#If your life was always perfect how could God bless you with miracles?

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

by Pastor Jack Wellman | Jesus lived a sinless, perfect life, but they treated Him as anything but perfect. They tortured Him (even before His illegal trial), they brought false witnesses before Him, they lied about Him, they scourged Him, they crucified Him, and they murdered Him. But God raised Him from the dead (Acts 2:23). Because Jesus was sinless, the grave couldn’t hold Him, death couldn’t...

[httplvki]

TW: reader harms themselves here, so be advised and talk to someone if you can if you are currently struggling with sh, i know what it’s like and still struggle with it. you are loved and your dad jake sully loves you too. (dad!jake sully x teen daughter!reader, hurt comfort, angsty)

eywa never chose you.

is what you thought

blessed to be a part of the sully family but still feeling like you don’t belong. all the roles being taken and stealing the spotlight from your parents. the perfect son, neteyam, the troublemaker but brave, lo’ak, the miracle child, kiri, and the cute youngest one, tuk. you loved them all so much, but what were you?

all these thoughts aren’t helping you when all your feelings start to drain away once you’re alone with your own thoughts.

why does your heart make so many decisions that your brain can’t keep up with? red stains on your exposed body, but you don’t feel anything anymore, nor do you sense anything else. all alone without any other living being beside you—darkness envelopes your body that turns into coldness, hugging your figure.

the sharp object beside you, covered in a gory image that all looks blurry in your eyes. the nightly forest glows and shines on it, reminding you of what you’ve done.

you hear your name being called in the distance. with everything feeling like a dream to you now, you thought that your own hands had finally cut out your life. until you feel your body being shaken by another figure.

“y/n! hey, look at me; what happened to you?” the frantic voice shouted at you

your eyes slowly adjusted from all the tears that covered your eyes. seeing your father’s distraught face made you slowly snap out of everything.

“dear god, what happened to you?” jake pleaded

“dad…” you shakily cried out

that was the only word you could let out before you lifted your crimson-stained arms out to cling onto his shoulders.

“oh baby girl, my sweet, sweet baby girl,” he whispered while he wrapped his arms tightly around you, giving you a shoulder to cry on.

your father was starting to get his body stained with your blood, but he didn’t even think about it. he didn’t care as long as you were in his arms, still breathing.

“i’m so sorry, daddy,” you sobbed out—already pleading for forgiveness for what you’ve done to yourself

“daddy’s here, daddy’s here, it’s okay, baby” he shakily hushed you with tears also starting to form in his eyes

from how tightly both of you were clinging onto each other even eywa or any other god couldn’t separate you both.

jake was the first one to pull away, even though it hurt him to do so.

“we need to get you patched up, alright?” he said with his eyes looking teary

you nodded slowly, wiping your tears away with the back of your hand.

—

you sniffle while watching jake carefully wrap your self-inflicted wounds.

“hey… you don’t have to tell me why right now, but know i’ll always be here for you, alright?” he softly speaks up, killing the silent atmosphere.

you slightly nodded in agreement—spacing out with no thoughts because of how drained you were.

“are you disappointed in me?” you quietly asked with your head down

jakes eyes soften gazing at your somber face

“no, no, i could never be disappointed in you,” he reassured you while he finished wrapping the last wound

“but aren’t you at least a little disappointed at what i’ve done? or, or disappointed in me for not being able to be as great as my siblings?” you choked up, holding back tears again

“oh, sweetheart…” he let out, taking you into his arms immediately. you bury your head into his chest just like when you were a baby.

“you’ve never been a disappointment, and you’ll never be one. you’re just as great as your siblings,” he softly comforted you with his hand, gently caressing your back in slow circled motions.

“don’t ever say that again, alright?”

you nodded into his chest

“sorry for being such a baby,” you mumbled

“you’re not a baby, but you’re still my baby girl,” he kissed the top of your head

you grumbled at the nickname while you shifted to a more comfortable position on your father.

“just know you’re the light of my life, and i never want to lose you,” he whispered.

[monocaelia]

atlas.

- he could only hold the world for so long, it was about time his body caved in ; aka, the two times you're reminded of his humanity. feat. gojo satoru & gn!reader genre : hurt/comfort , happy ending w.c. : 1.8k

warnings: spoilers for jjk s2 ep5 note : i hate goe joe satoru.

gojo satoru.

you didn't even need to see him to know who he is; he is the revered member of the gojo clan blessed enough to be born with both the six eyes and the infinity cursed technique and is a one in a lifetime miracle.

from the beginning of his life, gojo had been the strongest sorcerer in existence. with both blessed techniques at his will, he was near unstoppable and was worthy of shouldering the problems of jujustu society from a young age, as decided by the gojo clan.

and, for someone as blessed and impenetrable as he is, gojo had never felt the emotional strife of losing someone dear to him.

there are two times that you recall ever witnessing gojo satoru lose his composure, where you have seen the blessed one who holds the power of the gods in the palm of his hands and is always one step ahead of everyone else fall to his knees as the weight of the world finally takes its toll on his poor soul.

the first time was when getou suguru had betrayed jujutsu tech. you weren't sure of the details; you were in the middle of a mission and had returned to the news of your classmate and friend becoming a wanted criminal.

honestly, hearing it firsthand did not feel real to you. getou suguru was someone you had always admired. he was someone who not only had a powerful cursed technique, but was also a skilled fighter and knew how to use his technique to the fullest despite coming from a normal family rather than one of the prestigious families that were well-known in jujustu society.

you had shared smiles with him, stories of the crazy memories made while exorcising curses and the near-death experiences shared while on missions together.

and you knew gojo and getou were near inseparable during their time at jujutsu tech; you couldn't imagine the pain gojo was going through with the news of his one and only becoming a murderer wanted in all of jujutsu society.

you find gojo satoru alone in getou's old dorm room. it's empty; the once neat, but lived in dorm now completely void of any evidence of being lived in with the exception of a framed picture of your class left on the nightstand.

getou and gojo tower over you and ieri, but it's all smiles from the four of you. because of the small frame and the number of people in the photo, you're all squished together. though, it's not like any of you minded.

a perfect picture of youth; the most beautiful moment in life.

the frame is held in gojo's hand as he sits on getou's dorm bed. you can see his fingers clench the frame as frustration settles into his bones, before he relaxes once more.

"it's not your fault, you know," you say gently, breaking the silence and hopefully through the roaring storm that you know is brewing within gojo's head. you step into the room and join gojo on the bed; he doesn't move and he doesn't face you.

"no one saw it coming." you try to reassure him, but you know any attempts at this point are futile. gojo does not respond, a flood of memories flying by crystalline eyes as he tries to figure out when it went so wrong.

the silence is permeable as reality settles into gojo. his lips part, a shaky breath, and he's speaking again.

"i should've seen it coming," he whispers. there's a clear anger in his voice, though you know full well exactly who it's directed at. "i was his friend and i didn't even realize he was hurting alone." His voice cracks.

"i didn't even do anything to save him."

it is then that you begin to see gojo as who he is. he isn't an untouchable god who feared nothing, who had enemies that couldn't even lift a finger to hurt him if they even dared. this gojo beside you isn't an omnipotent god, he's just a kid like you; he's human. he's vulnerable, even if the elders believe otherwise, for his friends are his one and only achilles' heel and the key to his humanity.

not quite knowing the words to comfort him, you reach over to hold his hand. it isn't much, but you know firsthand that just having someone beside you to help support your pain is better than shouldering everything alone.

the tight squeeze of your hand and the quite sniffles beside you are all you need as a reminder that gojo satoru is not a god; he is only gojo satoru.

the second time gojo felt genuine fear was when he nearly lost you.

as a result of a curse that was underestimated for second-class sorcerors to take, you had become collateral for a simple mistake from the higher ups. of course, mistakes could just be that, but everyone knows better.

this was set up so they could easily dispose of you and rule your death as a mere 'accident.' the higher ups needed you gone as the deemed your existence a hinderance to gojo's full potential, a dam in the middle of the river.

lucky for you, you made quick work of the curse before collapsing with the only words you heard being a shout of your name.

the bright lights of the jujutsu high infirmary are the first thing you see when your eyes slowly flutter open. your vision is blurry and the world is still spinning as you regain consciousness. with hesitance, you slowly sit up despite your body aching and telling you to lay back down.

it is only when a firm hand presses against your chest and pushes you down do you actually do so.

crystalline blue meets your gaze. they're playful and full of youth, a pair of blue eyes that you're most familiar with. but theres a shadow of solemnity behind those bright irises and you know exactly why.

"about time you woke up," gojo speaks up, ruffling your hair with his hand. they're roughened from years of training and fighting, but there are no other blemishes that stain the purity of his hands. "i thought you finally had enough of me and decided to kick the bucket, dear." there's a light, jesting tone to his voice as he speaks. he's laughing, though you can see the redness underneath his eyes as he brushes off your near death experience as a joke.

"and leave you alone to torment the students? as if," you jab back with a smile of your own. "i wouldn't ever want to wish that on your students. fushiguro would drag me back from the dead if i left him alone with you."

gojo's bottom lip juts out and his brows furrow in a pout as you say this and you can't help but laugh a little on your own.

"but i know you'll miss me, so i won't die just yet," you reassure your white haired companion. your hand reaches over to hold his own and gives it a gentle squeeze, a reminder that you're alive and still breathing beside him as your pulse and your warmth bleed onto his own.

his hand squeezes yours tightly, as he did years ago, and his bottom lip is caught between his teeth as he bites down onto the plush skin. his eyes aren't focused on you anymore and instead focus on anywhere but you as the reality of the situation settles into his bones.

"promise?" gojo asks, his voice a mere whisper.

he already lost one of his closest friends years ago and you witnessed that heartbreak with your own eyes as you had comforted gojo when he needed it most. you couldn't imagine how his fragile heart would break again if he had lost you just now.

despite being the strongest, you know that not being able to fully protect the ones he held close was one of gojo's biggest weaknesses as much as he tried to hide it.

but you know that you couldn't give him any empty promises knowing the work you're doing. it would only give him false hope and the both of you know that better than anyone else.

you don't answer him and instead pull his hand to your lips, pressing a soft kiss onto his skin. with a gentle tug, the hand held by gojo is pulled into his chest as he cradles your palm. his fingers intertwine with yours and your heart swells at the small action.

it is then that you meet crystalline blue once more, though this time they are unwavering as they firmly stand their ground against the hands of fate that, at any moment, could cruelly tear the two of you apart.

"don't leave me," gojo begs. "you can't leave me until the world has turned for the better, for us and for the youth of jujutsu society. i'll make it happen so..."

the once invincible sorcerer brings your hand up to his lips and he presses a kiss along your knuckles, reciprocating the act you did before.

"please, don't leave me."

gojo leans down and presses a kiss to your forehead. it's soft and hesitant, but you know at this point his fear of your life nearly slipping through his fingers has caught up to him. he pulls away, only to lean down again to kiss you.

your heart flutters feeling his lips kiss yours and you can tell from the way his lips barely ghost of yours that gojo is scared you'll disappear from him if he moves the wrong way. like a warm wave easing the worries that burrow into his entire being, your hand that's free from the one held in gojo's reaches up to cup his face. your thumb caresses his cheek and bring him closer to you, reassuring him that you won't slip away from him should he kiss you too hard.

gojo pulls away from the kiss with cheeks warm and his eyes, now a calming blue that held the stars you love so much, glint with satisfaction and relief.

though, the sweet and tender moment shared between lovers is ruined the moment gojo opens his mouth again.

"don't break my promise, okay? i don't care if you die, i'll die with you and haunt you forever as punishment for dying first, okay?" your white haired boyfriend urges as he leans his forehead against you, blue now an annoyance to you as he forces you to make eye contact with him.

your hand pushes his face away with a snort, ignoring his whining complaints as you do so.

though, it's not like you would ever willingly die first. you couldn't leave gojo satoru alone, your soul couldn't bear the burden of knowing you would shatter the glass that makes gojo's heart.

[echo-of-damnation]

Is It Really You

The only moment of true pain Konrad had ever felt.

Tags: death, loss of child, mentions of self harm, blood, gore, hurt no comfort

Word Count: 1640

Song: Is It Really You by Loath & Sleep Token

Konrad sat at the edge of the hospital bed, staring at your face, cataloging each freckle, each scar, each wrinkle. He followed the curve of your nose down to the faded pink of your lips and imagined every moment he was graced to see you smile. You were the most beautiful creature he had ever seen in all of his years. No gods in this universe could have had the power to create something so lovely. In his arms he held the child you and him made. A gift he never thought himself worthy of. A creature so small and so perfect in his hideously scarred hands. He could remember the months leading up to this moment with vivid clarity. How he had held you in his arms as you wept tears of fear and joy at the thought of growing your child in her body. He remembered how he soothed you and whispered sweet words of adoration all while trying to hide the tears he silently let fall at the thought of being granted this gift.

Konrad never thought he would ever feel anything but the deep emptiness that swallowed him whole. Never did he ever imagine that anything could offer him the smallest respite in life that seemed to have been made just to bury him in unimaginable pain. Never did he think in his wildest dreams that someone would look at him, SEE him. To understand that he wasn’t just some dog set out to kill. Konrad was content to live his unnaturally long life rotting away in a hell he was made for, until he had met you. 

You had showed him compassion and understanding, a luxury forever kept from him. You were these when he was his absolute worst. When he would return from wars planets away, beaten and broken from the atrocities he not only witnessed but took part in, took sick pleasure in. It was what he was built for after all, in a lab by a father that would never see him as anything other than a tool in his pointless crusade. He hated himself once the high wore off and he came back down, covered in blood and gore. Unknown vicera hanging from his hands as bodies of the worlds he graced lay torn. Men and women alike, parts of them scattered across the streets. Their screams and cries ringing in his ears. Nothing could compare to the children he took though. The innocents he ripped from the worlds. He took so much pride in watching the light fade from their eyes, their weak cries for their long dead mothers forever ingrained in him.

Looking down at the babe in his arms he only felt it just that he wouldn’t be given the miracle of her. He thought it a blessing for her own sake. It was better that she never grow to know who or what her father truly was. No child deserved to be sired by a bloodthirsty monster. He felt it a mercy she was taken from him. Never even uttering a sound as she came into the world. Why should she bless her father with her voice when he tore other babes from their mother wombs. 

Her body was so cold in his arms. So small. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. He had vowed to the universe that never again would he be that beast his father made. He promised he would be better, do better. Throne did he try. You were there every step of the way to wipe the tears from his face when he had one of his painful visions of the future. You would hold his head to your round belly and tell him to listen to his childs tiny heart. To focus on that sound and follow it out of his nightmare. You were always there to temper his anger and soothe his anxieties.

Konrad could remember a time when he had lost himself. He didn’t know where or when but he wasn’t on the ship with you anymore. He was on some far off planet surrounded by the bodies of his brothers and sons, covered in their blood. He didn’t understand but he knew he had killed them all. When he looked down to his hands he held your lifeless body, still round with child. You stared blankly into the skies, the bruises from his own hands covering your delicate neck. A pained cry ripped him into pieces. It broke him down to nothing. The bottomless pit that grew in his heart seeing you there in his arms pulled him ever deeper into this nightmare. He still had the scars on his chest from when his body in reality had tried to rip his own heart out. You were there, pleading for him to wake up, to listen to your voice and to come back to you. He had almost destroyed his vocal cords from his screaming. All you could do was watch helplessly as he crumbled before you and you thought that surely this was it, that this was when you would lose him to the dark that lurked just below the surface. 

You pulled his head to your chest as a last ditch effort to at least ease some of the pain and in his hell, Konrad heard your heartbeat. It was so strong that he couldn’t help but follow it out. Your heartbeat accompanied by the child you had made together brought him closer to the surface. He gasped in air when he was back with you and all the two of you could do was hold each other and weep. Neither of you left the bed the day after that. Both of you afraid what the world would throw in Konrads moment of weakness. He should have known what the nightmare meant that day. Deep down he knew but he never entertained the idea.

Now there you were, laying lifeless in the hospital bed. When your labor started, the both of you were scared but you held his hand and promised it would all be okay soon. When the bleeding started, the apothocarians promised him that it was normal in the birthing process. He held onto your hand as you cried out in pain, your heart rate dropping ever so slightly. Konrad knew death, he was intimate with it. He was laid with it his entire life and in that moment he knew it was there in the room with you. 

When your heart stopped the apothocarians worked faster to try and save the child still in your womb. Konrad couldn't believe what was happening. All he could do was stare down into your eyes. He knew you were gone but he pleaded for you to wake up, to come back to him. He needed you, he couldn’t raise your child alone. The two of you hadn’t even thought of names yet. You were waiting to see her for the first time to decide. You had told Konrad that when you saw her face for the first time her name would come then. 

His sons had to come in and pull him away from your lifeless body, he had started to shake you in an attempt to get you to come back to him and it was complicating the process of trying to save your baby. The silence in the room was deafening as he watched them pull her out of you.

One of the female medicae frantically rubbed her, trying to get her to clear her little lungs and breath. Konrad could hear her quietly pleading with the baby to wake up and cry out, to say hello to all of them. Konrads heart broke that moment as each of the medical staff slowly removed their masks. Someone in the room read out the time and date as they moved her little over to where you lay. They placed her on your chest and wrapped your arms around her. From where he was in the room, he could trick himself into thinking that the both of you were merely asleep.

He couldn’t cry anymore after that. His sons led him out of the room, bracing him on each side. Half way down the hall he stepped out of their grasp and he silently walked away. No one knew where he went. He didn’t even know where he went. All he knew is that he walked and walked for hours until he came back here. They had cleaned you and the baby up. Putting you in one of your favorite white dresses. Someone had brushed your hair and carefully placed it under you. Your daughter lay in a crib next to you wrapped in a white blanket, a small pink cover sat on her head. One of her tiny hands was visible and Konrad tried to get her to hold his finger if only for a moment. After that is when he finally picked her up. Bringing her small face up to his, rubbing his nose against hers. She still smelt so new, like a powdery little doll.

That's how he had been for the last few hours. Sitting in the chair beside you, cradling the beautiful daughter you had grown in your body. No one came, the news had surely made its rounds by now. He didn’t know what else to do. He slowly moved your body on the bed so that you could rest against his chest as he sat behind you. Carefully placing your daughter back in your hands with his supporting them underneath.

That's how they found you all the next morning. No one dared wake him. After everything that had happened, he deserved a moment of peace.

[rucbarthatbowtiesarecooldw]

Saturday Morning Session

Come Ye That Love the Lord

Conducting: Dallin H Oaks

The Morning Breaks

Sustaining vote – in the morning session? Normally afternoon

Church audit report – in the morning session? Normally afternoon

Did You Think to Pray

Jeffrey R. Holland

Awwwww the most fortunate of men!

More concentration, focus on the Savior, hope on His word, etc.

“Thanks are the highest form of thought. Gratitude is Happiness doubled by Wonder.” – Chesterton?

God hears every prayer we offer.

- Prayers are often answered differently than we expect

Our prayers are our sweetest hour, our most sincere desire, our most purest form of worship

Hesitation to pray doesn’t come from God.

Prayers should be spoken out loud. -It is a conversation with God

Listen to the spirit to know how to pray

If you don’t know what to pray for, just pray anyway!

Even the Savior had to pray to be closer to His Father – even He could pray “more earnestly.”

J Anette Dennis

You can look for a deeper meaning in all the things you read – how does this bring you closer to the Savior?

Jesus Christ is the center of ALL covenants we make.

Covenant relationships bless us, but it is out choice as to how,

Everything done in the Temple points to Gods plan for us. -Prayerfully seek the further meanings

Our symbolic outer clothing is only worn in the temple. Other than the garments, although those show that Jesus covers us.

Armor of Light – which is Christ

Choose to have a relationship with God by making and keeping covenants with Him

Alexander Dushku

Restoration began with a boys desperate prayer and a pillar of light

Rather than a pillar of light, the Lord sends us a ray of light – and then another, and then another

How do you experience the rays of light from the Lord? -Peace, impressions, desires, testimonies, hopefulness, prayer, feeling the love of God as you serve others

If we’re believing and repenting, we ARE living in revelation, even if we don’t recognize it or think we are experiencing it.

You cannot always expect big miracles and pillars of light – the Light comes line upon line, precept upon precept, here a ray and there a ray

Experiencing depression and anxiety make it difficult (sometimes impossible) to recognize the Spirit - Sometimes we don’t even know we are feeling the Spirit at all until after the fact!

Perhaps one ray is not enough for a Testimony, but together they can become a Light that will scare away the darkness.

D&C 93:36 “The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.”

D&C 50:24 “That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.”

Press Forward Saints

Ulisses Soares

Covenant confidence through Christ

When we enter the Lords house, we embark on a sacred journey to become like Christ

What happens IN the temples is important

Remain Confident in Christ

Confidence in the covenants made with Jesus Christ is something you should pass on to your children

“My disciples shall stand in holy places and not be moved.”

Go to the temple with confidence and humility - Make preparations to go – not just for those going for the first time. We should be perpetually preparing - Will help with anxiety about worthiness

Home centered, Church supported, Temple Bound - Being Temple bound connects us to the Savior

Cast not away your confidence, instead let your confidence wax strong.

Jack N Gerard

Jesus Christ is our exemplar. - Integrity means being true to God, to each other, and to our identity.

Do what is right, let the consequence follow.

Exercise integrity in your choices

Would others see God through my conduct?

A life of integrity is not a life of perfection - Due to the fact that during this life you literally cannot be perfect - Perfection exists but not in me

Christian kindness is not a substitute for integrity - Meaning don’t be fake in your kindness? - Don’t be hypocrites?

I Know that My Savior Loves Me

Henry B Eyring

Story about going to the temple and finding out after the sealing that people have lost houses (teton dam break) and they left their kids at home and had to spend the night in a hotel and couldn’t make it home

“How can you sleep at a time like this?” - Whatever the outcome, all will be well because of the temple. We have made covenants - Apostles at gethsemane

John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

God will not abandon His relationship to all those who have covenanted with Him - He will never tire in His efforts to help us, and we will never exhaust His willingness to support us

Light and hope can come from keeping covenants, and they are opportunities to draw closer to God

We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet

[sekwar]

Concerned with so many things you forget who you really are

This land used to house many gods. They themselves believed only gods occupied this land and not ordinary folk, because civilians had a little bit of godhood inside them: the power to create and destroy. That was all they needed. Usually they would not disturb these gods unless their aid was needed, or if a god asked them. How kind. Life was simple back then, and the people and the gods existed in near-perfect equilibrium. Perfection couldn’t exist, and everyone made sure it was not achieved. Now this may seem strange, but it was a belief everyone held. If you thought that something was “perfect” in every way, you would immediately notice there would always be room for improvement. Things changed, and the gods helped the people adapt.

As time went on, and the land evolved and progressed, so did the gods. Their abilities became more powerful, and they were desperate to hold it all back and only use them when necessary. They would convene in dwellings, discussing the day’s plans like any family. New buildings were erected. The civilians sought out new forms of entertainment. So did the gods. There was so much to do… too much. So when the time had come to converse about what to do next, they began to wonder about the very nature of the world around them. The people’s curiosity needed to be quenched. The ability to take various things and examine them, breaking them down into their essential elements, was only reserved for the gods. They had enough power to make it happen. The right god could perform these miracles in front of everyone’s eyes.

The Lioness took a leaf, sliced it in two, then pressed down on it a little. Collecting the juices, they put it in a crucible, and the heat of a flame from below brought it to a vigourous boil. Collecting the gas in a cup, they held it aloft for all to see. It was colourless, but it smelled of vinegar and pine.

“Behold, the wonders of the natural world, manipulated before your very eyes! The soul of this leaf may have been taken due to my hand, but there is more we can do with. Now, who shall light this vile cloud?” the lioness announced. No god was willing to do this, because they had an inkling of what would happen. This changed when the god with a serpent for a head stood up and ambled his way to the front to take the splint laying before them. He ran it across the ground, starting a flame, then as it made contact with the gas, a small explosion rang out. The audience applauded. They had finally seen someone brave enough to perform the experiment. This was what he wanted to do.

Zagan was a god of many forms, a chimera. Multiple parts to the whole. He had learned “the art” himself and wanted to use it to his advantage. The practice of alchemy had been a longstanding interest for many of the gods, since the Age of Wonder began. Once the word had spread, most of them were trying to outwit each other in a kamikaze race to create the Masterwork. Zagan was not interested in such pointless competitions. He wanted to learn through experimentation and trial and error, as any well-educated alchemist should. Retorts, firestarters, aludels, athanors, and other clay tools were scattered around his dwelling space, all of which he used. Not one piece of equipment was left to fracture in the sun, as the clay got stronger with repeated application. He constantly repeated the same processes, wanting to see how all the substances would react. The rack of substances and chemicals was his pride and joy.

“Zagan, I admire your determination to achieve the Masterwork. Me and the rest of the gods bestow unto you the essences of nature itself, which will be important in your studies. Good luck, and may we bless you forever more.” The ox handed him the containers.

He didn’t care about the finality. He just wanted to see where he could take it. Every day he was fully invested in what he could make out of thin air, out of the materials he had, out of himself. He hoped to make something that the gods would find beneficial, but nobody knows what’s really beneficial to a god. Instead, he went the other way, choosing to get more risky and extreme with his Gesamtkunstwerk, searching for more volatile chemicals; things the rack couldn’t possibly hold. With each explosion and controlled fire, he veered into a hidden side of himself he previously didn’t care about. But now was the time to fully embrace it. He pushed elements past their point of criticality, violently evaporating what minerals he had and producing ominous glowing hues in the night. Whenever he went out, a wide smile was plastered on his curved face, as he told the people how proud he was of whatever he was doing. Whenever they asked what it was, he only used vague terms. Alchemy wasn’t something bound by a rulebook, rather it was something that held its own interpretation for whoever practiced it. Unfortunately for Zagan, this may have meant destroying his surroundings, or even his own body. He didn’t care. His mind was already lost in the process.

“Nigredo, albedo, citrinitas, rubedo! Watch me do my dirty work, for all shall tremble in fear! I am Zagan, the master alchemist of the world! Nobody will stop me until I’ve done what I had to do!” he skipped across the land, maniacally humming to himself. At this time, he was giving demonstrations of what he was capable of, giving short demonstrations to people of various forms of transmutation. He hoped to inspire people to take up the craft, because it would provide them with a lifetime of amazement and discovery. What the people didn’t know was that he had reached a very advanced level, too advanced. The shows he put on were only experiments the people could understand. Years of work had caused him to harness elements the people shouldn’t have been aware of. Zagan was once a simple alchemist, but now he might be able to harness the power of immortality, curing all diseases, or invoking the Midas Touch. Harnessing the total perfection of body and mind was a quintessential goal for him, and the serpent would not be satisfied until he could get to the prize.

When he accidentally left a gold coin in a chemical bath, it turned to copper, a useless metal, only applied to the less important parts of things. At least, that’s what he believed. While carefully trying to siphon out the liquid to no avail, he bit the bullet and dipped his hands in the vat. More smoke, so pleasing to the eye. When it all cleared up, he was too scared to touch anything, not even his own flesh.

Someone in the land now holds the power of total transmutation. What a dangerous game to be playing with oneself. He is willing to risk the disruption of equality and potentially get everyone he meets to turn against him in a final spectacular display of deliquescence. How could anyone have noticed the fiery fumes coming from the hut? Were they too busy to care? Perhaps luck was on Zagan’s side. Luck didn’t matter, only the art of dissecting nature.

One day, when he woke up, he found his hand touching another gold coin. Uncovering it revealed that it, too, had turned to copper. He touched a third coin, and the same reaction happened. He snapped back to his senses for a few seconds and realized what he had done. He just turned a currency used for all manner of things into a worthless counterfeit. If he could only turn it back to gold… there's no use in reversing this change now. His hands were shaking. They were virtually non-functional, but they were easy to hide in his robes. He needed a walk to take his mind off of things anyway. He tried to keep his eyes on the village and not look down at his hands. Nobody seemed to notice. This isn’t luck, he thought. It’s my own undoing. The gift I got is a tool of destruction and not creation. I’ve been grateful up to this point… but I don’t know if this will entertain and intrigue me any longer. I don’t know what to do about this… Zagan had to dispose of this powerful mess he made, but how?

He purchased another chemical from the shop. The shopkeeper didn’t notice the value went down in seconds.

For the next couple of days, all Zagan could do was stare at the equipment he had used for years. He couldn’t experiment anymore. He no longer wanted to do this. If he gave the rack back to the lioness, he thought they would look down upon him and consider him wasted potential. They passed by his hut yesterday! What was he thinking?! He paced around his soon-to-be crumbling laboratory when he came across the credo of affirmation of life that he, and some of his friends, had written down themselves. It was stashed underneath a pile of food he had kept with him. Each god who participated wrote the same line over each other’s handwriting so as to unify the tract. Looking past the grape stains and runny ink, he mumbled it to himself.

If I was unborn // I would have nothing to be grateful for // I would have never seen companionship // I would never have wept // I would have never celebrated // I would never have eaten // I would have never held what I have made aloft // I would have no stories to tell // I would have never slept // I would have never spoken // I would have never

The last line was in Zagan’s writing alone. He must have had an idea for one more line on his way home but didn’t come up with it before the idea dissolved in his mind. He rolled up the scroll in his hands, staring at the paper. The life he had now was nothing like what the tract had destined to bring him and the others. Or even all the gods. “So I betrayed all the promises we had made… I’ve… I… ah… aaahhhhhh…” He was rendered incapable of any comprehensible emotion.

Then his string finally snapped.

He got the largest bowl he could find, set it down over a flame, crushed the scroll in his hands and threw it in. He then took every material off the rack, pouring them in, until the hissing and bubbling was enough to attract a few witnesses. The entire mixture caught fire. Zagan had made the wonder of wonders, in the age where people were searching for the ultimate state of all things. All rational thought drained away, replaced by a nonexistent language lapping off of his forked tongue. His eyes widened. He knew what he had to do. He leaned back and threw himself into the bowl, causing the entire laboratory to explode. The fireball that emerged was unusually colourful, with hints of pink, purple and green within the commonplace orange and yellow. It looked almost divine. Only a higher power could do this. From his eyes, he saw the room spinning, and everything melting away before his eyes. His mind cycled through every possible form one could have, and automatically it embraced them all at once. It killed him. It brought him back. He didn’t just make the Masterwork, he became it. The Masterwork is not a culmination of the elements processed in the right order, nor is it the eventual state of the lead to gold act. It is not the philosopher’s stone. It is not spiritual completion. The Masterwork is an abomination. It is something that should be avoided no matter what people say about it. Zagan had ruined centuries of seeking and turned himself into the opposite of what it was meant to be. He had become a deceiver, and he wouldn’t do a damn thing to stop it. He was too deep into this irreversible change. This is not the Magnum Opus. This is the Malum Opus, the Terribile Opus. HORRENDUM OPUS IN ANNUS HORRIBILIS.

I would have never destroyed myself

In the weeks that followed, chaos erupted. A jackal had replaced someone’s gold with copper. A pig had mastered persuading others into bribing him, taking items with a swift hand and replacing them with something of much less importance. An eagle turned up to a vendor’s stall full of silver creations, and with a sudden gesture they all melted down into hazardous mercury. The shopkeeper yelled, “The town is in disarray! A gang has disturbed the peace!” By that point the mouse had fled. There was no gang; it was all the work of one man. All he had to do was cup his face in his hands and concentrate, and his whole body would shift into the form of his choosing. O, what wonders he was producing! Zagan, you deceiver! By night he would revert back to his serpent form and look at all the damage he had done. He had so much power in his hands, and instead of being a sickly coward and holding back, he went all out and did everything he could to ensure his legacy! He would become a successful swindler and even recruit a real gang to carry out his acts! He’ll be a superstar! He chuckled to himself. This was the life he wanted. The next day, a bull wandered out into the fields, and the lioness was there. They had recognized the robes Zagan was wearing before he got himself into his role as deceiver, for no two gods can have the same patterns adorned on them. This was to provide a sense of distinctiveness within the community. They immediately began pursuit of him, and he was blissfully unaware that the one who inspired him to pursue the art of arts was the one who would ruin his life.

As Zagan was being held by his robe and the civilians gathered round to see the cause of the commotion, the lioness made the most relieving announcement in a while. “Dear friends, this traitor you see before you has meddled with the basic elements of nature for much too long! I set him off on a journey of understanding the prima materia and what he can do with it, and eventually, he used his abilities to turn to a life of crime and deceit! NOT ONCE have I thought he could commit such… alchemical SACRILEGE! Do you have any idea what’s about to happen to you, undeserving god?”

Zagan completely dodged the question. “I have no regrets for what I have done. I am happy with how far I’ve come, and the processes I had to achieve to get there. I humbly apologize to anyone who has been affected by my destruction. I simply wanted to put my skills to use. But do not let their intense ire land you all in trouble. Attack the problem with new zeal, and overcome it! Rebuild! Restore from the earth!”

He was interrupted by a roar. “Suffice it to say you have caused complete destruction of various properties, forced crops to mutate and bear dangerous fruits, and most of all, you turned the whole land against you! We have no choice but to remove you from this place you used to call home, and end your life if need be.” They let go of his pathetic hood. “Turn to face me.” He did so. “I forbid you from entering this land or any land nearby. May the light shining from your eyes never return, and your mind be purged of these heinous teachings!”

“NononononoWAIT-”

They pressed their thumbs on his temples, and using two fingers they split his head open, jarringly exposing his brain to the morning air. With both hands they prodded the areas of his brain they thought contained the malevolent bits in an attempt for him to forget all he had learned. When they sewed him back up, they made no effort to hide the stitches. Too much work, they explained. They quickly realized not even his presence would make things better. So they indulged in a little alchemy of their own. Raising their hands above his head, drops of white-hot iron ore fell around him and hit the ground. A hole opened up in the dry earth, crumbling away as Zagan lost his footing and tumbled down into the unknown depths. Hopefully, they thought, he emerges on the other side of the world as a completely different person. They knew godhood wasn’t something he would be good with after all.

Zagan woke up surrounded by shrubbery and trees which completely covered the sky. There were no signposts telling him where he was, and no voices in the distance. “This was what I needed,” he thought. “Death. Perfect. I’m gonna have a great time here. What good is being a god anyways?! I can’t even go back to practicing alchemy and trying something different…” He couldn’t remember how it all worked anymore. He knew what it was, but the lioness had eradicated almost all the steps needed for basic transmutation. Looks like he’ll have to start again. He doesn’t even know which way to go. Being stuck in the middle of a jungle with no discerning qualities isn’t the best way to enter this realm.

“I guess I’ll have to go the direction I’m facing… doesn’t that always get you somewhere?” he mumbled to himself. And so he set off trodding across this new place. Start running, and keep running until acted on by an outside force.

[alyjojo]

Advice to Work on Yourself ⛸ in December 2022: Libra

4 Swords - Justice - 2 Wands

Regarding: Temperance

This is a very deep & intense message, unusual for Libra and also for the first one in a round of readings. We’re just jumping right into the deep end here, ok.

The entire message is regarding your own spiritual beliefs and personal relationship with…whatever it is you believe. Or don’t. You are very disconnected from any sense of magic, miracles, faith, and Temperance here is showing your advice to be deep healing in regards to your inner child. It could be showing that losing a relationship has put you in this energy, lacking belief in anything, no matter how long ago this was. Healing the wounds of abandonment, lack, need, and rediscovering your passion for life, joy, creativity and inspiration, is clarified by Wheel of Fortune. It’s been awhile, maybe a long time. This is what you need to find, not some outside source of happiness. Call it God, Spirit, agnostic belief in a maybe something but idk what…faith of some kind.

The charms are heavily related to Alice in Wonderland, that in itself may strike a chord with you if that’s something you love/d. You’re heavily focused on what is lost, but you can’t see what still remains and how important that is. Nor can you see that, evidently by losing whatever it is you lost, you avoided a major disaster that was headed in your direction. Spirit is always working in the background, and while karma is always at play, Justice shows the right thing happening at the right time for you. Justice is Libra’s energy 💖 It may not feel that way, but it’s true. Something had to happen how it did so you would get to where you’re needed to be. And anyone else involved. The advice here is you’re sitting on the fence when it comes to your faith and your beliefs. But you’re here, on a tarot blog, looking for some kind of answers, for me to even pick up on this energy in the first place. This is saying you need to focus more on your personal faith system - The Hierophant. Maybe that’s a more conservative and orthodox religion. Maybe it’s this kinda stuff. I personally don’t think one cancels out the other, and you can personally decide whatever feels right to you. That’s all that matters 💯 Spirituality is the most personal relationship you can have. Just recognize where not getting your way led to missing something that could have caused a lot of problems for you. Recognize Spirit’s hand in your life and the blessings you’ve received, the favorite song at the right moment, the perfect restaurant you happened to find while getting caught in the rain. Special moments, serendipity. Ace of Wands is what you need, this Ace of Cups flipped over. Magic ✨

Side note: I wrote the dominant energy I picked up on. This also may be your energy towards a child or “childish whimsy”, and actually looking down on others & them rising above it, or it’s someone else’s energy towards you.

Very small energy towards stringing two people along and losing one, being heavily focused on the one that got away instead of committing to what is in front of you. If so, you dodged a bullet that you/they saw coming, possibly with Spirit’s help or divine intervention - outside of your control. The Hierophant may also cover any beliefs, not necessarily religious, it’s an old-fashioned, mature, “do the right thing” energy, the teacher, counselor, and the priest, however that may apply. Temperance is showing no one being “wrong” but the need to combine two opposite elements in a harmonious way, something Libra excels at more than anyone else.

Animal Oracle: Seagull 🌊

“Now is the time for deep emotional healing.”

You have an emotional sea of emotions below your consciousness that needs to be acknowledged and expressed. Expressing emotions doesn’t mean indulging in them compulsively or creating drama around them. If there are tears, let them be tears. Explore your feelings by sharing them with someone you trust or writing them in a journal, and don’t be afraid to ask yourself why you’re feeling the way you feel, why you’re responding emotionally the way you are to whatever this is. By talking them out or writing them down, you bring them into your own awareness, which creates an opportunity to heal or release them. Don’t let this be a theatrical exercise, embellishing emotions you don’t really feel. Don’t attend to your most traumatic experiences too often, but take them slowly, and make sure to add good doses of humor for your own sake. It isn’t necessary to tackle all of your emotions and memories in one day, but it is necessary to begin addressing yours.

Artist Oracle: MIES VAN DER ROHE

- One loves many lives in a lifetime.

- A good idea deserves a good aphorism.

- You “van der” Pseudonym.

Advice:

- Make Someone’s Day

- Celebrate Milestones

Charms:

Unicorn 🦄 on Ace of Cups rev shows magic and you having lost this or feeling you’ve lost this, but you haven’t. Denied it? Maybe. But that’s a choice. Temperance is taking everything into account in a patient & harmonious manner, meaning you don’t have to throw out everything you do believe to allow room for what you can’t explain, or someone else’s beliefs. Who is right and who is wrong?

Crown 👑 and Alice 🍄 on Justice is an interesting combination, because they are related, and I was told to have Alice look down on the Queen. I assume this movie/book is important for you. Alice is childlike (or a child), daydreaming, always questioning and full of wonder, to the point she’s dreamed up a whole world full of “nonsense”. The Queen is bitter, demanding, nasty, jealous, a tyrant, she doesn’t believe in anyones truth but her own, nor does she believe in magic - only having the last words…or it’s off with their head! A very Queen of Swords energy, Libra’s energy. When did you lose your magic in favor of pessimism or overly judgmental behaviors? Who made you the judge? What has it gotten you? Having Alice looking down on the Queen shows her rising above this energy, she will always dream up some new reality, because she’s a believer in things that are “nonsense”. Magic trumps pessimism or “realism” every time, and always will, because it accesses the parts of us that “realism” can’t touch. Our dreams, our fears, our loved ones, every funny thing we can’t quite put our finger on and know others would never believe even if we told them. Miracles happen every day, that’s the real Justice, not intellectualizing everything. You can take every fact at hand and make a decision on what you see, and somehow still miss the point. You can try but you’ll always get to a situation where you can’t just explain it away, and probably get frustrated with these instances. Assume it’s all one big coincidence or…was it? And beyond religion. Seeing the world through the eyes of an excited child. Was that forced out of you? Were you taught that was wrong, or ridiculed? Very intense energy there, and that’s all for you to know, figure out, and to heal, so you can feel like that again - with no judgments 🙏

[yhwhrulz]

Charles Spurgeon's "Morning & Evening" Devotional for August 20

Morning

“Henceforth thou shalt catch men.”

When driven from one city Jesus displayed his healing power in another. Ingratitude could not make him cease to bless mankind.

John 4:46-54

John 4:46 , John 4:47

It is a rare sight to see the great ones of the earth coming to Jesus; but they must come as well as the poorest, if they would be blest.

John 4:48 , John 4:49

In his vehement desire he took the rebuke in silence, and then cried out again for mercy.

John 4:50 , John 4:51

Faith and the cure were wrought at the same moment. From Cana to Capernaum, like a flash of lightning, the power to heal travelled the moment that the father believed.

John 4:54

The first dealt with marriage, and the second with children. Jesus is the true “Family Friend.” Parents, believingly go to him for your children! He waits to answer you.

Luke 5:1-11

We now turn to another event which happened about this time.

John 5:5

Whatever may have happened, it is ours to obey, and in obeying we shall meet with a reward.

John 5:8

He felt that he was not fit for such holy company, and expressed the feeling in all simplicity. He was always outspoken.

John 5:9-11

And wonderful man-catchers they became, taking whole nations in their gospel nets. The Lord help all his spiritual fishermen to cast the net on the right side of the ship.

O Lord our God, thy servants bless,

And crown their labours with success;

For they will cast the net in vain

If thou the Spirit dost restrain.

But if thou guide their willing hand,

Obedient to thy wise command,

Then will they bring the sons of men

Back to their Lord and God again.

Evening

“He went about doing good.”

Mark 1:21-39

Mark 1:23-25

Christ would not have praise from the devil, it has an ill savour about it.

Mark 1:26-30

Luke says it was “a great fever,” so that she was too ill to speak for herself. We must tell Jesus of those who do not plead for themselves.

Mark 1:31

Usually a person healed of fever is long in recovering strength, but our Lord’s cures are perfect as well as immediate. Those whom the Lord heals spiritually are sure to be grateful, they minister both to him and to his people. If he serves us, it is but meet that we should serve him.

Mark 1:35

He had much work before him, and therefore desired much communion with God. Press of business should not excuse us from prayer, but rather urge us to have more of it.

Mark 1:36 , Mark 1:37

Simon was always too forward. We shall often meet with interruptions in prayer, even from well-meaning men; therefore let us, like Jesus, get alone and choose early hours.

Mark 1:38 , Mark 1:39

He did not stay to receive honour for his wonderful miracles, but posted on to other fields of labour. Let us also press forward, for we have much to do, and but one short life to do it in.

Matthew 4:23-25

Matthew 4:23

What a blessed mixture, “preaching and healing”! Now-a-days we have them both spiritually in the gospel. He who preaches Jesus is a healer, for that sacred name is medicine.

Matthew 4:24

What a list of maladies, and how sweet the footnote, “and he healed them”!

Matthew 4:25

Well might they do so, since he scattered such priceless boons. Let us follow him in a higher sense, for none are sick in soul who abide in fellowship with him. Walk with “the beloved physician,” and thou shalt no more say “I am sick.”

Copyright Statement This resource was produced before 1923 and therefore is considered in the "Public Domain".

[gatekeeper-watchman]

Daily Devotionals for July 21, 2024

Proverbs: God's Wisdom for Daily Living

Devotional Scripture:

Proverbs 21:7-8 (KJV): 7 The robbery of the wicked shall destroy them; because they refuse to do judgment. 8 The way of man is froward and strange: but as for the pure, his work is right. Proverbs 21:7-8 (AMP): 7 The violence of the wicked shall sweep them away, because they refuse to do justice. 8 The way of the guilty is exceedingly crooked, but as for the pure, his work is right and his conduct is straight.

Thought for the Day

Verse 7 - Because the wicked know what is right but refuse to do it, their own violence will sweep them away. Those who live by violence perish by it. Everyone reaps what he sows (Galatians 6:7-9). Whatever we "plant" will grow to produce a crop. When we choose to follow our old nature (sow to our flesh), our words and actions produce no lasting benefits and lead to death. If we choose to walk (or sow) to the Spirit, our words and actions will produce life and eternal reward. If we invest in God's work, one of our rewards will be that we will get to meet people in heaven whom we helped to know the Lord. This passage also tells us not to be weary in well doing, for we will reap in time, if we faint not.

Satan tries to discourage us when we see the wicked prosper and it seems that our prayers are unanswered. But we must keep our eyes on Jesus and His promises, not our circumstances. That is what faith is: believing God's truth and not allowing Satan to rob our confidence in Him. "I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found. Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace" (Psalm 37:35-37).

Verse 8 - Those who are crafty are always looking for ways to cover up their wrongs. Their ways are convoluted and shifty. Honest people are straightforward, without pretense. Their work is exactly what it is supposed to be; there is no trickery. Man is crooked by nature. We all try to hide our sins and mistakes. We cannot change until we receive God's forgiveness. Upon receiving Jesus into our hearts, we become pure in God's sight. All the privileges of God's children become available to us. The Holy Spirit purifies our thinking. We no longer desire our old life. The evil we once loved, we now hate. It is a wonderful miracle that God can make us pure and good like Himself!

Psalm 32:10 tells us that the wicked will have many sorrows, but those who trust in God will be surrounded by mercy. The last verse of Psalm 23 also speaks of mercy, and has always blessed me: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life..." I used to wonder why this scripture spoke of goodness and mercy as following, rather than as leading us. The Lord showed me that goodness and mercy are always behind us to catch us and pick us up when we fall. When do we need God's goodness and mercy? After we have made a mistake and fallen down. When we trust God, He is right there to help us up so that we can continue to walk with Him. God goes before us and is behind us and on every side. How great is His love for us!

Prayer Devotional for the Day

Dear Father in Heaven, I love You so much. You have been so good to me. Thank you for Your mercy and goodness to me over the years. I have not deserved Your great patience with me, but I am thankful that You were there for me every time I fell down and every time, I failed You. Thank you for picking me up forgiving me and washing me clean so I could start again on that narrow path where my careless feet went astray. Help me to be merciful, like You, to those in my life who need Your mercy through me. Give me grace not only to forgive them but to love them as You have loved me. I ask this in the name of Your precious son, Jesus. Amen.

[treadmilltreats]

Happy birthday to my daughter

My most incredible blessing turns 27, and this is my message to you.

I have always felt blessed even as I was going through my horrible childhood, I felt God's hand in my life.

When I was 21, the doctors found out that I had endometriosis, and they told me they wanted to do a hysterectomy on me. They said it didn't matter because I wouldn't be able to have children anyways, but I had this crazy faith even back then.

I knew I was going to have children. There was nothing more important in my life than to have a child, and I knew that God was going to make this possible. Fast forward years later, I got married, and we tried to have a baby for 5 years. I went to specialist after specialist, and they all said the same thing: that I had too much scar tissue and it would be a miracle if I did become pregnant.

I finally got pregnant and had a miscarriage. We were crushed, but I kept praying, and then that miracle happened, I got pregnant again. You wanted to come out right from the beginning. You were crowing at 7 months, and I was put on bed rest. No moving except to go to the bathroom, I have to tell you that this almost killed me, as I am always on the go!

But I wanted this baby, you, so I did what I was told, including waking up every 2 hours to take my medicine. After 15 trips to the hospital and too many sleepless nights of worry. You came into this world 2 weeks early. My incredible blessing was born on this day December 17. Twenty-seven years ago at 10:48 a.m., weighing 5 lbs and 5 oz.

I can't tell you how happy I was to hold this miracle in my arms. God blessed me with a healthy baby girl. We named you Victoria Lauren after your dad's grandma Virginia and my dad Louis, and you were perfect and still are in my eyes.

I look back and can't believe it's been 27 years already.

I can remember as if it was yesterday, your first day of kindergarten as I cried as I walked you to your class. I remember being your room mom, taking you to dance classes, and cheering you on. I remember baking cookies with you while we did your homework.

So many memories of the park, the parties, and the beach. Memories of teaching you how to ride a motorcycle, play poker, and all the laughs making lasagna with all of your friends in the house or singing off-key in the car.

I remember as you got older how you became the voice I didn't have against your dad. How you would stand up and tell him that he was treating me so badly. I can never forget how many beatings you got for telling the truth. How you would eat your dinner in seconds because you knew he would start with me, and when you would stand up to him, how you would get punished and sent to your room without eating, so you learned to eat fast.

These times, I would fight with him not to punish you or beat you, and then I would get a verbal lashing for days. These were not happy times for us, and I am sorry I was not stronger for you, but it made our bond even tighter. I prayed through your teenage years as you were wild and hanging with a crowd I didn't like. You were tough on the outside yet have this huge heart of gold.

You pushed me away, yet I held on tight. I told you all the good you had inside of yourself, all the things you could and would be, and all the things you didn't hear from your dad. I knew you were a chosen child God had placed here for a reason, and I was always going to be in your corner.

You were the one who told me to leave and be happy. It was because of your words that I had the courage to leave. Together with your sister, we made a new life, and yes, God answered my prayers. You finally straighten out and now you are an incredible young woman with a smart, streetwise head on her shoulders.You are not only beautiful on the outside but just as beautiful on the inside and I am so proud of you and this life you will be embarking on.

I want to give you some advice I wished I had learned earlier. I want you to know that worrying will not change anything and that you are still young and have your whole life in front of you. Do not worry about getting married and having kids. All that will come in time. The time right now is for you to explore the world, to find out who you are and what you want. You already know that you are a self-sufficient woman who is smart and street wise. Who can take care of herself and can do anything you set your mind to and that my dear, at your age is priceless.

Do not stress over things you have no control of. Let go and let God. He has you just as he had me all these years. Things will come in time, his time, not yours.

I cry as I write this because I know you will do big things with your life as you are a survivor. You know your worth, and I know that you will never settle for less as I have. You have seen your fair share of pain in your life and have lost way too many people in such a short life, and that has made you realize that life is too short. You need to make the most of every moment.

But all of this that you've gone through has made you the wonderful woman you are today. Always remember that God only gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers, and you, my love, are strong.

I love you so much, there are not enough words to express my love for you.

So I will tell you to soar…

To fly on the wings of the angels that keep you safe and that first put you in my arms. You are meant to soar my child.

I will always be here cheering you on, always ready to hold your hand or for a shoulder to cry on if you need it.

This is just the beginning of your incredible life....so live it large! Live it on your terms, and always remember to dance to the beat of your own drummer!

With all my love,

Now, always and forever

Mom

"Be the change you want to see”

@TreadmillTreats

[swannieluv]

｡ﾟ･The Bold Mendacity - Prologue

✦⸼࣪⸳ After fooling an entire nation, you're punished for your sins. Yet, it seems like fate will have mercy on your soul.

✦⸼࣪⸳ 𝐆.𝐈 𝐕𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 (𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜) 𝐱 𝐆𝐍!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 <3

✦⸼࣪⸳ 𝐖𝐜: 1.4k

✦⸼࣪⸳ 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆!!: Violence, mentions of child abuse, manipulation and death.

✦⸼࣪⸳𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨: ♡

✦⸼࣪⸳ A/N - My first series yay! Have you guys missed me? /hj

Two Prophecies - One Nation

“The people will all be dissolved into the waters. And only the Hydro Archon will remain, weeping on her throne.”

“The child of water shall be born with the rage of summer rain. The one who will bring peace to Fontaine's cursed blood.”

In sleepless nights, you find yourself staring at the ceiling. You don't know what you want, don't care about what you need, and certainly don't understand what you owe.

You were once called “Child of the Prophecy”. Now, you're the “Great Sinner”.

At the start, you also believed in your veracity. The adults would constantly praise you and say that you were Fontaine's hope. The one who came to save them from the Primordial Waters.

Oh, how wrong they were.

You had been born on the first storm of the year, just like the prophecy said. Yet, you were never blessed with a vision nor felt the presence of your Archon. She would always find nervous excuses about how busy she was once you tried to approach her.

You knew this day would probably come. What's true cannot stay hidden forever, no matter how much you try. Truth always crawls its way out of the tomb. But you always wished it wasn't so sudden like that.

The real child was born and everyone knew from the moment the sky closed. It was the greatest storm in all Fontaine's history and the day the God of Justice personally visited a small child.

It was over for you, now accused of deceiving the whole nation together with a person who tried to help you. A person who also believed in you.

“Hah…”

Knock, knock.

Your thoughts were interrupted by a sudden knock on the wooden door of the lonely room you were locked in.

“Get ready, sinner.” The guard watching over the room gave you a cold look after kicking a tray of food on the floor for you to pick up. “The trial starts in an hour. Remember, anything you say can and will be used against you.”

'Perfect, now I have to stay quiet while that old thing tells my fate.' You ironically thought to yourself as you picked up the tray from the ground.

'Moldy bread and water.' You stared at the food, analyzing the disgusting green color adorning it. That slice of bread looked old, it most definitely had been served to someone else before, someone whose eyes have probably never opened again. 'Better than nothing, I guess...'

Thirty minutes.

You had thirty minutes to think about what to say to defend yourself. It was useless to arrange any excuse and you didn't have any. A miracle wasn't going to happen, you couldn't do anything. All your attempts to resonate with Hydro failed, and it wouldn't start to work now, even if your life depended on it.

“May peace be with me.” – You put a hand over your chest and looked around the room as you repeated the mantra taught by the people supposed to take care of you.

You finally walked your way to the trial. It was laughable, you didn't even have a lawyer with you. Even so, they want to accuse you publicly. They want to humiliate you.

“Finally, entertainment worthy of our excitement.” You heard someone say.

You felt her eyes upon you. The Hydro Archon herself, her gaze piercing through your skull. Although she didn't seem to be judging. She looked as if she was… curious? You could only hope for her to not make thousands of nonsensical objections again and–

“Attention. The trial of the Child of the Prophecy is now in session.”

A deep voice could be heard from above, starting your judgment. All eyes instantly went to him, Fontaine's Iudex, Monsieur Neuvillette.

The feeling of uneasiness creeped you out. You already knew the verdict, yet you hoped for some objection from the Hydro Archon to end up saving you just like they had saved other lives.

But they wouldn't be able to save you now. They definitely wouldn't.

You wanted to cry, dying at 15 was terribly pitiful. Yet, no one here seemed to care about your age. They only cared about the fact you were a fraud.

The Iudex’s words came twisted to your ears. Your focus being lost to the million thoughts running through your head as well as the amused crowd behind.

'Bunch of snakes.' You thought as the Iudex prepared himself to give your final sentence.

“And the judgment of the Oratrice Mecanique D'Analyse Cardinale says…”

Everyone was waiting anxiously as Monsieur Neuvillette sighed. You held your breath and looked down, feeling your eyes getting humid.

“...The Child of the Prophecy, [name], shall be punished with death by the guillotine.”

And then, reality hits you like a ton of bricks. You can never run from what's right.

And before you could process anything, you were grabbed harshly by the arm. Someone started dragging you away from the room. Maybe a guard? You couldn't see from the angle your head was facing and the things thrown at you.

The people were throwing their hats and tomatoes at you. Screaming things like “You're bringing our doom!” and “Stop faking!”.

Shame.

You felt all Fontainian's rage upon you. Even the children look angry or scared at you, probably influenced by their parents.There was a blonde little girl clutching to her father's coat while crying at the scene. It was cruel.

It was really cruel.

The cold-blooded manner they treated you. The feeling of their objects hitting your head. The tomatoes weren't heavy nor painful, but it was unnerving. You were probably going to die stinking like tomatoes.

And finally, a moment of peace. You were thrown in a cold and dirty cell again with nothing but rotten tomatoes like the ones they threw at you.

“Aaaaaah!” You picked a tomato from the ground and threw it against the wall. The fruit burst as soon as it came in contact with the solid wall.

Hot tears started to stream from your eyes. You were going to die anyway, so why couldn't you just express your hate now? You wanted to make them pay for all this illusion.

In sleepless nights, you would stare at the cell’s ceiling and think: “Was my cruel existence only a shame?”. You didn't want to know about what you wanted, to care about what you needed and certainly didn't understand what you owed.

Owe?

There was nothing you needed to give to anyone. They took away the only person who tried to defend you. The one who raised and comforted you in all those storms.

They were accused of being an accomplice in the crime of fooling the whole Fontaine alongside you. They would have noticed you weren't the real one by coexisting with you for your whole life, wouldn't they?

It was still a question without an answer for you.

And in that last sleepless, rainy, night, you actually slept. You succumbed to your dreams with the heavy weight of your death coming. You dreamed of the good patisseries served everyday and nice clothes you could wear. But deep inside you knew that was never yours.

They were never, ever, truly yours.

“Stay still.” You looked up. They were cutting your hair so that it was easier for the guillotine to fall.

Your eyes were puffy from the tears you shed last night. You were dressed in a simple white dress for your ending.

You slowly walked to the square. There was an agglomerate of people looking for your head. All dressed in winter clothes. How you wished for more covering in this snow.

Resistance was useless. There were dozens of guards around, you would get caught if you tried anything.

Looking up, a bit distant from the public was the Hydro Archon. You couldn't see her face, but you were sure she was finding your death funny.

“Will you have any last words to tell us later?” A brown-haired guard asked as he adjusted your neck on the guillotine.

“Yes… but I prefer to save them for later.”

You looked around, feeling the absence of Monsieur Neuvillette. He was probably locked in his office just like after every trial.

“We’ll proceed with the punishment of the sinner!” Was announced by the executioner next to you.

“Last words?” He was ready to finish his job.

A smirk appeared in your face for a few seconds. You had been waiting for this moment since yesterday. And the last words that left your mouth were:

"I will drag each and every one of you, even the Hydro Archon, to the deepest pit of hell with me. I'll drag you as we crawl!–”

And with an agonizing sharp sound, your life reached its limit. Seconds of excruciating pain, until eternal peace.

Or so you thought.

[hlmowrer]

Week 37: And the world trundles by (but that's fine, I guess)

Helloooooo dear friends.  Two emails back to back??  InconCEIVable.  And yet here we are.

It was a good week.  The Adversary tried real hard to bully me into believing it wasn't a good week, but looking back on it now it was actually pretty fabulous.  Missions can be hard on one's self esteem, but when you really tally up what you've been able to accomplish for and with the Lord, things start looking a good bit better.  This week we had several opportunities to join and exchange with other missionaries (which is always good for my soul).  It presented me an opportunity to have some more positive social interactions and also to receive some candid evaluations of my efforts from my zone and district leadership, which actually helped me feel a good bit better about how things are going.  We also miracle found 3 people on a single tiny block that I felt inspired to walk down, and got back in contact with an awesome friend that we had lost touch with.  I'm still getting along with my housemates really well, and I'm glad to have the opportunity to support Elder Walker as he prepares to go home next week.  I'm a little happier, my ward is happy, my fellow missionaries are happy, and things are well for the time being I guess.

I've been thinking a lot about the Lord's timing.  I expected to be out in the mission field a lot sooner than I was; this week, about a dozen people I know will leave the field.  About half from the Michigan Lansing Mission and the other half from other missions worldwide.  Some of these people were very dear to me back home, and almost all of the ones leaving Michigan have been significant to my growth here in some way.  Had my plans been the way I thought they would be, I would be going home with them.  This is a bit of a gut punch this week as I prepare to hopefully say goodbye one last time if I'm able to see them, but the more I think the more I realize how perfect God's plan really is.  I needed my district in the MTC to be who they were.  I needed the people who have befriended and helped me here to be at a state of growth where they could.  I needed to be in Michigan right now at this time to meet and impact the lives of the people I've been directed to here.  And, given such a track record, I imagine there are countless other people and blessings that will be encountered on exactly the path I'm on.  The people we're with at one point in life aren't always meant to stay with us forever, and you never know who's path might cross yours once again.

What I wanted wasn't actually within reach.  And that's okay, because God is a lot smarter than me and he's already giving me something better.  I forget it a lot, but it's true.

It's true for all of us.  Let's remember that together.

'Till we meet again <3

-Elder Beren Mowrer

[shutdownthecitylights]

05/30/2023, 22:10

Dear you,

I think I've found the perfect name for you, you. Maybe it's because "About You" by The 1975 is playing, but I think it suits you well. You are the person that willingly or unwillingly listens to my deepest secrets and life wishes, you are what I wish a person would do for me. I think it suits you beautifully, but please do inform me if you want a name swap, I'm more than accommodating in your preferences.

I originally opened up my computer in hopes of alleviating my intense flashbacks of the worst part of my life, but I looked at the time and remembered the conversation I had with 46 and realized that if I keep dedicating pages to teenage boys that drained the life and soul out of me, I would subsequently be draining the life and soul out of you. That is the last thing I want to do, because these are my letters and nobody else's, god dammit.

That tight feeling in my chest that once dictated my life for an entire year has finally gone, and it's liberating. I could have never realized how beautiful life is at the time, because everything about living back then was ugly and draining. I was a shell of a human being and my environment didn't restore my humanity.

If the person I was a year ago saw the person I am today, she would be so fucking proud.

I do this, I do all of this and go through all of this to get better for her. The girl who couldn't get out of bed for a week after what happened to her, the girl who just wanted an ounce of love and affection from the people who deserved it the least. I heal for her, to put her to rest and let her watch me flourish and grow into the beautiful human being I am. Because this is my story, and I can't help anybody else's until I get mine straight. Everybody's story is so unique and special and it's such a blessing to be able to read them, but I don't dictate their stories and they don't dictate mine. We're the authors of our beautiful, painful, comedic, ugly, heartfelt, human stories.

Never again will I let somebody dictate my story. I hold the pen, and I hope to God that my existence helps other people realize that too. I love you, you. I love life and I love every person who has stepped foot on this Earth, even the ones who hurt me the most. Because they are human and vulnerable and ugly and full of emotions and uniqueness and humanness. It's all so beautiful, and I'm so happy I can realize that now. I almost took the privilege to see life's beauty away from myself, and I will never let that happen again. This is my story, never again will I let myself even think about putting the pen down.

It's summer, dammit, and life is fucking amazing. Life will always be amazing, because just the fact I'm living is a miracle in it's own and I want to embrace every miracle that comes with it. Thank you.

Yours Forevermore,

8

P.S. Thank you 46 for helping me realize just how amazing life is, I'm forever indebted to you. I can't wait to see what this year holds for us :)

[steveezekiel]

HOW TO BE PERSISTENT IN PRAYER 1

"PRAYING ALWAYS WITH ALL PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION IN THE SPIRIT, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints."

Ephesians 6:18 (NKJV)

"You will keep him in perfect peace, WHOSE MIND IS STAYED ON YOU, BECAUSE HE TRUSTS IN YOU."

Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV)

• If God has promised to do a thing, it will surely come to pass because He is a faithful God.

HOWEVER there is God-ward side, and the man-ward side, that is, the aspect of God and that of the person concerned, in whatever God has promised to do.

- God may have made the promise truly, but the person or people who are concerned have their own PART to play in bringing whatever He has said to the fulfilment.

WHATEVER the promise, the appropriation of it depends largely on the person or people concerned.

THE promises of God are appropriated through the prayer of the saints, particularly the person or people concerned.

- Nothing worthwhile would happen without persistent prayer of the person or people whom God has made the promise: "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

EVERY promise of God will come to the fulfilment through persistency in prayer.

- You receive, bring to the fulfilment, all the promises of God through persistent prayers, and also sustain your blessings, the miracles you have received, through persistent prayers.

YOU need prayers to sustain, keep, and preserve whatever God has given you.

- If you cultivated the habit of praying without fainting or ceasing; It means you have made God your source—you are telling Him you have no other power or source except Him.

- Your level of trust in God is known through your prayer Life, and that is revealed In your attitudes to prayer—how serious and fervent you are in prayer.

- Those who have other source do not persist in prayer because their trust in Him is not absolute—total.

AND those who's minds stayed on Him and trust in Him are the ones He keeps in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3).

- There are some Believers Who pray when they have challenges which they could not solve with THEIR physical abilities, such people usually have fire brigade's approach to challenges of LIFE;

THEY would not pray except they are under intense challenges Or problems.

IF you are a Believer like that It means you use God to get whatever you want and dump Him when you think you do not need Him, which shows you do not love and trust Him enough to commit everything about your LIFE to His hands.

- You build intimacy with God through persistent prayer.

YOUR PRAYERS are the proofs of your trust in Him.

WHEN you prayed, it shows your heart stays on Him, and He would keep you in perfect peace! (Isaiah 26:3).

• Those who looked onto God and put their trust in Him would not be put to shame: "THEY LOOKED TO HIM AND WERE RADIANT, AND THEIR FACES WERE NOT ASHAMED" (Psalm 34:5).

- God wants the heart of every Believer stays on Him (Isaiah 26:3).

TRUST in someone, looking onto any other person, or any other thing, leads to shame, discredit, and reproach.

"LOOKING UNTO JESUS, THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Hebrews 12:2 (NKJV)

1 "I WILL LIFT UP MY EYES TO THE HILLS—From whence comes my help?

2 MY HELP COMES FROM THE LORD,

Who made heaven and earth."

Psalm 121:1,2 (NKJV)

- The evidence or proof that you put your trust in God is when you persistently pray, commiting everything to Him prayers.

YOU pray as If everything depends on God and the prayers you PRAY to Him—and It is!

- It is those who live under God's covenant and put their trust in Him that would survive the darkness which The devil is bringing in the WORLD (Isaiah 60:2).

IF you are a covenant child, a Believer Who put his or her Trust in God, you would survive whatever the devil might bring over the world: "For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,

And deep darkness the people;

BUT THE LORD WILL ARISE OVER YOU, AND HIS GLORY WILL BE SEEN UPON YOU" (Isaiah 60:2).

• When God promises to bless His people, a believer in particular, the devil also would want to rise against what God has promised to do.

- However there is nothing according to God's plans, which He had promised that would not come to fulfilment when the believer who is concerned persistently prays.

- The widow in the parable of the Lord Jesus Christ who persisted got the answer she wanted because of her persistency.

1. THEN HE [Jesus] SPOKE A PARABLE TO THEM, THAT MEN ALWAYS OUGHT TO PRAY AND NOT LOSE HEART,

2. saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.

3. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’

4. And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man,

5. yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, LEST BY HER CONTINUAL COMING SHE WEARY ME.’ ”

6. Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said.

7. AND SHALL GOD NOT AVENGE HIS OWN ELECT WHO CRY OUT DAY AND NIGHT TO HIM, though He bears long with them?

8. I TELL YOU THAT HE WILL AVENGE THEM SPEEDILY. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

Luke 18:1-8 (NKJV)

• You will not fail in Jesus' name.

Peace!

TO BE CONTINUED

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

by Pastor Jack Wellman | Jesus lived a sinless, perfect life, but they treated Him as anything but perfect. They tortured Him (even before His illegal trial), they brought false witnesses before Him, they lied about Him, they scourged Him, they crucified Him, and they murdered Him. But God raised Him from the dead (Acts 2:23). Because Jesus was sinless...

[yerevasunclair]

Another Miracle

“Your heart is beating very fast.” Ned said as he snuggled his head on her chest. It’s already been an hour or more since they finished and he thought they’d have calmed down by now.

Cat kept her silence as she kept stroking his hair and keeping his body against her, still figuring out how to express her baffling emotions. 

How did this happen? She asks herself once again. 

Because we didn’t use protection, idiot.

But why would they need one in the first place? How could they remember to use it at that moment of desperation as well as victory? They’ve survived many crises, from being nearly overthrown from their business, to the defiance of their children, to the disparities of their judgement and methods. They were falling apart during those five years but neither of them would see their marriage collapse and be broken into irreparable pieces. 

“I should roll off now.” Ned attempted to relieve her of his weight, knowing it was causing her discomfort but Cat tightly wrapped her limbs around him as if her life depended on it. 

“Me neck is stiff, Cat.” He nuzzled his nose on her clavicle. 

“Oh, I’m sorry”, Cat released him from her hold and turned to the side where he lied. 

  He faced her to adore her small and lovely face that was speaking of many worries she’s been trying to hide. He caressed her cheek and his thumb brushed her lips, waiting for her to open up to him.

“Ned, I have to tell you something”, she took his hand and held it to her side. She just had to tell him directly instead of taking the leisure to present it in some other fancy manner. 

“What is it about, love?”

“I’m pregnant!” 

“Really?” he grinned in surprise as well as disbelief. That was always his response to the news. 

“Do you want a boy or girl?” she asks him. 

“We have too many sons. We need another little lady like you. By the way, when did you find out?”

“3 days ago. At first, I thought I was starting to go through menopause so I went to the doctor to ask advice how I can manage through this stage. The doctor gave me a general check-up and the tests revealed that I was actually pregnant.” 

“Pregnant at 47. That’s a miracle.” he said.

“Yes, we’ve always prayed and tried hard to have one last baby. But that was when Rickon was still two and a half years old and you thought that your football team lacked a calm and composed midfielder because the six pups were all aggressive.” 

“You named our kids the Stark Wolves of Winterfell Football Club and that inspired me more to create our logo and jersey shirt designs. Hahaha.”

“You printed so many! Four designs in four different colors for each of us.” 

“And accidentally, for Phoenix.”

“Phoenix?” 

“Our Player #8. Minisa Phoenix, if it’s a girl or Sean Phoenix, if it’s a boy.” Ned said with so much enthusiasm, missing the pleasure of teaching another toddler some kicking skills. 

“My mother and grandfather’s first names.. I love that.” Catelyn smiled and thought that Sean or Seana would be the most perfect, since it means ‘God is gracious’ or ‘God’s gracious gift’.

 Then he prattled on, “You told me that time you might be pregnant, so I impulsively called the shop to have another set done and they finished it within the day! I claimed it right away, had it gift-wrapped for the upcoming baby shower and when I came home, you told me it was a false alarm. I’ve hidden it in that old briefcase above the cabinet ever since...Cat, you’re crying...”

She hadn’t noticed until Ned told her that and wiped the tear flowing to her nose with his gentle finger. His touch made her break down.

“I just don’t know if I should be happy or sad. I don’t know why I’m pregnant now when it’s already too late and dangerous, Ned. I honestly don’t know if I can do this.” she said as she covered her weeping face with her hands. 

She tried to be hopeful, comforting herself with the fact that she has friends in their 40s who were blessed enough to have 2 children with no complications at all. Yet, she also has some friends who have been unfortunate, miscarriages and stillbirths that are either explained by common causes or occurred by chance even when they did everything right. As for her, she believes she was most likely going to lose this child that she wished they never had this child in the first place. She could not bear, much less imagine the anguish. Now she prays to God, quietly but deeply like never before, to please give her good health and great strength to bring this precious gift out into the world.

“Come here, Cat.” Ned moved closer to her and  invited her to the safety of his arms. He didn’t know what to say. He thinks she’s a bit silly for doubting herself, considering she’s an athletic woman who first had twins and 4 single births. She has completely given up smoking and drinking alcohol decades ago before becoming a mother and she has top doctors to look after her. Would it help to tell her nothing would go wrong? Would that defeat her apprehension? No. He’s learned better not to invalidate her (or even his) feelings anymore.

“I’m just as afraid as you.”

He kissed her forehead, loosened his firm embrace and rubbed on her back to allow her to breathe. Being with her was the best that he could do and that was all the reassurance that she needed.

-end-

for @pattarainn

@nedlynstan

@ladycatofwinterfell​

@shining-m00nlight​