I have treasured my journey with God almost as long as I can remember and the peace He continues to offer me when life is good, disturbing, or frightening.

That does not mean I haven’t had struggles in becoming the woman God created me to be – and at the age of eighty I am still learning and growing in the Lord.

There were times – maybe because I had a good life as a child – when I had an arrogant spirit. God in His amazing way had many methods of humbling me and bringing me to my knees. I praise Him for that and for continually reminding me that arrogance is not a fruit of the Spirit.

Psalm 139 released me from the bondage of thinking God did not know and love me personally. I had no trouble understanding that God loved the “world”, but I struggled with understanding that He knew me personally and loved me.

To this day I love Psalm 139 and knowing that of all the billions of people who were ever born (somewhere between 80 billion and 100 billion), He KNOWS and loves me, and that is true for you and each of the other 8.2 billion people who are living on earth today.

I was a teenager when I began to struggle with bulimia – maybe because I was always tall and skinny and wanted to stay that way. Somewhere in my twenties God lifted me from that awful addiction. It has been so long ago I can barely remember that awful time of struggle. Just thinking about it now reminds me of the pride, lack of discipline, secrecy, and ungodly living bulimia entails. It also broke down the walls of my attitudes and emotions.

Some of the most painful times in my life have been the results of trying to “fix” other people. Because the results were so painful (anger toward me and hindered relationships), I now almost run away from a situation where I am asked to or want to fix someone or a relationship.

Today, when I come really close to the temptation of trying to fix a relationship, God usually reminds me of John 21:22 – “What is that to you? You follow Me.” And – me following Him is a fulltime job that takes up most of the hours in my day.

I love the lessons God used to bring me into a closer and more rewarding relationship with Him, though I really don’t want to learn those lessons again. 🙂

Below is my favorite verse these days, as I deal with the realities of old age.

One of the blessings in my retirement is posting a Bible verse each morning usually with one of my photographs. It might be a verse that grabs my attention, is a blessing, or is challenging me at the time.

I am blessed by the people who read my blog, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, or MeWe posts each day.

I am especially blessed by those who tell me how much they appreciate the Bible verses and photos I put together for each day. I sometimes feel like giving up when I receive negative comments. Mostly about not using only King James Version verses. However, my passion is to grow in my love for God and Jesus and find it helpful to read and use many versions of the Bible.

After all, each version and paraphrase is just that, because the original was written in Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek. Since I do not understand those languages, I am grateful to be able to read the Bible in a variety of English versions.

A few Bible translators have helped me understand the need for a variety of versions. One told me that where he helped in Bible translation, the people had never seen a lamb and could not understand how Jesus was the “lamb of God”, so an animal the tribe revered had to be used in that translation to help them understand the sacrifice of God in sending His son. Another told me about the time they were translating the Bible into the language of a people who had never seen snow. The whitest thing they had ever seen was the meat of a coconut. Thus, whiter than snow became whiter than coconut in helping them to understand how God forgives sin. I am sure some of our English translators came upon some of the same issues, especially when the King James language was no longer spoken. We had a friend whose mother cried when he got a King James Bible because she thought it was not properly translated when compared with the German language – her first language.

Consequently, I know without a doubt that posting Bible verses in a variety of versions is what God has called me to do in my retirement. It gives me delight and purpose. My reward is when someone says, “That version helped me know what that verse meant” or “I love that version. It spoke to me today.”

The pictures I post at the end of the day are just something I delight in and treasure – usually nothing spiritual. 🙂 I delight in family, friends, and beauty.

On my blog, I can see which countries are represented by those who open and look at my blog. That amazes me. I do not see names, only countries.

I am aware that most people like when my evening post involves pictures of our family, travels, and daily activities because my readership goes up – especially weddings. People also seem to enjoy the pictures I post of our countryside and some of the Amish buggies that go by our house. It helps me treasure the countryside where I have lived all of my life.