Mama Always ~ L.A. Brown, Author

 I wrote this some years back, not sure about the date. Hope you enjoy it. I asked the Lord a question this morning; "Why is it so hard to have faith? Perhaps being born to a different family in say, South America, Columbia, Africa...there it may be different. Evil is obvious there, maintaining faith, even in the face of evil has to be easier." The answer was enlightening and astounding to me. "My Child, sometimes it's hard to see the most magnificent forest when all around you are gnarled and knotted trees. The same is true in each of the countries that you mentioned; when that One tree is spotted, the One that stands out from all the rest, the One whose smell is pleasant to the nose, the One who is pleasing to the sight, then the ugliness of the trees that surround you are suddenly obvious and the yearning to be close to the One tree is overwhelming. In America, the One tree is difficult to find because Satan has put artificial trees everywhere. They may be beautif...

                                            Credit: Bjoern Wylezich / shutterstock.com  Do you know how diamonds are made? They are the product of compressed carbon, which over time creates the beautiful stone we call a diamond, but not all diamonds are natural. Lab created diamonds are made the same way, compression of carbon, but in a way that is much faster, that's why LGB diamonds are less expensive than natural ones. I was reading that the the amount of natural diamonds recovered peaked in 2005, but have decreased ever since. The number recovered now can fit in an exercise ball. While that's a pretty big ball, in the grand scheme of things, that's relatively few diamonds. So this got me thinking. I was talking to a dear friend this morning who is recovering from COVID. She is at home and her husband is in a hospital receiving treatment quite a number of miles away. I c...

  Ephesians 3:14-19 14 For this reason I bow my knees to the  Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,  15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,  16 that He would grant you,  according to the riches of His glory,   to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in   the inner man,  17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you,   being rooted and grounded in love,  18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints   what  is  the width and length and depth and height—  19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled  with all the fullness of God. Good Monday morning to all of you! The sun is hiding, we have thunder boomers, but Praise God! We have life-giving rain! It has been raining for a week here, and I have to admit I'm starting to notice webbing develop between my toes, but rain is really good for my flowers. The water from our hose just isn't ...

  Every day I do devotionals...two in the morning, and one at night. For the last couple of years, because of the brain fog from fibro,  I assume,  I have a hard time concentrating very long. Reading is difficult because at some point I will not be able to completely comprehend what I just read, and have to go back to read it again, or I fall asleep. So the devotionals help me to stay in God's Word, even if it's just a little bit. In my reading today a passage popped up that I don't ever recall reading, but having read the Bible through at least a couple of times, I know I have. It was Malachi 3: 1-6a. M ALACHI 3 The Coming Messenger 1 “Behold,  Matt. 11:10; Mark 1:2; Luke 1:76; 7:27; John 1:23; 2:14, 15 I send My messenger, And he will  (Is. 40:3) prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Is. 63:9 Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold,  Hab. 2:7 He is coming,” Says the  Lord ...

  This year has been hard. Yes, a bit for me, but a lot for three ladies who are dear to me. One lost her spouse to cancer. Another to heart disease. The other to COVID. All lost the loves of their lives, their mate, their other half, and now they have an empty house. While at first, there will be visitors and others who will check in on them, when all that ends, they still have an empty house. Little things will catch them unaware. A noise will trigger tears. A place, an activity will bring sorrow. The tears have no set pattern, but they will, and have come. There will be times when there is no consolation, there will be times when their pillow is soaked from crying themselves to sleep. It is hard, but they all have Jesus and an Abba Father to lean into. They have prayer support from all over the world. Then, in this new season of life, they will find the things that bring them joy. It could be a stray button from his favorite shirt. Perhaps a cardinal sits in a tree chirping at t...

 A squirrel's tail. 2021 added a stinking squirrel's tail. Hang on to that mental picture, because I have no doubt this zebra is gonna look like something other-worldly by the time 2021 is done with us. I swear, I thought last year was a year for the books. 2021 said hold my beer. Snowmageddon 2021 hitting every lower 48 except Florida...makes me wonder what kind of deal they made. Reminds me of the song the Devil went down to Georgia, but I think that should be changed to Florida. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Florida made a deal with the devil, because I'm pretty sure they didn't. Their fiddle of gold had to be avoidance of the Snowpocolypse, I don't know.  Anyway. Last year, early January, I had COVID before it decided to infect the world and head out to parts unknown. Thought I wouldn't get it again. 2021 snickered in the corner. All of 2020 we avoided getting it, then my hubby, who works at the airport, was in close contact with a co-worke...

  You know, today is a new day. I understand that the events of yesterday were, shall we say, a bit unnerving. Things that we thought would happen didn't, and things we never thought would ever happen, well, they did. Here's what I know: God is still on His Throne. Nothing that happened yesterday surprised Him. Us? Gads, we were maybe not blind-sided, but certainly surprised at the events and how it went sideways really fast. So, the next question is, what now? For some of us, it is the beginning of the end, for others, it's the beginning of new things, for still others of us, it's an era of uncertainty, whether extreme or not. What we, as the Christian community must understand is that God is not finished with what He started. What we may see as absolute disaster could very well be a pathway to something bigger, better. What better way to show the image of Christ in you than to walk in humbleness and grace, showing the love of Christ in your words, actions and thoughts...