, the Torah tells us:

God created the heavens and the earth — and then He rested.

That means Shabbat is built into the architecture of the universe.

It is the weekly testimony that the world has a Creator.

That man is not God.

That productivity is not the purpose of life.

That technology must have limits.

That family is sacred.

That time can be holy.

That the universe is not an accident.

That history is moving somewhere.

For thousands of years, the Jewish people carried Shabbat through exile, persecution, wandering, and darkness.

Every Friday night, in every land, Jews lit candles and declared quietly — sometimes against the entire world — that Hashem is the Creator, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Israel, Jerusalem, and Zion, the King of the universe.

And now something remarkable is happening.

The nations are beginning to hear the music of Shabbat.

Not perfectly.

Not fully.

Not always with the same language or the same obligations.

But they are hearing it.

They are beginning to understand that a world without Sabbath becomes a world without soul.

A world without Sabbath becomes a world of noise, screens, markets, anxiety, loneliness, and endless motion.

A world without Sabbath forgets its Creator.

And this is exactly what the prophet Isaiah saw.

Isaiah spoke of a future in which the “foreigners who join themselves to Hashem” would honor His covenant and keep Shabbat.

He saw a time when the House of God would be called:

“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.”

This is not the erasure of Israel’s unique covenant.

It is the opposite.

It is the light of Israel beginning to shine outward.

It is the nations recognizing that the God of Israel is not a tribal deity, not a private inheritance, not a symbol of the past — but the Creator of heaven and earth, the King of the universe.

That is why this moment matters.

When political leaders speak about Shabbat, when Christian voices call people back to Sabbath, when non-Jews begin to recognize the holiness of sacred time — I see more than a cultural trend.

I see an echo of redemption.

I see the world, tired and broken, slowly remembering the first truth:

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

And if the world can remember the Creator, perhaps it can also remember the purpose of creation.

Shabbat is not an escape from the world.

Shabbat is the world as it was meant to be.

Peace.

Faith.

Family.

Holiness.

Creation returning to its Source.

May this awakening grow.

May the nations come closer to Hashem.

May Israel embrace its calling with courage and love.

May Jerusalem and Zion become a light to all peoples.

And may the whole world come to know the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — the Creator of the world, the God of Israel, the King of the universe.

This is huge.

And I believe we are only seeing the beginning."

 

And I pray it is so, Gail-Friends.  My prayer is for all in Israel, America, and the world to return to Adonai's Word, His Will, and His Ways - and to accept Yeshua as the Messiah and Savior.  

A Mothers Day Letter to America

 

I say "Amen" to this letter.   God bless all mothers.  And God bless General Flynn, a good American who's suffered so much for our country.

A Mother's Day Letter to America

By General Mike Flynn

There are some things a man does not write about until he is old enough to understand what he was given. I decided since it is Mother’s Day, I am setting the news cycle aside for a moment, because some truths are bigger than the daily fight.

I grew up as one of nine children in a small house in Middletown, Rhode Island. My father was a hard man with a soft heart, and he never asked the country for anything he had not first given it. My mother, Helen, held the center of our home together through every season of our lives. She raised nine of us, fed us, clothed us, prayed over us, taught us right from wrong, and somehow still found the energy to fight for her community. She ran for office at the local level at a time when most women her age were told to stay quiet, and she refused to. She taught us to kneel before God and to stand before no man. She taught us that we serve the country that gave us life. She taught us that strength is measured by what we carry, not by what we complain about.

When I look back at every hard day I have ever had, and there have been more than a few, I hear her voice before I hear my own. That is what a mother does. She becomes the first sound in your conscience and the last voice in your prayers.

The Founders understood something that this culture has allowed itself to mock. They understood that the Republic does not begin in the Capitol. It begins at the kitchen table. It begins with the mother who teaches her child to read the Bible before he learns to read a screen. It begins with the woman who tells her son that lying is beneath him and that running from his duty is worse than failing at it.

John Adams said the Constitution was made for a moral and religious people and would be wholly inadequate for any other. The men who built that moral and religious people were trained at home, by their mothers, long before they ever sat in a classroom or stood in a regiment.

We have spent generations laughing at that woman. 

Hollywood mocked her. The universities re-educated her daughters against her. The federal bureaucracy taxed her family until she had to leave the home she wanted to stay in. The technology companies took her children's attention and sold it to the highest bidder. Then the same culture that broke her down turned around and asked why our young people are anxious, fatherless, faithless, and unwilling to defend the country that raised them.

You cannot remove the mother from the Republic and expect the Republic to survive. It is that simple. It has always been that simple.

Fifth-generation warfare, the kind I have written about and warned about for years, is fought for the human mind. The terrain is the heart, the imagination, and the soul of a child. The first defender of that terrain is not a soldier. It is a mother. Every American mother who turns off the poison and reads to her child instead is defending the country. Every mother who walks her family into a church on Sunday is defending the country. Every mother who shows up at a school board meeting and refuses to sit down is defending the country. She is protecting the next generation of free citizens, and she is doing it with greater consequence than most of the officials elected to do the same job.

That is not sentimental language. It is an operational reality. The enemies of this country know it. They have studied it. They target the family because they understand that if the American family falls, the Nation falls behind it. Mothers are the front line. They have always been the front line.

I cannot write this without saying what needs to be said.

For ten years, my family carried a weight no family should ever have to carry. Ten years of investigation, of slander, of legal warfare waged by the most powerful institutions in this country against one American and the people who loved him. My wife, Lori, never broke. My sisters never broke. My daughters-in-law never broke. My mother, watching from heaven, never let me break either. If you have ever wondered what holds a man together when the full weight of a corrupt federal system is trying to crush him, I will tell you. It is not bravado. It is not press releases. It is a wife who looks you in the eye at the end of the worst day and tells you to keep going. It is the women in your life who refuse to let evil have the last word.

Everyone reading this knows a woman like that. Honor her today and every day after.

The Almighty did not make you for comfort. He made you for purpose. There is no purpose more sacred than the one He placed in your hands when He gave you a child.

Almighty God, on this Mother's Day, we thank You for the mothers of this Republic. Bless the mothers raising children in fatherless homes. Bless the mothers who buried a son or daughter in uniform. Bless the mothers who pray through the night for a child who has lost his way. Bless the mothers who walk into school board meetings shaking and walk out unbroken. Bless the mothers in heaven who still watch over us, including my own. Strengthen them, protect them, and use them, Lord, to raise up the next generation of patriots this Nation will need. In Your Holy Name we pray, Amen.

To every mother reading this, thank you. You are the reason this Republic still has a fighting chance.

Happy Mother's Day.

National Day of Prayer 2026

 

 Today, May 7 is the National Day of Prayer, which was declared in 1952.  Let us all praise and thank Almighty God for the blessing of being born and raised in this wonderful country.  The prayer event is being held in Washington D.C. and televised on Fox and other national outlets.  If you cannot see it live, you can see it later on YouTube.

My prayer today is for Americans to return to His Word, His Will, and His Ways. I am 75 years old and went to public schools during the 1950s and 1960s.    How blessed we were to have public schools that had the Ten Commandments on the walls of our classrooms.  How blessed we were to have Bible reading and prayer during our home room sessions.  How blessed we were to have teachers who were not afraid to speak of their faith during their teachings.  How blessed we were to live in an era that respected and honored and obeyed God's Word.

I pray that the future years will be a Golden Era of blessings.  He has blessed me and I pray He will bless us all with health, strength, vision, and purpose in our remaining years on this earth.

I pray and believe in the Name of Yeshua, the Messiah.  Amen

I recommend the International Intercessors of America website for many prayer resources you can use:

https://ifapray.org/blog/national-day-of-prayer-today 

 

Another Atempt on our President's Life

 

 Last night we saw another attempt to stop our president.  A shooter attempted to attack the White House Press Association dinner at the D.C. Hilton Hotel.  The evil ones that desire to kill, steal, and destroy don't give up.  But, our powerful Lord covered him, and others in the room, from destruction.

All glory to You, Adonai.  You covered President Trump with Your feathers and sheltered him and Melania with Your wings.  We thank You for protecting them, Vice President Vance,  Speaker Mike Johnson, and all of the other Cabinet members who were at the event.  

Father, something is seriously wrong with those charged with protecting our president.  This is the report on Factually of the many times he has been attacked, including thwarted attempts:

 https://factually.co/fact-checks/politics/assassination-attempts-against-donald-trump-7f4853

In the rally where he was shot in 2024, it was just so plain to see that the secret service was lax in their preparation for the event, plus other mistakes.

No one was hurt in the event ballroom, but a secret service agent was shot by the attacker.  Thankfully, the agent was wearing body armor.  The shooter was taken down and is in custody.

Father, I am so thankful for our president.  Even after the chaos died down, President Trump wanted to continue the event, but was persuaded not to.  He did speak from the White House later that night.  He had such a great attitude, thinking of and encouraging people to continue to speak freely and live freely.  He plans to hold the event again in thirty days.  His courage never fails.  He never gives up.  He is the man for such a time as this.

The look of horror on the First Lady's face stays with me this morning.  God bless her and keep her.  She lives with the knowledge that her husband is hated and attacked on every front.  She is a woman of courage and poise.  A mentor and a role model for girls and women.  She is the woman for such a time as this. 

Father, thank You for protecting them, guiding them, and helping them to get through this dangerous time in history.  

Our president is working day and night to turn our country back to YOU.  Back to common sense,  integrity and to the founding principles of this country.  I pray You will use this horrible assassination attempt to turn people, especially news journalists, back to YOU.  I don't even watch the mainstream media because they are purely propaganda machines for the agenda of the New World Order.  I pray for eyes, ears, and hearts to be open to see this truth.  Bring them to their senses.  I pray they will turn to You, Your Word, Your Will, and Your Ways.

In Yeshua's Name I pray. Amain. 

 

 

America Reads the Bible

 

Please join me in passing on President Trump's announcement about the week-long public reading of the Bible in Washington, D.C.  I believe what the Bible says:   

 

So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11)

 

Let's pray that we all will be convicted to obey His commandments.  America has become a lawless society.  But I cling to this promise:

 

 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:11) 

 This live event can be found online at this link:

America Reads the Bible

Presidential Message Commemorating 250 Years of the Bible in America

The White House

April 17, 2026

This week, I send my best wishes to every citizen gathered at the Museum of the Bible, on the National Mall, and all across our country participating in America Reads the Bible, a historic initiative in which nearly 500 Americans will take part in a public reading, over the course of one week, of the entire Bible—from Genesis to Revelation—to celebrate 250 years of the Bible in America.

From Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the New World and the first permanent English-speaking settlement at Jamestown to our founding in 1776 and to the present day, the Bible has been indelibly woven into our national identity and way of life.  Nearly 400 years ago, a decade after the arrival of the Mayflower, the legendary John Winthrop powerfully invoked Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Mount as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew:  “We must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill.  The eyes of all people are upon us,” Winthrop said, imploring his fellow Christian settlers to stand as a beacon of faith for all the world to see.

In the decades that followed, the truths of Holy Scripture remained deeply embedded in our culture—not only within the walls of our churches but in our homes, schools, courtrooms, and public square.  Nearly 150 years after Winthrop’s storied sermon, on July 4, 1776, our Founders echoed Holy Scripture in the central animating principle of the Declaration of Independence:  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

From the declaration of those immortal words at the very beginning of our Republic, and ever since, the Bible has enduringly illuminated our system of Government, given life to our constitutional framework, bolstered our educational institutions, and informed our deepest civic and moral identity.  The 1787 Northwest Ordinance—one of our Nation’s earliest and most formative laws—stated that “Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.”  Two decades later, John Adams, our second President, wrote the following to his fellow Founding Father Benjamin Rush:  “The Bible contains the most profound Philosophy, the most perfect Morality, and the most refined Policy, that ever was conceived upon Earth.”

In every generation, through every trial and triumph, God’s Word has guided our people and our country to incredible new heights.  During the first inauguration, George Washington, setting a precedent for all future Presidents, put his left hand on the Bible and took the oath of office, after which he kissed the Bible.  In his First Inaugural Address Washington stated:  “No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States.”  In President Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, he quoted the Bible 4 times, mentioned God 14 times, and invoked the power of prayer 3 times as he sought to bring the country back together after a bloody 4-year Civil War.  As more than 70,000 American troops prepared to land on the beaches of Normandy, President Franklin D. Roosevelt took to national radio and prayed that God’s blessings prevail over “the unholy forces of our enemy.”  And at the height of the Cold War and the righteous crusade that he led to defeat atheistic communism, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed 1983 to be the Year of the Bible, writing:  “Of the many influences that have shaped the United States of America into a distinctive Nation and people, none may be said to be more fundamental and enduring than the Bible.”

Today, during our 250th year of American independence, the America Reads the Bibleinitiative invites all citizens to once again acknowledge our Nation’s extraordinary Biblical foundations and to give thanks for the countless ways in which God has been the sacred source of our unity and national strength.  This one-week event, during which leaders in faith, Government, business, and entertainment will read every verse and chapter of the Bible, will inspire countless citizens to rediscover the Biblical truths that have animated our Republic for two and a half centuries and to pray that the Bible will continue to guide us—as individuals, as a people, and as a Nation—for the next 250 years and beyond.

I applaud every citizen participating in the America Reads the Bible initiative.  Together, we will honor Holy Scripture, renew our faith, usher in a historic resurgence of religion on American shores, and rededicate the United States as one Nation under God.

What's Happening at Golden Cottage?

 

Y’all ! Time is flying by! Right? But, I’m back. I just realized I haven’t done a Golden Cottage update since January.

We had really cold weather in January through mid-March – and our yard was hit hard. This is a rare photo here in central Florida – that's  FROST, Gail-Friends !

 

 Mr. Green Jeans (aka Rabbi Jem) worked so hard to protect our plants. He brought all of the potted plants and flowers onto the back porch to protect them. Put rugs down on the floor. Covered them with sheets. He did this three times, y’all ! All of them survived. And the plants in the yards were covered with sheets or wrapped in blankets. Most survived, but sadly, some didn’t. Some – time will tell. Like our plumeria tree. But, we have hope!

Our dog Lucy was happy to wear her sweaters!  And Toonie was happy to stay in the warm house.  (He usually prefers to stay on the back porch all day long.)
 

 

 

We had to have beautiful camphor tree taken out of our front yard.  We noticed that Lucy, was eating the camphor berries.  I Googled it and found that the berries are very toxic - damaging to the liver.  Our beloved dog, Zoe, died of liver failure, so she had probably been eating the berries, too.  (We miss her so much.) So, we had the tree removed.  Everything looks so bare now, and I grieved the loss of it.  I miss the tree's shade in the mornings and watching the birds visit there.  So, my sweet Jem bought me some new plants and flowers to cheer me and brighten up the yard.

 

I love gardenias because they remind me of Mama's bush beside the house where I grew up.  They smell wonderful.

 

We celebrated Valentine's Day with more flowers (roses are my favorite cut flowers)  and a visit to a Mexican restaurant on Merritt Island.  Their food is great and the presentation is beautiful.  Our meals came with edible flowers.  Jem ate his - but I decided to wear mine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Oh, and I must tell you about the vest I'm wearing in the picture above.  It's a heated vest that I bought for Jem.  It was so cold that day, he let me wear it.  We've both gotten a lot of wear out of it during this cold winter.  It is wonderful.  We bought one for our son-in-love, William because he works outside sometimes.  He said he didn't think he get much wear out of it, but he REALLY has worn it a lot.   

Our daughter, Amanda, sang with a local band, Gold Tone, at an Irish pub in Cocoa Beach. This was soooo good. The music was a combination of Celtic tunes and popular songs. I particularly enjoyed the combination of instruments, including the hammered dulcimer. It was lovely, y’all. I love dulcimer music. I remember one time when Amanda and I went to Barberville for a dulcimer workshop. She’d never played the hammered style, but she sat down and played it like she’d been playing all of her life. Yep. She’s talented like that.  

 

We visited the annual Merritt Island Birding and Wildlife Festival.  This year, it was in Cocoa Beach.  We met this author of several bird books.  He was very interesting to talk with.  

 

 

 

This is a little owl that was captured by a local wildlife rescue team.  He's missing one eye.   

Also in March, Amanda, our grandson Jonathan, Jem and I went to an event called The Heavens Declare, presented by Science Partners.  I'm so sad that I didn't get photos.  It is an astronomy workshop from a creationist perspective. The presentation included an inflatable planetarium that shows "the Gospel in the Stars".  It was educational and very interesting.  The only bad part is that you have to crawl into the planetarium on your knees and sit on the floor once inside.  Trust me -  this is a bad idea for a seventy-five year old lady like me.  Jem didn't go in.  He said, "I don't think it's a good idea."  So TRUE, y'all!  Now, we BOTH know our limitations.  I'll never do that again.  But, if you ever hear of this workshop, go to it and you won't be disappointed.

Last week, we visited Jacksonville University.  Jem and some of his Shangri-La shipmates presented a plaque and scholarship to a Naval Reserve student. The young man couldn't attend, which was sad.  He's greatly admired by his unit because he's an outstanding student, both scholastically and physically. He was an enlisted man who decided to go back to school and become a Navy officer. He is married, with two young children.  So, this $5000 scholarship will be a blessing.   The USS Shangri-La Reunion Association awards this scholarship every year.

 

 

 

The event also was to place a memorial plaque dedicated to the crews of the USS Shangri-La from 1944 to 1971.   The bell is the original ship's bell from the Shangri-La aircraft carrier.

 

We really enjoyed our visit to Jacksonville.  It was good to visit with these friends and others we met up with.  We also enjoyed our visit to the Chamblin Book Mine where I found four wonderful books.  I'll share them with y'all next time.

 

Blessings to You All, dear Gail-Friends!

 

 

 

A Prayer for America

 

 Heavenly Father – we praise You and thank You for protecting, providing, and guiding us through another week. And we thank You for Your Holy Shabbat. May You be pleased with our rest and our obedience to Your command.

We praise You that You hold the universe in Your mighty hands. We praise You for Your mighty works and for Your mercy on us. We are tiny compared to Your universe . . . and yet, You think on us and care for us. How blessed we are to have Your Spirit to comfort us and Your Word to guide us. Thank You for preserving it over thousands of years. Thank You for those in Israel who guarded, protected, and preserved it. Thank You for life in America. Thank You for shedding Your grace on our country.

Thank You for our Messiah, Yeshua – our Passover Lamb. Thank You for the blood that atones for our sins. This week, as I read the Torah portion about how much blood was required for atonement, I am once again humbled. I’m reminded how important the blood was. Sin is costly. Thank You that we don’t have to bring an animal and shed its blood. It’s easy to gloss over it – take it for granted or lightly, but Yeshua’s sacrifice was difficult and costly – just like the Temple sacrifices. It cost a lot for a man to bring his best, precious animal to sacrifice. But that’s what You required. Thank You that Yeshua, Your only precious son who was willing to give His blood for us. Our Passover seder brings it to our remembrance each year. We need that reminder. We praise You that He is risen from the grave. Our Passover Lamb – our Risen Lord and Savior. Haleluyah to Your Name, Adonai. Forever we will give You praise.

This week, we pray for our president, his cabinet, our lawmakers, and our military. We pray for our senators to have opened eyes and ears to see and do the right thing as they vote on funding for the DHS. Open the eyes and ears of Democrat voters to see how demonic it is to punish TSA workers and ICE agents by denying them payment for their work to protect our citizens. Bring them to their senses, Father.

We pray for the war with Iran to stop. We pray for all affected by this war. For all of the countries involved. For the military. For those who’ve lost loved ones. For those who’ve lost homes through the bombings. War is horrible. Help and comfort them all, Father.

And we pray especially for the peace of Jerusalem. I pray for the Israeli leadership to return to Your Torah. I once heard Netanyahu say that he depends on the Torah observance of the Hassidics to protect Israel. Open his eyes, as well as President Trumps eyes, to the fact that Adonai holds countries and leaders accountable for their sins against You. I read that just this morning in Leviticus 4.

Father, I ask forgiveness for my country and its leaders who have thrown Your Torah behind their backs. I did so when I was ignorant of Your laws. Church leaders taught that it was no longer applicable. They were wrong. Many people are ignorant of Your Word and wonder why their lives are such a mess. I was one of them. My reading of the New Testament letter of I John taught me the truth. A close study of the words of Yeshua in the gospels opened my eyes. When I began to obey Your laws, my life turned around. I am blessed beyond measure. I will thank You and praise You forever.

On this day, Father, grant us Your peace and rest as we turn away from the world and draw near to You. You are our God. You are our Lord. You are our King. You are our Deliverer. Haleluyah forever.

May Your face shine upon us. Blessed be You, our loving Father. Thank You for drawing near to us on this, Your holy day. We pray, and believe, in the mighty name of Yeshua our Messiah and Savior. Amain. 

 

Our God Reigns!

 

When I was growing up, there was a very popular song played on secular radio called "He's Got the Whole World In His Hands".  When I read this article on Facebook, the song came to mind.  Sometimes I get discouraged when I see the evil, horrible, disgusting things happening in our country. Then I'm tempted to give up. To stop telling people the TRUTH about what's not being reported on the propaganda machine (mainstream news).  To stop contacting my representatives about current agenda items in the House and Senate.  To stop taking a stand for righteousness in my city, country, and state.   But then, God arises!!  Hope comes!  Strength comes! Because I remember the battles Adonai has fought for me personally, and for my beloved country.  Listening to this song energizes me to continue in battle for America:  LET GOD ARISE!

Then, I remember this encouragement from His Word: 

"There is a reason the Books of First and Second Kings disturb modern Christians, and it is the same reason they disturb modern governments. Those books prove beyond argument that God does not merely watch history. He interrupts it. He removes kings. He raises shepherds. He humbles empires. Scripture says plainly, “He removeth kings, and setteth up kings” (Daniel 2:21). That statement is not poetry. It is policy. Every throne on earth exists on borrowed time, and every ruler answers to a higher throne whether he acknowledges it or not.

 

The modern world teaches you that power flows upward from the people. God teaches you that power flows downward from Him. Pharaoh learned it. Nebuchadnezzar learned it. Ahab learned it. When a king defied the Word of God, he did not lose power because of political opposition. He lost power because heaven revoked his permission to sit there. “For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another” (Psalm 75:6–7). Every rise and every fall is a spiritual event before it is ever a political one.

 

This is why the prophets terrified kings more than armies did. Ahab feared Elijah more than he feared Syria. Herod feared John the Baptist more than he feared Rome. Why? Because a prophet carried something no army could carry: the authority of the Word of God. One sentence from heaven outweighed ten thousand soldiers on earth. When Elijah said dogs would lick Ahab’s blood, no military strategy on earth could prevent it, because the outcome was already decided in the courtroom of eternity (1 Kings 21:19).

 

Nothing has changed. The same God who ruled in the days of Kings rules now. Nations still rise. Nations still fall. Leaders still think they are in control, but heaven still holds the leash. The question is not whether God is involved. The question is whether you recognize it. Because the same God who removes kings also saves sinners, and the same authority that topples thrones can rescue a soul. History is not random. History is ruled.”

Anonymous (found on Facebook)