080126

Welcome to August!
Starting it off by DOING LAUNDRY AT 6AM
That includes the new Catholic shirts!
So I actually get to wear a Mary shirt for her month!

ETSY REVIEWS, FINALLY
Gotta be responsible

First Saturday rush but God will get us through
NOT CUTTING CALORIES EITHER because we will inevitably be fasting for at LEAST 22 hours

RUNNING LATE AGAIN DUDE WHAT EVEN. WHY.
GOD HELP ME OUT PLEASE I TRUST IN YOU 🙏🙏🙏🙏


Evening =
Eating everything in 4 hours made us MANIC?????
Thankfully the "drinking a whole bottle of water makes us exhausted" trick still works, that sedation was CRITICAL

Mrs Bryk talk = BEST STUDENT?????

Trying to talk sense into the unexpected and very upsetting "trans family members" conversation. It hurts so much to hear them forcibly denying their own righteous upset and disagreement for the sake of "being tolerant." I keep trying to gently but firmly break through that fatal veneer.
Still not sure what to say but at least I wasn't silent. Holy Spirit help me be wise and kind but courageous and honest. Souls are at stake here.

Aldi stop with mom, checking the broccoli again

SHAHROOZ IS MOVING OUT????? Oh man I will miss him SO MUCH, just like dear José, AND the lady before him. I swear that apartment gets the BEST people

SOCIALLY OVERWHELMED. My body and brain are CRUSHED.
I need to sleep.

Also PLEASE UNINSTALL ETSY IT IS A DEATHLOOP TRAP
YOU DO NOT ACTUALLY NEED MORE CATHOLIC STICKERS AND PRAYER CARDS


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https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/loi/hebrews-11.html
⚠️WARNING = ARMINIANISM⚠️
(i.e. sola scriptura, sola fide, no purgatory, only 2 sacraments, no pope, penal or governmental atonement)

‼️‼️‼️‼️ God had promised Abraham an heir. Yet, time had become the enemy of this promise [as far as human logic and reason were concerned, which although valid and God-given, are nevertheless limited by human weakness and capacity for deception, and constrained by the insurmountable limitations of our ignorance concerning the creation, no matter how much we do learn, because our human reasoning and science and deduction is limited to the PHYSICAL realm and what we understand as "possible" according to its laws. BUT MIRACLES CAN TRANSCEND THOSE LAWS, just as faith transcends reason. The point is, GOD'S PROMISES CANNOT BE INHIBITED BY WHAT WE UNDERSTAND AS POSSIBLE, not by biology or time or anything else] and Abraham was now 100 years old and his wife Sarah was 90. It was a medical impossibility for them to have a son...
🌟🌟🌟🌟‼️‼️❤❤❤ ...and yet God PROMISED them one (Genesis 17:19). SO, Abraham BELIEVED GOD about this child and the child BECAME A REALITY. [IN THE TANGIBLE, VISIBLE WORLD OF LINEAR TIME-- ISAAC WAS ALREADY ENTIRELY REAL IN GOD'S MIND AND WILL]

‼️‼️‼️‼️💔💔💔💜💜💜 Sarah's LEARNING CURVE was a little different than Abraham's. When she FIRST HEARD the PROMISE of a son born of her womb, she LAUGHED in UNBELIEF (Genesis 18:9-15). But God was MERCIFUL to Sarah [because not only did "common sense" and "logical possibility" protest that such a thing was impossible, but also because nothing like this has ever happened before, she had never seen a miracle or knew they were possible, she HADN'T KNOWN GOD as well as her husband did, and in her old age she had grown jaded and depressed in her shameful infertility so this sudden and last-minute hope was probably painful in its apparent incredibility, especially in its audacious ASSURANCE. Her laughter was probably part incredulity, part humor, part bitterness, part fear. It was sudden and spontaneous, the immediate response of her shocked and troubled and surely secretly hopeful heart, and she meant no harm or irreverence by it. God knew this. God did NOT expect NOR WANT her to accept this blindly, without going through this necessary "refining fire" of her own emotions and thoughts, which would eventually lead her so much closer to God than any blandly automatic assent ever could. The justice due to disbelieving God's Word was tempered by God's Mercy for her weakness, and probably for the suddenness of circumstances as well– necessary and intended, yes, specifically for the impact of the scene and Promise, as well as for the test of their ability TO respond quickly and without undue deliberation, but therefore requiring a much more deeply rooted and long-practiced faith TO respond so readily than Sara currently had, or could have had, as God had never revealed Himself to her like this before. This was probably her first step, and it HAD to be taken so suddenly and deliberately, by God's initiative, or else she would have been too hesitant or disbelieving to do so on her own. So mercy was entirely fitting here, a testimony to the compassionate understanding and patience of God for our weaknesses and foolishness, and yet never leaving us there, but USING even these humiliating disclosures OF our need for mercy as the very springboards to seed and strengthen our faith and trust and hope and joy and love for Him. God's mercy for the sinner is the first step to transforming her into a saint. This event, this laugh and its consequences, were the opening line of the new chapter of Sarah's life, written by God, even so close to the "end of her book" as far as earthly life is concerned. By this unexpected grace, this sudden new word of Promise, Sarah suddenly had a future she had never thought possible, and her initial and instinctive disbelief even became the fertile ground FOR faith– for contrition and humility and holy fear and self-reflection and prayer and wonder and HOPE. It was the darkness against which God's Light desired to shine all the more brightly, until the shadows were entirely washed away. How much more glorious the sunrise is, after a long and dark night! How much greater her faith would become, when it was the fruit of such an unforgettable planting, this mustard seed of impossible assurance, revealing at the very start just how much it had to conquer and overcome to survive– and indeed WOULD! How much more joyful her promised son's birth would be, when it came as a TRIUMPH over everything in her that HAD previously doubted that God COULD give such a gift of miraculous joy! How much more gratefully and eagerly she would trust Him when He thus proved not only His faithfulness against every obstacle, but also His particular LOVE for her, in having DESIRED such a thing for her to begin with, as the most profound consolation for her years of pain and sorrow, made all the more sweeter BECAUSE of them– proving that God KNEW her pain and even IN that pain He had ALWAYS WANTED and even DESIGNED this joy for her! How wonderful and beautiful her knowledge of God would become because of that uncertain laugh, met with a mercy that took that doubt as it was and used it as the very foundation for future faith. Good always triumphs over evil; God always wins the war. Her laugh would not be left to echo in sadness, it would not be left to become a tragic memory. No, God would TRANSFORM even that instant into an opportunity to REJOICE, as the moment when God broke into her world and changed her life– and OUR lives– forever.]
❤❤❤❤ ...and IN TIME [which, through TRUST, was NO LONGER an "enemy" but an ALLY, the very means by which the essential virtue of patient persevering trust COULD grow in her], she LEARNED how to LAUGH IN FAITH (Genesis 21:6). The little boy she bore was actually NAMED "Isaac," which means "laughter" in Hebrew. [And HE was the perpetual reminder of all I just wrote– the "INCARNATION" of her hope and joy and trust in God, that He Himself had built in her over those nine months. Isaac became, in a way, the very embodiment of not only God's invincible faithfulness, but also His merciful love for her– AND for His people, born FROM Isaac, who would themselves likewise become a "SIGN OF FAITH" to the world, in BOTH its triumph AND its struggle, through all of THEIR doubting and repenting and waiting and hoping and rejoicing IN GOD and in His MERCY, without which they would have been lost. In the end, God's people WILL laugh with the FULLNESS of faith in HEAVEN, where both joy and life itself are unending, and ALL of God's Promises HAVE come true in His ONLY SON– the very FOUNTAIN of Divine Mercy Himself. And the more we learn about HIM, the more we WILL laugh with joy along with the saints, with Sarah and Isaac themselves, all of us mercifully redeemed sinners singing God's praises forever as His "impossible children".]

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Nothing is "too hard" for God (Genesis 18:14) (also Jeremiah 32:17+27, Zechariah 8:6, Job 5:9, 9:10, 42:3, Psalm 118:23)
[THE HEBREW ACTUALLY IMPLIES, "NOTHING IS TOO MIRACULOUS FOR GOD"!!! The word also means "difficult" in the sense of something too "wonderful, extraordinary, special" to be done or grasped BY MAN– something so marvelous, so "high above" normal and usual things, that it was beyond man's power to achieve, or even understand? Such things were therefore placed squarely in "divine capacity" alone, something only God could do, or could enable a man to do by His Power alone.
Notably, Deuteronomy 30:11 uses this exact same word to assure Israel that God's Law– to love and obey Him– was NOT "too difficult" to do; it was NOT an ideal so lofty and angelic that mortal man could never hope to achieve it. It did NOT require Samsonite strength or willpower; it did NOT require Solomonic wisdom. Why not? Because GOD HAD ALREADY PUT THAT LAW INTO THEIR HEARTS (Deuteronomy 30:6+14), and NOTHING is "too difficult" for HIM. He WANTS us to obey Him and LIVE, and so He GIVES us the grace TO do so! So when you REALIZE that God deals with you in THIS way– with MERCIFUL COMPASSION– and you respond with TRUST in HIS Power and Promise and Purpose TO help you and save you (for thats what the Law was FOR, Deuteronomy 30:9-10+16+19-20; God is glorified MOST by His GOODNESS which He WANTS to lavish upon those who have FAITH in Him), then it is indeed "EASY" to obey His Laws, because you will see clearly that they are ALL LOVE... And THAT'S what ALL God's MIRACLES are, too. Nothing is too miraculous for God's Love to accomplish.]

🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ It is just hard for US to THINK and BELIEVE in the SPIRITUAL MODE, WHERE SUCH IMPOSSIBLE THINGS DO HAPPEN.
[Honestly though this is a GAMECHANGING thought. It means OUR THOUGHTS HAVE TO BE TAKEN OUT OF THE "PHYSICAL MODE" FIRST. ONLY THEN CAN WE BELIEVE IN WHAT IS PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE, BECAUSE NOW OUR THOUGHTS ARE FOCUSED ON GOD– ON GOD'S ETERNAL NOW, ON GOD'S INFINITE BEING, ON GOD'S UNSEEN TRUTHS KNOWN ONLY BY HEARING GOD PROMISE THEM, and thus above all on GOD'S TRUSTWORTHINESS AND LOVE. Being in a "spiritual mode" means that NOTHING is impossible IF GOD SAYS HE WILL DO IT. Spiritual thinking means "taking every thought captive to obey Christ" and "letting God renew the spirit of our minds" with "the mind that was in Christ Jesus", "set on things above" and "pondering all that is good"... this all indeed DOES sound "too wonderful for me," and indeed it IS– but NOT FOR GOD, Who GIVES US HIS SPIRIT so that we CAN do these things, so we CAN live in a spiritual mode AT ALL TIMES. YES, WE NEED GRACE TO THINK IN THIS WAY, but GOD DOES GIVE IT!!! All we have to do is ASK, and TRUST that He WILL– and truly He ALREADY HAS, by giving us the MEANS of grace in so many ways, ESPECIALLY His SACRAMENTS! So you have NO EXCUSE for staying in a "physical mode" of thinking, seeing only what is visible to the human eye, blinded in heart and stubborn in spirit, insisting on the impossibility of hope. DON'T DO THAT. Read the Scriptures and SEE what miracles God has ALREADY done. Listen to testimonies of the faithful and HEAR what God is STILL doing. And if you are still hardened, just START ASKING God to prove once again that "nothing is too difficult for Him," by CHANGING your heart, by GIVING you new life despite your living death– and ask Him to do this even if you DON'T "believe," even if you DON'T feel anything. Just ASK and KEEP ASKING, and He WILL help you in those ways too. Prayer itself is a means of grace. God is still your Creator and He still loves you. Your existence is still a miracle in and of itself, and God longs to glorify His Love in your life. Let your cynical laughter be transformed in time, too. Dare to trust Him; choose to try. Take one small step into hope. Open the door to Him just an inch, or at least unlock it at last. The "spiritual mode" is still entirely possible & available to you. What is impossible for you alone is merely awaiting your trusting surrender to God, for Whom all things are possible (Mark 9:23, 10:26-27). And He will lead you there, if you let Him. Even if all you can do today is refuse to close your eyes or ears to Him, refuse to run away from Him, refuse to forget Him, this is a huge step. This brings grace too. God is with you, yes even you, even now. Let the mustard seed take root. Be patient. God will not abandon you. Just hold on. You are not impossible.]

🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️ What an OPPORTUNE MOMENT this is for us to STOP AND CHECK OUR SPIRITUAL FOCUS! ...Can we say today, as Christians, that WE are FOCUSING ON the UNSEEN AND HEAVENLY WORLD? Are WE LOOKING FOR a HEAVENLY COUNTRY and a HEAVENLY CITY? Or do we STILL have one foot in the EARTHLY CITY and one in the HEAVENLY CITY?
[...This is gutwrenchingly convicting, especially with all my dietary & domestic obsessiveness lately. I am, ashamedly, still standing with one foot on either side of the river. How terrifying this is to realize! And yet now that I HAVE been shown this great failure, by God's mercy, I can by God's Grace begin to STOP DOING THIS and finally make that leap of faith ENTIRELY onto the shore of my Saviour.]

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Jacob was blessed with HEAVEN'S dew, with the EARTH'S riches, and an abundance of good things [from them both– specifically GRAIN AND WINE!!!!]. He was GIVEN AUTHORITY— over NATIONS, and even over his BROTHERS.
(Genesis 27:29 ALSO perpetuates the PROMISE = "Accursed be whoever curses you and blessed be whoever blesses you!")
[THIS IS ALL TYPOLOGICAL FOR JESUS TOO-- "ALL AUTHORITY IN HEAVEN AND EARTH" (Matthew 28:18), THE EUCHARIST (1 Corinthians 10:16), "FIRSTBORN OF MANY BROTHERS" (Romans 8:29), "KING OF THE NATIONS" (Revelation 15:3), ETC.!!!!!!]
‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ [Isaac, as] the father, NEVERTHELESS blessed Esau, but there was NO LONGER a FIRSTBORN blessing for him.
[TERRIFYING LANGUAGE IN LIGHT OF THE JESUS ("FIRSTBORN" OF CREATION (Colossians 1:15!!!) PARALLEL WITH JACOB'S-- ISRAEL'S-- BLESSING.]
⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️ Esau was told that he would live AWAY from the earth's riches [AND "heavens dew"— therefore, what NATURAL GOOD was GIVEN to Jacob BY GOD, Esau couldn't even get CLOSE to???? Implying that THEY COULDN'T "SHARE" IT; the foundational principle of A BINARY/ DICHOTOMY between "TWO KINGDOMS" is here manifested again!!]; that he would live BY HIS SWORD and SERVE his brother [AND YET, "but when you WIN your freedom, you will SHAKE HIS YOKE OFF your neck"?????]
[THAT COUNTED AS A BLESSING?????? LOOK INTO THIS!!!!!]
(Genesis 27:38-39 = "Esau said to his father, 'Can you bless only once, father? Father, bless me too.' ISAAC REMAINED SILENT, and Esau began to weep aloud. THEN his father Isaac spoke again and said...")

🌟🌟🌟🌟‼️‼️‼️‼️...how men of the past could "see into the future" regarding the lives of their children... such things can ONLY be accomplished by FAITH [because it was NOT "premonition"; you'll notice that Isaac's blessing was ENTIRELY IN LINE WITH GOD'S PROMISES. Isaac simply spoken, THROUGH FAITH and BY DIVINE INSPIRATION, what GOD had already PROMISED for His faithful ones, and was now simply successively outlining in FURTHER DETAIL and PERSONAL PARTICULARS through the PATRIARCHAL BLESSINGS. This was NOT a "superpower"; there was NO "future sight" here other than FAITH in what GOD HAD SAID.]
🌟🌟🌟🌟‼️‼️‼️‼️Isaac had GREAT FAITH IN GOD and THUS was ABLE to PROPHESY concerning the future of his sons [Because he TRUSTED that what God had said IN THE PROMISE, and thus ABOUT their future, WOULD happen. Of course, the WORDS of the blessings themselves were GIVEN them BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, because 1. ONLY GOD CAN PRONOUNCE A PROPHETIC BLESSING, and 2. these men were GOD'S CHOSEN PATRIARCHS and therefore WERE BLESSING THEIR SONS WITH GOD'S OWN PROMISE, WHICH NO MAN COULD EVER PRESUME TO SPEAK "AS HIS OWN WORDS".] 

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ As the SECOND IN POWER after mighty Pharaoh, ALL the luxuries of Egypt were AVAILABLE to Joseph. Yet [LIKE MOSES, he REFUSED to live as one of them and instead CHOSE to live APART, as a SHEPHERD, with his FAMILY. And just as he LIVED as a Hebrew, despite his "forced adoption" by dire circumstances into a position Egyptian royalty, Joseph insisted on DYING as a Hebrew. Thus,] before his death he made the children of Israel SWEAR AN OATH that they would NOT leave his body in Egypt but would take it with them WHEN THE EXODUS WOULD FINALLY HAPPEN.

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥"Moses CHOSE the IMPERISHABLE, SAW the INVISIBLE, and DID the IMPOSSIBLE."
[I love this so much. The poetry is striking-- what CANNOT DIE, also CANNOT BE SEEN, and WE CHOOSE IT WHEN WE HAVE FAITH THAT, THROUGH THE ETERNAL AND UNSEEN GOD, IT IS NOT ONLY POSSIBLE, BUT MORE REAL AND TRUE THAN ANY VISIBLE THING THAT PERISHES.]
[BASICALLY WE'RE CHOOSING GOD HIMSELF WITH EYES OF FAITH AND EVERYTHING HE WILLS IS POSSIBLE FOR HIM-- AND FOR HIS GRACE WORKING HIS WILL THROUGH US BY FAITH.]