I Know...

Yes. I took last week off without notice. Rosh Hashanah snuck up on me. Yom Kippur is bolting toward me now. There's been a lot of fasting and praying from the Jewish and the Christian sides in my family. Not to mention, my No-No and her hubby live in Israel and Hamas has been firing rockets into near-by cities. The world around us is going crazy.

It's been distracting to say the least.

A lot has been going on that I haven't even shared, too. I needed to take a breather from blogging and social media all together. Hoping to get back to normal this week.

I hope everyone else is doing well.

Hugs and chocolate,
Shelly

Celebrate the Small Things: Lightning

People are being struck by lightning ... a lot! California being one of many states that has felt the wrath.

About a month and a half ago, on my way to work one morning, lightning was whipping through traffic. Yes. You read right. It was streaking through traffic as cars were driving and stopping at the traffic lights.

Before I turned down the main drag, a long electrical whip raced across the hood of my car and the woman's next to me. We both looked at each other to confirm we weren't seeing things. Mind you, I live in Florida, the lightning capital.

A week later, on a Tuesday evening, I witnessed lighting stretching out of the night sky with intention. It was as if each strike had fingers zapping the road. In all my life I've never seen lightning with a mission.

What could this mean?

Are they yet more signs from the heavens that God's not happy with the humans on planet earth? Could it be a sign that we need to get our crap together? Does he use nature to show Himself?

In, The Science of God, Gerald L. Schroeder explains it as: 'We are told that two aspects of a transcendent infinity labeled as God have been "condensed" and projected into our spatially and temporally finite universe. One is revelation, written in words, that we call the Bible. The other reveals itself in the wonders of nature and the laws by which nature functions'.

He also quotes Exodus 14:21, where God used wind that blew all night to split the Sea of Reeds. The sea Moses led the people of Israel through. This of course is only one of many instances where God uses nature.

And with God anything is possible. But I'm still wondering if He is trying to get our attention through nature. Here's a video to think about before I Celebrate the Small Things:

What do y'll think? Ooky-Spooky, eh?

Now for my celebrations on behalf of VikLit, at Scribblings of an Inspiring Author .

* No-No and Ya'akov are staying safe. HAMAS shot fifty rockets on Wednesday. Only one landed near Tel Aviv, exploding on a main highway. Thank God it was in the middle of the night. No one was hurt.

* Sunday, I get to pick up the Glowstick for a sleepover and a shopping day. YAY!

* This week, instead of getting majorly depressed and giving up on the Killer Stilettos dilemma, I worked on another project and have come quite far with it.

* Hubby's cancer scans came back clean again. YAY!

* And I've dried quite  a few herbs from my garden this week, collected five more tomatoes, and six peppers.

Hope everyone has a chocolate filled weekend. Happy Shabbats if you practice!

Hugs and chocolate!
Shelly

Celebrate the Small Things: Hatefulness

Today is another Friday to Celebrate the Small Things with VikLit, over at Scribblings of an Inspiring Author.

Before I celebrate, let's talk about the word hate. Per the On-line Dictionary, it means: intense or passionate dislike.

It's definitely a strong one, and it seems to have been sparked all over the world since the Israeli and Gaza conflict. Not to mention, the Iraqui Christian conflict. The hate is spreading like wildfire and being demonstrated in various countries all over the globe, even in America.

I, myself, have been bombarded by the hate via Facebook. My daughter, No-No,has received Facebook messages from Hamas Supporters that they will find her and slit her throat and to 'die dirty Jew, die'. Mind you, she lives in the southern part of Israel where rockets have been consistently fired from Gaza over into Israel.

The Iron Dome intercepted two this week over the train station in Tel Aviv. My daughter described sudden panic as she and co-workers huddled underneath a stairwell as they watched an enemy rocket being intercepted before dropping on them.

Sorry, I got a little off track here. 

Anyway, the hate is being fueled by the casualties IDF happens to make when they defend their country. But what did Hamas expect? SNAKES!!!!

What were the Palestians thinking when they made a pact with this terrorist group? That there would be roses and tulips at the end of the rainbow? WAKE-UP DOROTHY!!!!

Hamas knew very well what they were doing. Make it look like Israel is at fault and get the entire world and the international community of Useless Numbskulls (UN) involved. Hey! It worked just like a computer virus. Hamas has deflected off on Israel very well by using the deaths of Palestinians. Massive deaths!!!!

And too, almost all world media is pointing their finger at Isreal as the ones at fault. Viruses are a bad thing. Look what the spread of Ebola is doing in Africa.

But then again, most of the news channels are owned by the Arab world. Therefore, intentional hate is being edited in and a lot of truth edited out. I know how it works. Here's an article that'll make your toes curl: www.whoownsthenews.com/

So this nasty, four letter word through Facebook, Twitter, and the media is fueling it all the more. Opinions have been hateful to say the least.

Okay. I'm done with my rant.

I celebrate:

* My daughter and her hubby and his family are still safe.

* The Iron Dome.

* My tomato harvest.

* And more to come.

* I re-typed Samah Ronit this week.

* Critiqued another critter's work and made more progress on Killer Stilettos.

* And Sir Poops keeps defying iminent death.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend. Happy Shabbats if you practice!

Hugs and chocolate!

Shelly

Celebrate the Small Things: Bombs!

This week I've been greatly distracted. I'm thankful for the writing time I've had this week. Almost every quiet moment I've had, has been spent in prayer. 

Tuesday, while I was working on a scene in Killer Atilettos, thunder boomers and lightning surrounded my neighborhood. While I was experiencing this my daughter, No-No and her husband, Ya'akov, we're running to their safe room, while sirens were sounded and rockets were being fired into Israel.

They live in Bene A'yish. It's tucked between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Yesterday morning, No-No watched eight rockets shoot over her neighborhood. The Iron Dome intercepted each one.

So today, I celebrate my daughter and son-in-laws safety. I also celebrate that God is with them and all of Israel and all the innocent, this includes the Palestinians. They are Hamas's puppets.

This post was brought to you by VikLit, at Scribblings of an Inspiring Author.

Thank You, Lord of Hosts! I thank you that You are Israel's Protector and Fortress! I thank You that you are their Deliverer and that You are an Almighty God!

Hugs and chocolate, all!

Shelly

Celebrate the Small Things

It is the last Friday in June to Celebrate the Small Stuff with VikLit, over at Scribblings of an Inspiring Author.

I know I'm late posting, too. Usually, I write this post throughout the week. Today, I'm typing and posting from my IPhone. 

This week I celebrate the following:

* The lady named Ibrahim who was put into prison for being a Christian and marrying a Westerner. Her unborn child and her living one were all three thrown into an Islamic prison months ago for the above mentioned. She was set free at the beginning of this week.

* Not that I'm celebrating this ... But I had a vision or a dream about the 3 Israeli boys kidnapped by the Hamas a few weeks ago. God is with them like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo. Pray for these boys and their families. Their names are Eyal, Gilad, and Naftali.

* 

* Tuesday, my daughters and I got a lot done for the new baby's arrival. But there is more to do.

* I'm thankful for the little bit of writing I've been able to fit in around my crazy schedule.

* And for all the great veggies my garden is keeping the Sweetman and I fed with.

 

 

I hope everyone has a happy weekend. Happy Shabbats if you practice!

I'll be around today and tomorrow and Sunday, too, playing catch up.

Hugs and chocolate!

Shelly