partsofspeaking

I have been listening to several podcasts about marketing independently published books.   (Translation: I am trying to figure out how to sell my books.) I got the idea to sell at a farmer’s market. To be specific, I saw signs for the Rabbit Valley Farmers’ Market in Ringgold, Georgia. It is held by—well, I don’t know who is originally behind it. I called the number on the website, talked to the woman who runs it, and she said come along on Saturday morning, she’d have a table for me and she would charge $20.00 for a table for four hours. I would have to be out on the grass under a tent.   So far, so good. Why was I doing this? Because I had my Saturday morning free. Because I had driven 90 minutes to sell no books at all. Because I wanted to reach a new, new clientele. I arrived at 8:30 on a day threatening rain, which started about 9:30, causing all of us outside of the pavilion to scurry inside and the “woman in charge” (Samantha) let us come under its shelter. Consequently

....and a somewhat grumpy old woman who is writing this.  Seriously, are Joe Biden and Donald Trump the best we can do to run this country? Even if they are what we deserve, they are not what we need.  Story today: Trump wanted to execute Mark Milley. What? Like justice and executions are his decision? They are both going to visit picketing auto workers and Biden is going to walk the picket line with them? What a joke.  The polls today said Nikki is ahead of Biden. She's my woman.  By the way, thousands of people have, apparently, visited this blog in the last few days.  Don't know what that's about. Visit my website www.barbaragrahamtucker.com to learn more.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity! 2  It is like the precious oil upon the head, Running down on the beard, The beard of Aaron, Running down on the edge of his garments. 3  It is like the dew of Hermon, Descending upon the mountains of Zion; For there the Lord commanded the blessing— Life forevermore. Citing Commentary from https://www.bibleref.com/Psalms/133/Psalm-133-3.html: "David offers a second simile to show the joy which comes when fellow believers live in harmony with each other. Mount Hermon is at the northeast boundary of ancient Israel. Its height and location made it a major source of water for the region. The Jews depended upon the early and latter rains and dew to water the otherwise dry land and enable crops to grow. The ultimate source of this lifegiving water was far from them, symbolizing the sovereign nature of God in providing for their needs. Dew symbolizes fruitfulness. Like the far-away source of a ri

  I wait for the Lord , my soul waits, And in His word I do hope. 6  My soul waits for the Lord More than those who watch for the morning— Yes, more than those who watch for the morning. 7  O Israel, hope in the Lord ; For with the Lord there is mercy, And with Him is abundant redemption. 8  And He shall redeem Israel From all his iniquities. I learned by heart the poem by John Milton, On His Blindness, in my Christian college days: When I consider how my light is spent,    Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,    And that one Talent which is death to hide  Lodged with me useless, though my Soul more bent To serve therewith my Maker, and present    My true account, lest he returning chide;    “Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?”    I fondly ask. But patience, to prevent That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need    Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best    Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed    And

  Psalm 131   Lord , my heart is not [ a ] haughty, Nor my eyes [ b ] lofty. Neither do I [ c ] concern myself with great matters, Nor with things too [ d ] profound for me. 2  Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, Like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me. 3  O Israel, hope in the Lord From this time forth and forever. Why for the stressed? Because a lot of our stress is from our own choices, choices from thinking we can do "it" all, that other people need us and can't do "it" without us, that we should take care of "it" for them when they should and can do "it"--just not our way.  We don't say no. In other words, haughty and lofty (proud and arrogant).  We get in over our heads.   So start with your own choices. Personally, I am getting tired of people asking me to pray for them because they made bad choices and want rescued. Myself included.  Calm your soul. A weaned child no longer needs th

Everything we study in the Bible should point us to those aspect and more of Christ.   Looking oer the chapters in the manual I got excited because these are not about MORAL THERAPEUTIC DEISM.   What is that? The common religion of today.     Deism :   God exists and created the world but He’s not daily involved in it.   Therapeutic: it’s all about mental health, not about spiritual brokenness and separated from God.  Moral: Religion is to help us make moral choices (depending on your world view and situation)    The Bible says:   Whoa!   That’s man-centered. If you say you are a follower of Christ, your life and thoughts, worship and choices should be Christ-centered.   Curtis is preaching that way. Ephesians 5, for instance, that marriage is a picture of Christ and the church.       This week I had an interesting meeting for starting up Baptist Collegiate Ministries at the college, which I’ve been praying about, kind of a “do or forget about it” kind of thing.   We have 25 int