..”and here we are…”

I have chosen to view my increasingly naked scalp as just another leg in my 65-year journey, to date. As that awful saying goes, “It is what it is.” The back of my head is showing more and more, but there are some baby hairs. They are white, so my scalp looks naked, even with hair. When I was an infant, my hair was snow white. In fact, it looked sort of pink because my scalp showed through it. My mom used to use Caro Syrup to glue a bow onto my head so people knew I was (a) a girl, and (b) not bald. LOL. Perhaps my scalp/hair has come full circle. I have done a lot to my hair over the years. Some experiments worked out, a lot did not. I fell asleep in college with one of those hats on where you pulled the hair through and colored it in sections. I was adding blonder highlights. My roommate came home and woke me up because all she could see was “clear” hair. I was devoid of all color. We rushed to her mom, who worked at a local drug store in the cosmetics department (and actually knew her stuff) and she calmed me down and got pure color for me to add to my hair, in stages. It took all night. But I was a normal blonde by the end of it! I’ve been lots of shades of brunette. My favorite was “cedar red brown.” Dark brown with red highlights. Loved it. It was gorgeous in the sunlight. Now two of my granddaughters have red-toned hair! I also have a brunette and a golden blonde, and a light blonde granddaughter (5 in total) with a tow-headed grandson. I love the rainbow of genetics! I also love curly hair because mine is so not curly. It hardly holds a curl. I used to sleep in sponge rollers in high school. But by the time my first class started, it was straight. I gave up. LOL. But as an adult I have had several perms. My plan is to get my hair back and lightly wave it, with some purple for spice. You only go around once – may as well have fun. My boys do not like my hair permed. But they are all grown up with their own wives. I figure I can do what I want now! My husband is so patient. God bless that man. He says he doesn’t care, so long as I am happy with it. So blessed. Been together 39 years and married for 37 of them. He is my rock.

Ed and Jan @ MatSu Glacier, Alaska 2021

Yeah, I have lost 70% of that hair up there in that photo from last summer! LOL. Oh well, onward and upward…

As I was looking back at photos, and noticing my hair (how vain is that??) I also noticed clothing trends. I have never been a salacious dresser. I never wanted to bring attention to myself. If I have a lower-cut blouse, I wear a tank top underneath, to cover any cleavage. My mom had a mastectomy and she had these little inserts that hooked around her bra straps to hide her scars. I thought those were an awesome invention. And today in my newsfeed I was horrified to see photos of the new “Deputy Assistant Secretary of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition for the US” who Bydan nominated. He/she wears skirts and heels and has a list of preferred pronouns. He/she even posted a video about their preferences. And he/she now has the national stage. Ugh. And I come back to why??? Why???

Pronoun Person

There are a lot of photos of this person floating around the internet today and I am sick to my stomach. Since when did so much pornographic material make its way onto our newsfeeds, and it is deemed allowable? There are shots of them in various costumes doing various things that used to be unheard of, and certainly behind closed doors. My brain cannot unsee that, now. It is forever burned into my memories. And I feel assaulted. Reactionary? Maybe. But when did this become ok? I remember how TV got raunchy with the soap operas. And movies…there were some that crossed the line from soft-porn to mainstream and somehow we lost that line. I was recently blown away when I watched a program on Netflix and there was blatant sex, naked breasts and behinds, and every other word started with “F”!!! I could barely stomach it. How did this happen?? America??? Where have our standards dropped to now?

The works of the flesh are manifest , and they are fornication and uncleanness…and things like these. As to these things I am forewarning you the same way as I did forewarn you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the God’s kingdom.

Galations 5:19-21

Let fornication and uncleanness of every sort or greediness not even be mentioned among you.

Ephesians 5:3

Deaden, therefore, your body members that are upon the earth as respects fornication, uncleanness, sexual appetite.

Colossians 3:5

We are afraid to impose our Biblical standards of faith and morals upon society at large. Why? They are certainly imposing their views upon us. Once upon a time, actors and plays were looked upon as lower class or dirty. The people would not normally be seen with them outside of a performance. In many countries (Japan and China among them) actors’ troupes were also a form of sexual slavery and the females were kept in bondage and used to curry favor with nobles, to allow performances in their regions. In fact, acting was considered to be below women (to protect their reputations) and most of the parts were acted by men in women’s attire (gee, I wonder what that did for male role models??). The females in the troupes were there to service men – clean the costumes, feed them on the road, and take care of all their sexual needs. They were not equal to the men. Even in the early days of film, actors were hosted at events as oddities. The idea of them being celebrities did not happen until the 40s and 50s. And now? Actors, who pretend for a living, are considered experts on everything from health care to climate change to politics and abortion. They pretend for a living. Remember? They get paid to act. So much of what we see is just a performance. Want to go down some rabbit holes? Look into actors and what price so many have paid for the fame they love so much!!

The Bible

As most of us know, the media is not our friend. It does not treat us with honesty. It is constantly spewing images at us that do not build the Kingdom of God. When I was a child in the 50s, you could not show a married couple sleeping in the same bed on TV or the movie screen. I love Lucy was one of my favorite shows. But it was also advant guarde in the way in which it showed two new images to the American audience: (1) Lucy was pregnant on TV. The first woman who was not block-filmed to hide their pregnancy (2) the bedroom. Their separate beds gradually moved closer and closer until they were next to each other. Separate blankets and sheets but they were next to each other. And that opened the flood gates for more and more that was then deemed “allowable” in our living rooms. Lucy Ricardo and the actress who played her were both staunchly left and all about women’s rights. Nothing was a mistake on that show. And oh so many others. We let it in, little by little, until it became an ugly beast. And now it is everywhere in almost everything. “Sex sells,” as the saying goes.

Pyrex Ad 1950s

There is so much being done to desensitize us. The lyrics in songs, the ads we see, the shows we watch, the books we read. I have recently gone through my kindle and deleted so many books that I realized were not building me up towards the Kingdom of God, but were rather taking me away from my faith. As I looked for books to read that were fun, but clean, I realized I had to change my parameters and read only YA, or Young Adult. Most of those don’t even have bad words, let alone detailed sex scenes or violence. Each of us has to decide what we will allow into our minds, into our homes, and into our lives. The Lord was pretty strong about pornography and licentiousness.

The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world.

1John 2:16

If you ever want to see a map of where our culture is headed, just read up on the end of the culture of Rome. You know the saying, “Nero fiddled while Rome burned”? Well, Nero was fiddling around alright. He sent soldiers to burn out the Christian communities from Rome. Deep in the city, fires were started to run the Christians out of town. Nero was losing his numbers in the stadiums. Sacrificing the Christians to the lions wasn’t holding its charm. The people were tired of the deeply imbedded caste system and were tired of their overlords. Nero was a sick and evil man. He was from a long line of them. But pushing the Christians out, burning down half of Rome, did not have the desired effect. Many things caused the collapse of Rome and Roman culture worldwide. Nero and his debased lifestyle and his evil ways were a part of it, for sure. And if we look around us, we have stadiums filled with eager fans. Have you researched the prices for seats at the upcoming Super Bowl? It is blatantly disgusting. While people are out of work and suffering under stupid mandates, apparently it is ok in CA to cram 1000s of people into a stadium, as long as they pay the right price. What price are you willing to pay? The purity of your daughter? The lost childhood of your grandchildren? The closed doors of your Church? The evil in our capital??

My husband and I are watching the series, “The Hunger Games,” over again. In light of our current world, that series is almost prescient – like a forewarning (see Galations 5:19-21 again) we have been given about what our elites are planning for us. Maybe I see danger in every dark corner. Maybe I love conspiracy theories. Maybe I just took my blinders off and when I did, I did not like what I saw.

It is time…

Perhaps we need to put our money behind what we believe. Watch out who you spend your hard-earned dollars supporting. So many companies are bad from the ground up. The recent brew-ha-ha (however you spell that) with Joe Rogan and Spotify got really interesting when it was revealed the CEO of Spotify is on the board of Moderna – yeah; the same company that makes all those vaccines. No wonder they want someone like Joe silenced. But there are so many out there spewing facts and truth, that the narrative is slowly crumbling. Our dollars do make a difference. We can opt to fund things like the Trucker movement that is now worldwide. We can put our money to support the pro-life movement. We can stop shopping at the big box stores and support local businesses. We can support local farmers and eat local (we recently bought 1/2 cow from a local farmer! We know the meat will be good and we know where it comes from. No franken-meat for us!) We can influence for the good. We can outlast and out speak the evil in this world. Less that 3% of the population is aberrant insofar as Christian morals and principles are concerned. That means that 97% of the world believes in Christian values. And those statistics hold up in the USA!! Why do we allow the small minority to run our world? Our Country? Our towns and cities?

Evil is here. We see it more and more every day. We believe in Godly principles. We pray. We call ourselves Christians, and yet, here we are.

What is next? It is up to us!

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“Fear is the enemy of hope.” Dave Ramsey

“Buyer’s remorse (or buyer’s regret) is the sense of regret after having made a purchase. It is frequently associated with the purchase of an expensive item such as a car or house. It may stem from fear of making the wrong choice, guilt over extravagance, or a suspicion of having been overly influenced by the seller.”

I did something I have not done in over 12 years. I bought a relatively (2015) new car. New to me, anyway. And I have been having such stomach pains over the cost of a new car. However, I have to say that it was so reasonably priced, and I know without a doubt, we got a great deal (we went through our credit union to an Avis used car sale). We comp’d and Blue Book’d the cars and feel we got a lot of bang for our buck. It is just the process of going into debt freaks me out these days. You should have seen me as we negotiated payments and the date of payments…I literally had to bend over and take deep breaths!

We were caught in the whole “housing crash” catastrophe a few years ago and have been scrabbling our way out of that. It is nice the bank feels we are an admirable risk and that our credit is amazing, but the burden of debt is a scary thing. Every month, our money flies out the door. It barely says hello to our bank account before it’s gone again, on its way to whomever we owe. As is the case all over this country, I know. I feel you, I truly do!

(Luke 14:28) “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?”

We did. We sat down. We could have sat longer, perhaps, but we also met with our banker, who assured us we can handle this debt. The process will be good, because that concept of being frugal will now be foremost in our minds. We worked hard to regain our finances and want to be sure we plan for our future and make smart choices. We are going to be doing a personal finance course with our youngest son from Dave Ramsey, and we plan to share with our son all the details of personal finance. I sure wish that Dave Ramsey would have done this when I was a kid!!!

The reason we chose this program is because Dave Ramsey bases everything on Biblical Principles and I think that is just so important. And it will be valuable as our youngest makes his way in the world. And it will also be a great refresher for my husband and myself. You can never learn enough!

Romans 13: 1-7 tells us: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. …”

This year’s presidential election is certainly controversial. There is just so much we could delve into, but for this post I want to look at money. At debt. At how we are sinking, as a country, under the mounds of our debt. There is a site online called “The National Debt Clock: Real Time” and you can look at it by clicking here: http://www.usdebtclock.org/index.html  This debt clock is in real time and watching it makes your head just spin. The numbers are rolling past and it seems surreal. First of all, I have to start counting those commas. Wow. We are sinking fast. And just as I am under the onus of debt and my stomach roils when I think about it, why does our government not do the same? I cannot spend what I do not have. It is the law. I cannot take money from someone else’s bank account to pay for whatever it is I want. But the government does just that. If we are truly more than $19 BILLION dollars in debt and counting, how can we give money to other countries? How do we pay salaries? How does the government function? If their income cannot keep up with their debt, money becomes almost meaningless. In the back of my mind, I think maybe anarchy will take over and the world’s debts will all be washed because there will be nothing worth anything (as in the devalued dollar) and we will be relegated to trading. Why do you think on more conservative channels you see all those ads, encouraging you to buy gold? Ever think about that?

Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” And they were amazed at him. (Mark 12:17)

I gladly pay what it takes to keep a roof over my head and food on the table. If there is extra, I gladly share with those in need. Gladly. My government, however, takes far more than they can wisely use and squanders so very much of our money.

From Wikileaks it says, “The amount of retirement income Members of Congress receive from taxpayers is determined by a formula that takes into account the years served and the average pay for the top three years in terms of payment. For example, a member elected before 1984 and thus qualifying under the CSRS plan, who worked for 22 years and who had a top three-year average salary of $154,267 would be eligible for a pension payment of $84,847 per year. A member elected after 1984 would have been enrolled under the FERS plan, and their pension payment under similar conditions ($154,267 top three-year average salary, but with only 20 years of service, rather than the 22 in the CSRS example) would be $52,451.

In 2002, the average pension payment ranged from $41,000 to $55,000.[4] As of November 2014, senior Members of Congress who have been in office for at least 32 years can earn about $139,000 a year.”

First of all, I believe term limits should be instituted. I cannot believe that gentlemen (or lady) legislators, chosen from amongst their peers, can serve for more than 20 years when terms are supposed to be 2-4 years. Why do they get re-elected time after time?? Having worked with elected officials, their point is that it takes 1-2 years just to learn how things are done and then another 2-4 years to get anything accomplished within a structured process such as congress. To that, I responded, “Learn faster. That is what the rest of the employees working under you have to do. We have to learn our jobs within our probationary period or we do not get to keep our jobs.” It was not well-received. I kept having problems because I thought elected officials worked for ME, the tax payer. They do not look at it like that. Trust me.

This election is so pivotal for our country. There are so many arenas of power that will be affected by who is elected. Especially those running for Congress. And our next President is going to shape the world for the next 20 years in appointments and decisions made. It is frightening. I am afraid for my grandchildren. We need to keep in our minds how we balance all the powers we give to those we elect. That entire “Checks and Balances” theory our country was built around. Remember why our Founding Fathers all left England in the first place – their rights were being taken away. They sought freedom from tyranny and subjugation. And if you do not think we have that again, because of our embedded Congress and Supreme Court system (let alone our state, county, boroughs, and cities) then you need to really educate yourself on the realities of life in America in 2016.

So what I am doing? Well, I am reading and learning. I had never before sat down and read the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution. The Federal Constitution, and our State Constitution. Guess what? Our rights are being trampled upon. Our rights are being given to foreign authorities (read: UN) and our land is being watched over by foreign watchdog agencies (read: UN). We are being legislated in vaccinations, which is just symptomatic of so many issues of governmental overreach. (I believe in informed consent and the ability to choose for my family and my children’s particular health issues which vaccinations we get and when we get them. Don’t get me going on the annual month of September and the process of vaccination shedding in our schools!). We are being legislated in 1st and 2nd Amendment Rights…and I can assure you that many of them will disappear depending on who is elected. We are not being asked, nor are we voting on these overreaching changes; they are being legislated. The Federal Department of Education is legislating from Washington what we teach kids out in the bush in the most remote parts of American culture. It is insane. It abrogates State’s Rights!!! We need to stop sitting by and allowing that Debt Clock to keep ticking away and meanwhile nothing is done about it by anyone in our government. We need to stop sitting at home and not being involved. We need to vote!!! We need to educate ourselves on what exactly it is that we (a) have the right to, and (b) can rally to protect. A friend shared a scene from a cartoon movie called, “A Bug’s Life,” where the grasshopper is lecturing his fellow grasshoppers about how the “ants don’t know how strong they are…” and it went on to say that if they realized it and all banded together, they would beat the grasshoppers. Well, we are the ants my friends. We need to stand up to the grasshoppers in this world and just say, “Enough is enough,” and take America back!

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. felt that peaceful conflict was a viable thing. Nearing the end of his life, he was becoming frustrated and was angry more progress was not being made, but the way in which he conducted himself has left a resonating presence for those of us who listen. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hatred cannot drive out hatred, only love can do that.” That is one of his most famous quotes and after the events of this week, I sure wish more Americans knew it by heart. Today it was released that more than 70% of the people arrested in Charlotte were from out of state. They were bussed in to cause a problem. Some reports are saying the areas in which they demonstrated were chosen because it made “good press.” If you do not think the stage is being manipulated, you need to think again. Public opinion is worth millions in an election. The money spent trying to sway voters is almost insane. Check out the weekly expenditures of the two major players and you would wish you could only earn that much in a lifetime.

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” (1 Timothy 2:1-2). We need to get America back. How? Well, we need to hit our knees, first of all, and pray for our entire country. We are literally bleeding these days. “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14) We need to pray for those seeking office. We need to pray for discernment, to be honest with ourselves about who is the best person to be the “Leader of the Free World” and who will have the best interests of all the people on their heart. I did not agree with my party’s decision as to who they chose as the presidential candidate. I did not. But I have researched this option and feel that I can no longer just sit by and throw my vote into the wind and hope it lands in the best place. No. I have chosen to educate myself about the issues and I have chosen to support my candidate. I have chosen to become involved at the local level. I attend meetings. I have learned, from a potential Congressmen sitting down and having a cup of coffee with me, his plans for my country and for my state. I have signs in my yard. My husband and I are volunteering at the local congressional election offices. We are trying to ensure a positive outcome for our state and our country. We can no longer assume someone else will take on our debt, our responsibility as citizens. We cannot sit idly by and allow less than half the eligible voters choose the next President. It could potentially cost us our freedoms, and our country. This is not melodrama, this is reality.

Therefore this is what the LORD says: “If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman. Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them. (Jeremiah 15:19)

We need strong leadership we can trust. We need to return to character and morals, and being forthright and honest. In all things, in all arenas, at all times. Please vote. Please be a part of the solution, and not the problem. Uphold your country and celebrate our freedom. Let us bring back what we have allowed to be taken from us. So many areas of our lives are a mess. We are sinking, but we can be saved. We really can. We just need to act now, and on November 8th, our national Election Day. Please vote!

“…devious talk far from you…”

My son is entering his senior year of high school. He is our last child out of the nest. And bookkeeping, or maintaining his records, has become paramount because the next step is college/trade school/academies. He plans to become a fire fighter, we just are not sure which route he will take to get there. So we have to be prepared for any avenue he may choose to take.

I took this personality test, as I posted about before, and I am called an “Advocate.” One of the traits it spoke about was having a hard time choosing a career path, because I can see 7 of them in front of me. I chuckled at that because I changed my major in college 4 times and have had careers that are so disparate that you would not think the same person did all of them. And I admire my son for choosing to become a fire fighter. Once he chose this path, he has not wavered from it once. And now that we are looking forward, he is choosing the same path, but finding alternate ways of getting there. Me? I would have gotten all caught up on the many options, many pathways. But he is singular in that he sees his goal; his pathways all take him to the same place. Mine have had me all over the map.

The one thing that has been consistent for me is my unfailing faith in God. I have meandered through methods of worshipping Him, but my faith has been steadfast. My path has been lit with faith since I was young. I sought Him out in my life, on my own initiative, since I was in grade school. I have been to so many denominations and faith experiences. It has made me who I am. My favorite (and enduring) major in college was Forensic Anthropology with a minor in Biblical Archeology. I learned the holistic approach to looking at peoples and cultures, and then I learned the physicality of our rich biblical history. As a people of faith, we are so blessed by our history, and the physical records of where we have been, as a people, as humanity.

The bombing of so many biblically important sites in the Middle East just breaks my heart. I do not need them as a proof of my faith and its history, but I cry each time one is destroyed. The photo above is of the aftermath of the bombing of the burial site of Jonah from the Old Testament. There are fewer and fewer sites that are intact and this strikes at all of our humanity, not just our faith. This was a record of our growth as people; it is part of the history of mankind. And it has been reduced to rubble.

I work diligently to be sure my children’s school records are accurate and complete. I may lag behind a few moms in turning my quarterly and year-end samples and grades in, but I am thorough and my teachers/advisors know they will get it and it will be complete. They have yet to have to badger me. I have been schooling my children since 1992 and I have gotten fairly decent at it! Records are important. Recently our son had his property surveyed. Survey lines determine how much we own. We know where we can plant trees or put up fences, or dig that pool. It also determines your property tax liability. Records are important. One of my many jobs was working for the County Auditor-Controller/Recorder in the Recorder’s office. It was so interesting. And keeping everything in pristine, exacting conditions was a requirement of my job. It was awesome to see titles and deeds dating back to the early 1800s, still being kept on record, and a reward of diligent record keeping.

Records matter. What we say, matters. We can offer opinions and we can claim expertise, but we cannot/should not speak untruth about anyone, at any time. Choosing to live your life a certain way, always keeping to your path and the path of Truth, protects you from slander or libel.  Gossip can be such a hurtful thing, especially when it is repeated in the public square. Quite often there is a grain of truth in there somewhere, but it is so obsfucated by the flotsam and jetsam of lies, we cannot even glimpse it. Nowadays we record everything using our cell phones. The cameras in cell phones are much better than the stand-alone camera in my desk drawer – which is why it is in the drawer. We can record our voices and email them or text them to people. I love to sing Happy Birthday to my grandkids and send it via text for their parents to play for them. We can video chat with people thousands of miles away. We can record events happening in front of us. There are often thousands of photos of the same event, thanks to everyone whipping out their cell phones. (How did we survive before them???). But keeping things neat and orderly, keeping our records safe, has been something we have been doing for one another for thousands of years. Gossip and slander have been with us since man was created; it came right along with our free will. And the record of it began in the book of Genesis, in the Bible:

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.” (Genesis 3:1-6)

My husband and I go around and around on this because it is called the Sin of Adam, but he insists that Eve is the one who listened to the evil lies and acted on them. But the Church fathers always point out that Adam was the head of the family and the first one created by God; he had been with God a long time before Eve was created. He did not lead her; he followed her. So his sin was in that he did not say no to evil, but allowed evil to become a part of their lives, and consequently, our lives. Because of listening to lies, Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden.  When we listen to lies, share lies, and allow evil to win, we are sinning against God. And each and every time, we also sin against our brother. We can lead one another into a sinful state, a state wherein we exist outside of God, just by allowing evil to win.

Records are important. Our words are important – the records of our words are important. Our words define who we are. The recorded words we speak or write give our record to others for eternity. Think about that for a moment.

Proverbs 18:21 tells us that “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” The cross-reference in the New Testament is: “For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned;” which is found in Matthew 12:37. The corresponding commentary says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue – This may apply to all men. Many have lost their lives by their tongue, and some have saved their lives by it: but it applies most forcibly to public pleaders; on many of their tongues hangs life or death.”

The power of our words can assist us, or it can deter us from our goals. We have a record that remains even after we become silent. As many politicians know (public pleaders, as in the commentary above) and have known for ages, our words can kill our career, our public life. Records can be blown up, as many of our historical records have been. But God sees all of this. He is waiting for us to choose a path that leads straight to Him. A pathway filled with love, determination, honesty, and goodwill. He asks us,

“My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight; keep them in the midst of your heart. For they are life to those who find them and health to all their body. Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth and put devious speech far from you. Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. Watch the path of your feet and all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right nor to the left; turn your foot from evil.” Proverbs 4:20-27