Invisible Animals

My friend CHorsey posted a link on Facebook that I thought was absolutely amazing.  It’s a page full of pictures of animals, using their natural habitat and coloring to hide.  It’s not easy to find the critters, so have your children help you, and see if you can find the Invisible Animals!

Thursday Thankful

• Ellie finally getting treatment for her heartworm.  Last year when she was diagnosed, they said they’d have to keep for a long time, she wouldn’t be able to move, she’d be given the equivalent of chemo, it’d be painful and could result in death… so I passed and tried holistic treatments (that did nothing).  THIS year, they tell me they have pills that will take care of them within three years time.  So THAT I will do… but why couldn’t they have told me that LAST year, so we could be a year into it, by now?  HATE doctors.  Any doctors… but glad to have a positive course of action for our dog.
• New Dance Studio!  I e-mailed a place after the holidays, and asked if they’d take kids at the mid-year point… and they said YES.  So we drove down on Monday to check it out.  Now, we were with FRDC for five years, and LOVED it, because Miss Marci-Anne was a friend of mine, and loved kids, ran a clean, organized, family-friendly studio.  But then she moved to North Carolina (and we moved a two-hour round trip away!), so we looked elsewhere… and Ho.Mi.GAWSH, the skank that’s out there is un-Believable. 

  Remember B-a-M, where we went for two years until they choreographed my Lydia strangling a kid to death?  That’s when I found out they wanted to choreograph to Britney Spears’ “Three” (three-way sex).  It was… explicit, and the adult dances were bleeped out for expletives.  I have no doubt why it folded.  Then we tried the studio run by two college girls out of an elementary school cafeteria… where they drank water and never taught the kids any dance moves… while I babysat up to nine children in the halls?  Or how about the place on Division we tried this summer, which was cramped, dirty, taught by women busting out of spandex in nasty ways… and my boys were being taught by this guy with huge holes in his ears, jeans around his kneecaps, tatt sleeves, and whose idea of dancing was throwing gang signs to “I’m Sexy and I know It”.  Not to mention Lydia’s class was ‘floating’ – we were supposed to come at 5pm and find out who could teach it, and when they could squeeze it in, and then we got to wait until then?  Yeah… not. 

  So I wanted to SEE this new place before I did ANYTHING.  To our surprise, it’s clean, it’s spacious, it’s organized, it’s overseen by mature adults, AND the music is kid-friendly.  There are three big studios, and they have a TON of discounts – if you pay your costumes by X date, then you get two free recital tickets.  If you pay up front for the year/half-year, they discount X dollars.  It’s buy three, get one free.  For my FOUR children to take classes, it’s $70/month… that’s incredible!  And their theme for the 2013 spring recital is “World Tour” – my boys will be dancing Asian-flavored hip-hop in Oriental costumes with Chinese sticks – they’re over the MOON. 

  And even better still?  Their class is at exactly the same time as Lydia’s acro (gymnastic-dance) class – and at such a time that Brian gets out of work, comes home, we get in the car, and we’re off and make it there at just the right time, then can go to dinner together.  Four kids, one hour/stone!  I’m so happy.  It’s almost too good to be true.  But I have high hopes!
  

• Brian’s eye better.  Sunday morning, he woke up in the wee hours and said his eye was ‘buzzing’… by morning, he could barely open it, and it was so swollen his lid was doing odd things.  We Benedryl-ed him to death, with compresses, and by the end of the day he was able to open it, but it was still pretty bad – they teased him Monday at work, said his wife’s beatin’ on him again.  (As if!)  Anyhow, it’s calmed down a LOT, and is almost better, now.  I’m glad, because he got really testy for a while there!
• And that just on the heels of his good deed.  Saturday we went to a thrift store to drop off a box of donations, and I took Lydia and Aaron in to do a quick run thru (and got some great older Disney VHS tapes – Thomasina, Shaggy Dog, etc).
  
  While we were inside, there was a man there trying to pick up an entertainment center for his wife… and it was NOT going to fit in his work van. Brian watched the man struggle with the thing, and then he got out and said, “If you’re not too far away, why don’t you just load it up in our truck and we’ll take it home for you?” (We drove the truck to town, because we had to get trim from Menards for the finish work of the drywall project from the past weeks.)
  
  So Isaac comes in the store and says, “Mom, are you done? Dad’s gonna help a man move something *BIG*!!” So I thought he wanted me at the truck to watch the littles while he helped load something. Then the lady said, “Ah. You’re married to our Good Samaritan!” I. Had. NO. Idea what she was talking about.
  
  But there they were, loading it up in the truck, and we followed the man home, and Brian helped him unload it and it was our mitzvah of the day. The kewl part was that BRIAN was the one who offered the help. Usually I’m the zany one talking too much and offering stuff and trying to help people out. But he actually did it all, himself!
• School back on track.  The holidays did a NUMBER on us, and I thought I would NEVER get it together, again.  It actually came together again rather painlessly, so I’m really grateful that the kids got back into the groove with no major problems.
• So many signs to watch.  This morning they’re saying there’s going to be a bigger near-asteroid than we thought, which means a bigger quake than I was anticipating.  Ure is also calling for a big quake (based on 1/11 numbers, I think), but the asteroid makes more sense.

  Then (LINK) there’s this news, that they’ve found bodies of 10-foot tall people in Iraq, and there’s speculation about Nephilim or Giant tribes mentioned in the Bible.  It’s crazy stuff out there, all of it confirmation of scripture, and some of it just mind-blowing.

  On top of that, the Jewish sites are saying that we’re seeing the ‘ten plagues’, redux… that Hagel (the anti-Semite just made US Secretary of Defence) is ‘hail’ in Yiddish… and today a new species of flying frog was discovered. Weird, weird, stuff…!!  But kind of fun, too!
  

• Goals and aspirations.  I’m keeping up pretty well, truth be told!  We planted Basil and Thyme in my kitchen this week, Brian and I are shredding regularly, I’m reading and working on projects… it’s fun!  We’re having a glorious time, over here!
• Home projects are coming together, too.  We got Lydia’s room totally finished, the painting done in the Parlor (and most everything put back), although we’re re-papering this weekend, and finishing the boy’s room.  It’s almost done!!
  
• A penpal for Ethan.  Lydia and Isaac both had people to write to, but now Ethan has been making cards/projects, and has decided he wanted someone to write to, too.  So I messaged my friend Missy and asked her if her son might be willing to get some things from my Ethan.  And hence the beginning of something fun and educational!
• My new parenting technique.  The past week or so, Isaac (9) has gotten really sullen and cranky.  He has nothing positive to add to any conversation, he belittles and gripes… and Brian (recall he’s been testy cuz of the eye thing) has been snapping at him over it, and I was getting mad at both of them… that’s a LOT of negative vibes, between the three of us.  So Tuesday morning I told Isaac that I think he’s not getting enough LUVV.  So everytime he gets his grump on, I’m going to hug him.  So I’ve been running over for the better part of the week, wrapping him up in a big bear hug.  He’s so squirmy about it, but always comes out of it with a smile, so… I’d call it a success!  And of course then Aaron and Baby O come running for *their* hugs, and shocking, Ethan (7) has been running over to get in line, too!!  Besides, you know how easy it is to back off when boys hit that age.  He still needs his parental affection, whether he thinks so or not!

There’s a LOT more, but this is long, and… well, we’re just blessed, plain and simple.  I’m happy.  And we’re doing so good.  Oh, and I had to update the ‘challenges’ post I put up the other day, because I forgot one, and it’s SO GOOD, I couldn’t leave it off, so be sure to scroll down and read it, k?  Talk to you later!

Pending PanSTARRS

PReFaCe:  Several days ago, I posted a blog called ‘He Who will Pour Out’, and it was about the end of the Age of Pices.  Pices being the two fish (or two harbors, if you follow Biblical Astronomy based on the Genesis 49 prophecy… or two millinnea/denari of the Good Samaritan, if you prefer NT prophecy).  Basically, the article said that the Age of Pices ended at the autumnal equinox of 2012, and that the Age of Aquarius begins at the spring equinox of 2013.  Ironically, the Mayan ‘reset’ date is in the middle of the period of change… did anyone else catch that?

Regardless, it means that the spring feasts – when things kick off with Pesach – will be fun to watch.  Because it is very possible that this will begin the Wrath – the time of the Pouring out of wrath upon the earth.  Aquarius is ‘He that Poureth Out’… and that sounds like a Messianic reference to me, if ever there were a one.  So watching for things that might occur around the feasts is the next thing I need to do.  So I have to consider this article, that came out about a week ago:

http://earthsky.org/space/comet-panstarrs-2013

There is a lot of excitement about Comet ISON, which might become a very bright comet, visible across the globe, by the end of 2013. But, before that happens, a second comet might become visible to the eye alone around the time it is closest to the sun in March of 2013.

The Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii discovered this comet in June 2011. …Only the largest telescopes on Earth could glimpse Comet PANSTARRS when it was first discovered, but amateurs telescopes began to pick it up by May 2012. By October 2012, its surrounding coma was seen to be large and fine at an estimated 75,000 miles wide. In March 2013, by some estimates, this comet should get as bright as Venus, but do remember that comets are notoriously difficult to predict.

March 10, 2013. The comet passes closest to the sun – as close as our sun’s innermost planet, Mercury – at… about 28 million miles.  Comets are typically brightest and most active around the time they are closest to the sun when solar heating vaporizes ice and dust from the comet’s outer crust. Not only will the comet quickly brighten, but it should also develop the long classic comet dust tail.   The comet should be visible in the Northern Hemisphere evening sky low in the west after sunset. It will higher each night …as it moves from being in front of the constellation Pisces to being in front of the constellations Pegasus and Andromeda. At this time, the comet should have its bright dust tail, and be visible to the unaided eye. It should, at least, if it lives up to expectations.  …it’ll be an awesome photo opportunity!

By the way, Comet PANSTARRS is considered a non-periodic comet. It probably took millions of years to come from the great Oort comet cloud surrounding our solar system. Once it rounds the sun, experts say, its orbit will shorten to only 110,000 years. It is, for sure, a once-in-a-lifetime comet.

aNNa’S CoMMeNTaRy:  Comets in Biblical Astronomy are a ‘heads up’ sign.  Whenever there’s a comet, it means something is going to happen that we should be paying attention to.  This comet hits its brightest point three days before the New Moon that kicks off the spring feasts – three being a very biblically significant number.  The comet is to get as bright as Venus (the Bright Morning Star)… which is also a significant comparison.  And as if that wasn’t enough, it’s going to move right thru Pices as it hits its brightest point.  Sounds like a definite heads-up to me!  A signal that the ending of the Age of Pices has reached its completion?  Completely possible.  And note that this is NOT a reoccuring comet that passes us every so many years, like others.  This is a one-time event.

A Challenging Year

I swear, as if my resolution list wasn’t enough…!!

First, my New Year’s Challenge group decided to keep going with new goals over at MyFitnessPal… so we are now aiming for Valentine’s Day.  My new goal is 10 pounds lost.  As you know, I aimed for 15 pounds lost between Oct/New Year’s, and I managed 13 of them, so I am pretty happy.  We’ll see how I do losing weight by Valentines.  But regardless… I’m on a weight loss challenge.

  Then my friend J directed me to a ‘January Cure‘ – a thirty day challenge to get our homes more organized, more comfortable, and more beautiful.  Now, praytell who wouldn’t want THAT?!  And while my house is lovely, comfortable, and fairly organized, there are some… well, I have things that I can’t seem to get a fire under my hiney to take care of.  So I joined the Cure.  Day One was making a list of three things each room needs.  Day Two was setting up an ‘outbox’ – things to donate.  Which is hilarious, because I have an outbox for recycle, an outbox for paper, an outbox for compost, an outbox for donation… yeah.  Day Three was buying flowers, Day Four was going thru cleaning supplies and restocking/discarding.  Day Five was the Mega-Vaccuum… which I actually am doing today, because Day Five at my house was painting the parlor and boys room, hanging trim in the hall, parlor, and Lydia’s room, and putting the parlor back together.  Vaccuuming comes AFTER all that.  But still… I’m on a cleaning/organizing challenge.

Yesterday my friend Missy posted on her FB that she was doing a Reading Challenge at GoodReads.com.  Now you have to understand, she already wrangled me into getting an account there last year, so we could review things and share/recommend books.  I loved it, because I wanted a reading log, and it works perfectly.  But apparently the site also has a challenge app, and keeps track of where you are in your goals.  On my resolution list, I wrote that I want to read three books off my Kindle a month – that’s 36 books this year.  Why not use GoodReads to track me?  So… I’m in a book challenge.

Then one of my homesteading sites linked me to a site called 13Skills… where you choose thirteen things from the list, and learn 13 new skills in 2013.  Since I already want to learn to count in 10 languages, and a bunch of other things from my resolution list fit, I thought I’d just plug ‘em in and see what I can do.  So I’m also in a skills challenge.

In the same vein, I’ve ‘liked’ two preppers who are doing month-by-month prep challenges:  Backdoor did it all thru 2012, prepping people to handle a short-term situation, but for 2013 she’s going to do a more long-term plan, and I’m interested in seeing what she has to say.  And then there’s an LDS site (NoTe:  I do NOT endorse anything having to do with the LDS, EVER.) but from a prep standpoint, she’s got an amazing list that she is blogging thru, this year.  In case anyone is interested.

When I first signed up at Pinterest, I found these papers… ’10 Ways to Play In _____’ (insert month) I printed them all off, and put them in the back of my school notebook, and forgot about them.  But over the winter break (when I was putting a bunch of stuff away), I found them again.  So I pulled them out, hung one up, and put a number on every third day of January on my calendar in blue.  So we’re doing the Kid Activity challenge, too.

uPDaTe:  I forgot one!!  My friend Carrie (CHorsey) showed me this photo, and I totally fell in LOVE with the idea.  Basically, it’s a financial challenge… you put away the same number of dollars as is the week of the year.  So week one, you put away one dollar, week two, you put away two, etc.  By the end of the year, you have about $1300 saved up.  That is SO kewl… except I think I’m going to do it backwards, starting with week $52, so it doesn’t hurt so much.  And I’m going to do it twice for each child, so that I have $2700(ish) to give each child as a downpayment on their first car.  Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to help them, and I like the idea of giving them something to help them out.  So I’ve printed this, and am going to be working hard on it! (/update)

Is it me, or is that a LOT of challenges?  Part of me says that’s a lot to bite off and chew, but another part says that there are so many good apps and tools out there, if utilized properly, they could just make everything fall into place easier.   I guess time will tell!!

Story of the World — Chapter Twenty-One

It has been a while.  Well… not for us – we’ve been doing lessons, but it’s been a while since I posted any of our activities.  I’ll be playing catch-up for months, I swear it.

This week, we read about how a baby was supposed to be killed Snow White style, but (also Snow White style) the man ordered to do it didn’t have the heart and the baby grew up and overthrew the evil ruler, and became Cyrus the Great, who united the Medes and Persians into the… um, Medo-Persian empire.  Which… isn’t that about the time of Esther’s story?  That’s okay, we do that ever Purim, so we can just put that in, later.

The activity they recommended was making silver engraved plates.  So we did!

Brian and the younger boys collaberate on their plate.

Lydia and Ethan, hard at work on their creations.

Isaac is gettin’ it done, too!  I should add, there were no instructions on how to do this, so we just covered cardboard circles with aluminum foil, and used pencils to do our engraving!

And of course our final projects… in collage format:

As always, click to enlarge.
This was a fun project, by the way!!

Charcoal & Children
Lesson 12: Hard Lines; “The Bridge”

Attempting to go back to posting these on Sundays.  Bear with me, I’m all at odds with myself and the blog and pretty much everything in between.  It might take a bit yet before I gain back any semblance of organization!

This week in art we talked about hard lines and soft lines.  We learned that some people like edges, points, corners, and straight, ‘hard’ lines.  Brian, Lydia, and Isaac are like this.   ((So is Aaron, but that’s mostly because he’s five.))  Other people are less defined, like curves and flowing strokes, are ‘softer’… have some wispies to their art.  That’d be me and Ethan.  But we learned that everyone can learn BOTH kinds of strokes, if they really focus on what they’re doing.  And this week we focused on hard lines.  Here are a few examples I found on-line:

  
by Non Linear Arts                          by Matt Reynolds

Hard Lines are often bold (although they don’t have to be), are stark, and tend to show a blunter view of things.  And that’s good – some things are just… well, hard.  Rock.  Steel.  Timber.  They’re just hard, y’know?  So we did the exercises in the book, and then I picked a poem that had something hard in it – a bridge!

On the Bridge

Kate Greenaway, 1846-1901

If I could see
a little fish
That is what
I just now wish!
I want to see
his great round eyes
always open
in surprise.

I wish a water-rat
would glide
slowly to
the other side;
Or a dancing
spider sit
on the yellow
flags a bit.

I think I’ll get
some stones to throw,
and watch the pretty
circles show.
Or shall we sail
a flower boat,
and watch it slowly,
slowly float?

That’s nice –
because you never know
how far away
it means to go;
and when tomorrow comes,
you see,
it may be in
the great, wide sea.

You can see what I mean.  Some of us are better at ‘hard lines’ than others.  I was pretty irritated with my picture this time – my person is WAY too big for my bridge.  But everyone else really liked it, because there were so many options… pebble rings, floating flowers, a spider, a water-rat.  As long as they like it, I can deal with an out-of-proportion girl!

He Who will Pour Out

PReFaCe:  I’m going to post an article, and a few graphics that I have collected from around the ‘Net over the years – NOT the pictures from the article.  Then you’re going to say, “What does that have to do with ‘pouring out’, and isn’t that astrology, and evil, Anna?” and then I will put my commentary at the bottom and make everything clear to you.  K?  You can bear with me, or not.  You can read it and come to some understanding, or not.  Whatever you choose.  But Balaam has been put to use in showing me Truth, yet again.

http://earthsky.org/human-world/…aquarius-begin

… The Age of Aquarius is not part of astronomy. It’s an astrological age, which occurs because of a real motion of Earth known as the precession of the equinoxes… The cycle of precession lasts 25,800 years, and there are 12 constellations in the Zodiac.  So… the sun’s position at the time of the March, or vernal, equinox moves in front of a new Zodiac constellation. The Age of Aquarius begins when the March equinox point moves out of the constellation Pisces and into the constellation Aquarius. When will that be? There’s no definitive answer. Various interpretations give different answers to this often-asked question.

…First of all, we give the answer from an astronomical point of view. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) – which in the 20th century assumed the duty of officially naming and defining all things astronomical – created official constellation boundaries in 1930. From the perspective of astronomy, then, the beginning of the Age of Aquarius is based upon IAU constellation boundaries, which astrologers or New Age practitioners might or might not choose to use in their computations.

… The constellations as defined by the IAU are different sizes. Astrologers often like to divide the Zodiac into twelve equal sections.  … But even if you equalize the size of the signs of the Zodiac, you need to consider when the Age of Pisces started to be able to know when the Age of Aquarius begins. Apparently, there’s no firm consensus among astrologers as to when the Age of Pisces began, either. And thus there is no consensus as to when the Age of Aquarius begins. In The Book of World Horoscopes, Nicholas Campion suggests that approximated dates for entering the Age of Aquarius range from 1447 AD to 3597 AD.

…Some astrologers say the Age of Aquarius actually begins in 2012. That’s because they believe the star Regulus in the constellation Leo the Lion marked the ancient border between the constellations Leo and Cancer. This star moves to within 30^o of the September equinox point in 2012, meaning that Regulus leaves the sign Leo to enter the sign Virgo this year. Presuming equal-sized constellations in antiguity, that places the border of the constellations Pisces and Aquarius at 150^o west of Regulus, or at the March equinox point. By this reckoning, the Age of Aquarius starts in 2012.  But again, although there is firm reckoning by many for the beginning of this astrological age, there is no agreement.

…To reiterate, we at EarthSky look at the subject from an astronomical persepective. If any knowledgeable astrologers out there would like to show us other ways of determining the Age of Aquarius, please do! We welcome your comments.

aNNa’S Commentary:  The first thing I have to say is that… I don’t do astrology.  It’s a frick-up of what the 12 constellations really are, and that is the twelve tribes of Israel.  Turning what Yehovah set into the skies as a testimony to His chosen ones into something evil and mystical and ridiculous is offensive to me.  Having said, the zodiac stole it’s signs from the Bible – Genesis 49, respectively.  Zebulun is Pices… the haven of the sea and haven of the ships (two-fold prophecy).

Anyhow, when I read this article Thursday morning, my jaw just dropped.  Why?  Because we’ve been in the age of Pices for at least a thousand years.  My personal wager would be that we’ve been there since Messiah – because Pices are TWO (representing the two denari of the Good Samaritan, which are also representative of two millinea before our Great Samaritan returns), and what are pices?  FISH.  What is the symbol of Messianic followers?  Fish!  So what era have we been in?  It makes TOTAL sense.  More than that, though, fish are something that is harvested.  It has been the ‘harvest’ season, has it not?   This was a complete revelation to me.  The fact that they don’t know when the Age of Pices began?  That just tickles me to death.

Having said, what is the era to follow that?  The Age of Aquarius.  Which was made popular by a musical called ‘Hair’ that came out in 1967.  What happened in 1967 that would ironically be of interest from a Biblical standpoint?  Well, in 1967, Israel fought the Six-Day War, which expanded its borders and made it the nation it is, today.  HUGE event.  Ha’Satan was watching the Fig Tree be re-planted in Israel, and as a retaliatory measure, he mocked what is to come… and the world, in its euphorically blind stupor, missed it!

According to the EarthSky article, a lot of people believe the Age of Aquarius began in 2012 because they believe Regulus marked the ancient border between the constellations Leo and Cancer. Frankly, what we did in 1930 means NOTHING in terms of Yehovah’s time… it’s like going Gregorian.  Stupid and immediately wrong.  So I’m with the people who studied the ancient methodology… cuz if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. 

And according to them, in 2012 Regulus leaves the sign Leo to enter the sign Virgo (LINK).   I didn’t understand that, so I looked it up – that’s what the link is for.  Stars are apparently measured by where they appear from earth, and where they appear based on the galaxy… and while it doesn’t look different from our standpoint, it does from the galaxy’s… in other words, the WHOLE picture.  Modern science has dumbed it all down to just what we see, and threw out half of the data our ancient counterparts had/used.  There’s progress for ya.

Regardless, in Biblical Astronomy, that’s Regulus (King of the Universe) leaving Leo (House of Judah) for Virgo (The Chosen of Messiah).  Is that important to me?  Hooooh, yeah!  Now my question of course is… if Regulus left Leo during the FALL FEASTS of 2012, but the Age of Aquarius doesn’t begin until the SPRING FEASTS, does that mean we don’t actually have the complete changeover until Pesach?

Now the article says that no one is certain when we will enter the Age of Aquarius, but we do know that it will happen during the spring vernal equinox... which, ironically, is right about the same time as the spring feasts.  This year (2013) the equinox will be on March 20th. 

Here’s where I get all technical on you.  The March 2013 darkened moon is March 11th after sunset, which means that March 12th is the actual new moon sliver.  Pesach is fourteen days after that, so it would begin March 26/27… exactly seven days after the vernal equinox.  ((Seven being one of the Lord’s favorite numbers.))  I’ll remind you that Pesach is always the full moon… which is March 27th this year.  I should also add that the Jews are off again… they’ve got it on the 25th.  Figures. 

So if the 2012 people are right, and the Age of Pices – which the church calls ‘The Age of Grace’ ended with the Autumnal Equinox on September 22nd 2012 (seven days after Rosh Ha’Shana!), and the Age of Aquarius – what the church calls ‘The Time of Outpouring’ begins with the Spring Equinox on March 20th, 2013 (seven days before Pesach)… that’s fascinating to me!

And more than that… from September to March is half a year hour.  Is that pertinent?  I have no idea.  But there it is.  The possibility of an outpouring on the horizon!  Of the Spirit?  Of the Wrath?  I don’t know.  But I’m glad that I am beloved of the One who Pours Out.

The End of the SMS

Well, we’ve finally made it to the end.  It’s 2013, and the Six-Month Suggestion is over.  For good.

Fact of the matter is, while it’s driven me crazy for the better part of six years, it was reassuring – at the same time – to have had that predictable pattern to hold on to.  It was nice to know what to look for, what was coming next.  It was helpful to me to have had the Six-Month Suggestion.  It brought me closer to Him, and helped me to understand better.  Without it…

Yes, well, anyhow, it’s done.  And the truth is, it might’ve been done for a very long time, I don’t know.  I might’ve wishful hoped it had been in effect for more than just the Seal Judgments.  Maybe I didn’t… maybe it extended that long.  It certainly still fit for a time, so whether I extended it or He did (for me) is moot.  It’s over, now, anyhow.

Going back over it as a recap, I believe the ‘Trib’ (or Beginning of Sorrows, they’re interchangeable) began on January 1st, 2007.  It started with a seven year ‘covenant’ called the European Neighborhood Policy Initiative (ENPI).  This was an ‘extension’ of what the EU actually is.  The European Union being the uniting of 27 nations of Europe together.  The man at the helm (Javier Solana) was the EU High Representative, and he drafted the ENPI as a way to unite the nations of the Middle East to the EU.   If the Middle Eastern nation signed on to the ENPI, they would receive special benefits from Europe… trade, aid, etc.  Ironically, Israel was the first to sign up, but many others followed. 

The ENPI is the “covenant with many” found in the book of Daniel.  It’s term was from January 1, 2007 thru December 31, 2014… seven years.  Unfortunately, the EU is also the last empire in the book of Daniel – the one made of sand and clay that falls apart.  Which is why halfway through, the “covenant” would be broken.  And ironically, it was 2010 (halfway thru the ENPI) that Europe found itself unable to sustain the success and power that it had up until that point.  Solana was gone, the financial straits were horrible, and the WEU slipped away… just as scripture foretold.

But that doesn’t change the fact that the Seal Judgments were to be carried out for the half of the ‘covenant’ period… those three and a half years.  And here’s how it played out… each six-month period starting something (quietly, slowly) that would snowball bigger and bigger thru the end times:

The ENPI was given to me via Herb Peters, a prophet the Lord really used in wondrous ways until his death in 2007… ironically the start of the ENPI.  Apparently he did his job and brought the Truth about Daniel’s prophecies to light, and then his job was over.  His daughter has since taken over his ministry, and declared that her father’s position was wrong, and everything he was teaching is now defunct.  She… undid all of his work, and denied what the Lord set before her father. What’s left of his legacy is in shreds… I weep for what happened.  Because Herb was right.  It’s all been true – is still true.

And after the Lord directed me to Herb’s revelations, He gave me the SMS, which only confirmed everything.  I watched it play out over years.  The fiscal cliff you’re sick of hearing about?  It started with a little snowball called the economic crash of 10/8/2008.  The Syrian/Turkish/Iranian mess now in the news as they report 60,000 dead?  It’s fueled by the reconstitution of Russia which occurred in July of 2007 – before that, Russia was dormant, a previously active arms dealer, but hadn’t dabbled since the Cold War… two decades passed without a peep, and suddenly, reconstitution.  Like that, but with more… so much more.  It’s all stuff that has snowballed out of the Seal Judgments, one fulfillment every six months.

I had extended the six month pattern into Revelation chapter 7, as well… partly because I wasn’t told it was over, and partly because I didn’t know what else to do.  And besides, it fit:

It seemed to fit.  The Jewish rabbis in Israel announced in 2011 that it was the year that the Spirit, which flows out of Israel to the Goyim (other nations of the world) thru seventy windows, would be sealed off from the rest of the world.  Before which winds were stopped (LINK).  Now yes, it was more than six months to seal the tribes.  It was more like one tribe per month, or six tribes per six month period… but it still mostly fit.  As to the winds being released, it made sense, since they were only held for the duration of the sealing period.  Like I said, though… this was my conjecture.  Partly because I didn’t hear from Him about the SMS being over, and partly because I didn’t know what else to do but keep plugging events into the pattern.  I take full responsibility.

The problem comes in that Revelation 7: 9-end did NOT happen during the last six months of 2012.  We’re still here.  That was NOT supposed to happen.  And if the second half of Rev 7 doesn’t fit the SMS, I have to conclude that the first half wasn’t a part of it, really, either.  At this point, I have to ask if maybe the SMS wasn’t over at the halfway point – in 2010.  It makes more sense to me, in hindsight.  It sucks that hindsight is 20/20, and our current view just… isn’t.  Dog-gone irritating, but there you have it.

Then there was the realization that Rev 8:1 was supposed to be part of the previous chapter.  (LINK) I still don’t know what that means, and it drives me absolutely crazy.  If any of you are smarter than me and can figure it out, I’m WIDE open to suggestions, because I don’t get it.  I just don’t.  But there it is, and I guess I’m waiting.  Still.  But this time, I don’t have a pattern.  I don’t have ANYTHING.  And if you want to know the truth, I don’t handle that well.  Not after He’s given me so much to watch, so much order and insight, before.  Having fog roll in where once the view was clear?  I’m not so good with that.  It’s got me in a bit of a funk, truth be told.

But that doesn’t change the facts.  We have hit 2013.  And that means that the SMS is definitely over, regardless.  You won’t be hearing about it ever again from me… and that probably makes a ton of you VERY happy.  But… it leaves me unsettled.  Because I had expected a fall/winter 2012 rapture.  I hadn’t planned to be here now, as I said.  That the rapture didn’t happen in 2012 doesn’t mean I don’t believe in a rapture – quite the contrary – the next event in John the Revelator’s line up IS the multitude of all tribes/nations at the Throne.  It’s next.  But the WHEN of it is completely beyond me.  I’m stuck back at simply watching feasts, alignments, eclipses, and news headlines… wondering about that bloody ‘span of about a half an hour’, hoping the next event will be His timing.  That’s the bad news.

The good news?  I know what’s next.  Regardless of when, I know what happens next.  And I can have hope in that.  Rest in faith.  And pray for Him to give me the knowledge I need in His time.  The Six-Month Suggestion is done… and now?  Anything is possible.

Resolute?

Well, this is weird.  I haven’t actually sat down and written a blog in weeks, literally.  Everything has been lined up and pre-formatted and ready to go (or just picture-y) for a long time, and here I am, needing to write, and it feels foreign.  So crazy!

It’s… the beginning of a new Gregorian year.  Everyone around me is starting new things, mostly challenges.  I am, too, truth be told.  My friend ‘J’ hooked me up to a home challenge, I’m on a new weight-loss challenge (10lbs by V-day!), and with my list yesterday?  Yeah, we have some lofty goals going.  A LOT to do.

I have so many plans, at this point.  So much to do.  Because, see, I honestly didn’t expect to be here… and now that I am, I have to move ahead for at LEAST another three months.  ((Pesach is the end of March.))  This means I have to decide on and put in camping reservations, schedule our two big trips this year (we’re thinking Mackinaw Island, since I’ve never been, and Chicago, since the kids have never left the state).  I’ve got home projects and crafting projects and art projects and a baking challenge… I found a show that I want to audition for, and am looking into getting the kids in dance, again…

And I have a BUNCH of things to implement for school.  Free read is being re-vamped, I have “10 Things to Do” monthly sheets to add in… I found a free Kindle book called “52 weeks of French”… I think we’re going to add that in, too.

Thing is, they ALL feel like they’re good ideas, and at the same time, the ALL feel like ‘filler’ for the time.  It’s just stuff to do.  Yes, it’s growth and progress and accomplishment and experience, but… it also feels like filler. 

Worse, I feel a strange urge to pull inward.  Close the blog, remove all the extra stuff, seal up the sharing part of my life, and hole up.  I don’t know why, but it feels a little… desperate.  I know that feeling… it’s a feeling that I’ve had before, and it’s… well, it’s strong.  Compelling.  Like I have to start thinking differently, like it’s time to make a large change, like I need to be wary… cautious.  I don’t know what to do… because the challenges, classes, auditions, the myriads of stuff… it requires putting myself out there.  And while it sounds good, I feel quite the contrary about it.  I’m torn.  And anxious.  And feeling a little bit reticent.

Or is it just me, being me? 
Probably that… I *am* weird, after all.