I heard the song Prayers for this World by Pentatonix and started crying while I was driving this week.  I thought many of you, like me, have been carrying around heavy hearts with all that has happened in the past few years.  (I invite you to listen to the link before you continue reading – sorry if it has commercials).

I sat and made a list of things I pray for daily. After writing them down, it dawned on me that every one of the burdens that are affecting humanity are encapsulated in the Seven Deadly Sins. 

Now, I’m no saint, FAR from it, but many intelligent adults can see what is happening in the world and feel completely helpless to stop it. 

Can you relate any of these “seven sins” to current events, i.e.  sexually explicit story hours, trying to eliminate puberty from our youth, the health crisis of obesity, the lack of desire to work, re-igniting of race wars, comparing our lives on social media, and a “one world order”?

1. Lust = is a strong passion or longing, especially for sexual desires.
2. Gluttony = is excessive and ongoing eating of food or drink.
3. Greed = is an excessive pursuit of material goods.
4. Sloth = is excessive laziness or the failure to act and utilize one’s talents.
5. Wrath = is a strong anger and hate towards another person.
6. Envy = is the intense desire to have an item that someone else possesses.
7. Pride = is an excessive view of oneself without regard for others.

The article that explained these sins also listed out the virtues that can cure them:

1. Chastity or self-control = cures lust by controlling passion and leveraging that energy for the good of others.
2. Temperance = cures gluttony by implanting the desire to be healthy, therefore making one fit to serve others.
3. Charity or love = cures greed by putting the desire to help others above storing up treasure for [oneself].
4. Diligence or Zeal = cures slothfulness by placing the best interest of others above the life of ease and relaxation.
5. Patience = cures wrath by taking time to understand the needs and desires of others before acting or speaking.
6. Kindness = cures envy by placing the desire to help others above the need to supersede them.
7. Humility = cures pride by removing one’s ego and boastfulness, therefore allowing the attitude of service.

A list of sins was given to us a gazillion years ago by Pope Gregory I, around 600 AD. Did we forget them, or did we choose to ignore them?

We were also given the cure for the sins a gazillion years ago, but do we have the strength to carry them out now?

Where are the teachers to teach us how to avoid or cure these sins?  Are they us? Are we supposed to be the teachers, or are we depending on some other human to do it for us?  How’d that work out?

Perhaps, just perhaps, it’s the Baby, born in a manger…

The One who is fresh and new.

The One who can remind us how heavy the burden of sin can be.

Here is a list of things I pray for all the time:

(One of the last prayers is that my list will be eliminated someday.)

I Pray for the children – who have their innocence ripped from them by being trafficked, abused, and tortured.

I Pray for ALL trafficked humans who cross our border and throughout the world.

I Pray for the homeless created by greed.

I Pray corrupt governments will be replaced with individuals who listen to the people who elected them and pay their wages.

I Pray for the deaths caused by coerced medical treatments and doctors who have closed their eyes to it.

I Pray for the end of senseless wars.

I Pray for the softening of hearts regarding race, religion, and wealth. That people will listen to their hearts and not how they are told to think.

I Pray we stop indoctrinating our children through schools and social media.

I Pray for our economy and the poorest of us who are forgotten.

I Pray that respect, honor, and responsibility will once again be taught to children.

I Pray that lying will become the exception, not the rule.

I Pray for all those affected by illegal immigration.

I Pray that companies that still produce products with life-threatening ingredients have an awakening of conscience.

I Pray for all the businesses who are stolen from, by groups of greedy humans. That law and order will be restored by teaching consequences.

And lastly…I Pray people look to God and less to themselves and the seven deadly sins for answers.

Grateful for you and a time to reflect.

Merry Christmas from my family to yours,

Sheree

Been thinking about sharing my very own Declaration of Independence. Thought today would be a good day to put it in my blog!

I will believe, as I have always believed, that you can be or do what you want, just don’t shove it down my throat.

I will not be placing undying trust in the CDC, FDA, or medical professionals as I once did.  I will question and research.  I will listen to doctors that are silenced by the media.  They won my respect as most of what they were silenced for, was the truth, regarding covid and its treatment.

I will wait patiently for an apology from the CDC and medical professionals on why they prohibited known cures, like ivermectin and hydroxy, while people were dying by the thousands in hospitals.  They can add a P.S. to that apology as to how their vax and boosters didn’t actually work and are causing quite a spike in deaths now. 

Create a disease to treat a disease?

I will not be calling anyone by pronouns.

I will continue to support the protection of women-only sports, bathrooms, and shower areas.  Whatever happened to the women of the 60’s who worked so hard for “biological” woman’s rights?  

I can’t believe I even have to say, “protect women-only spaces.”

I do not support the chemical and physical castration of children.   When these tiny humans are adults, let them do what they want.  Until that time, treat them and their parents with counseling for this social contagion – gender dysphoria – that has attacked our youth. 

A town close to me is raising the age to buy tobacco products to 21 and you need to be 18 to get a tattoo, yet you can take puberty blockers at the age of 8 – make this make sense.

Follow the group — Gays Against Groomers — their messages are mainly posted on Instagram. They actually do make sense regarding this subject.

I will not support the fact that there are more than two genders – XX and XY. Nope, you can’t make me….

I will support the banning of books from school libraries that describe explicit sex acts between children, either same sex or different.  I’m sorry, I would not want my child, either straight or gay, reading those books.  The minds of children are NOT ready for some things, let them be children.  

And so seated next to my father in the train compartment, I suddenly asked, “Father, what is sexsin?”
He turned to look at me, as he always did when answering a question, but to my surprise he said nothing. At last he stood up, lifted his traveling case off the floor and set it on the floor.
“Will you carry it off the train, Corrie?” he said.
I stood up and tugged at it. It was crammed with the watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning.
“It’s too heavy,” I said.
“Yes,” he said, “and it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. It’s the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger, you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you.” The Hiding Place – Corrie Ten Boom

I still support coming into the country legally, as many, many people have done.  (Oh, and please don’t speak to me about vaccinations, any vaccinations.  Those who enter the country illegally, do not need to be vaccinated, correct?)

I will support the groups that end child trafficking and will support everything to do with ending pedophilia in this society, which includes releasing the Epstein client list. Links are below:

The Tim Tebow Foundation

Operation Underground Railroad

I will continue to believe in God and the ten simple rules he handed down.  It appears many have forgotten them or may have chosen not to teach them to their children.

I will continue to support putting criminals in jail – sorry not sorry.  Just as we should raise our children, there are consequences for your actions.  And for cities who have defunded their police departments, or vote for no-bond laws, is this the outcome you wanted?

I will continue to believe that our voting system should be one vote, per person, in person with an ID on the day of the election.  It seems that France went back to this practice, as well as other developed countries, because of the problems with fraud.

I will not forget how the unvaccinated were treated and humiliated.  This is burned into my heart forever as I am one of them.

I will continue to question the whole “green” movement.  If you’re not going to figure out plastic recycling, then don’t shove an electric car down my throat.  Please world, listen to scientists on both sides of the climate issue or any issue.  

You’ll find it very informative and surprising.

I will not support the next “groupthink” issue, i.e. BLM, Antifa, Climate Change and now the Trans movement, until you show me that any new movement is actually helping society versus destroying it. If you can do that, then I’ll hop on board.

I will continue to question local and federal governments that enable the addiction or mental illness of citizens which continues to add to the homeless problem. Street People of LA document life on the streets of LA that you will not see on the news.

I will not stop questioning our government as to why billions are sent overseas without an accounting of the distribution, but I need to account for things I might sell at a Farmers Market.

I will continue to support the 1^st Amendment even though I might not like what you say or even if you’re making it up.  I mean we’ve been listening to MSM for years. What percentage of what they say is actually true?

I will continue to believe that there is a need for term limits for our elected officials. The government has lost ALL credibility with me. You campaign on what you believe we want to hear and do whatever the hell you want, when elected. We had no say on shutting down our pipelines, allowing nearly 3,000,000 illegals to cross the border, and sending almost $81,000,000,000 to Ukraine. Dear government, that $81 Billion was not yours to send, it was ours. We didn’t get to vote on that…

I will not thank the government that a gallon of $6.00 gas has dropped $.20 when the same gallon of gas, four years ago, was $2.60 a gallon.

I will believe in my heart that most people are good.  I don’t care what color you are, what sex you are, where you’re from, what religion you practice or what political party you support.  If you can have an open discussion of your beliefs without punching someone in the face, I’m here for the talk.

I will not support 15-minute cities and will continue to believe that fossil fuels and nuclear power can be used wisely. Where do all the electric batteries go when they stop working? What goes into making those batteries in the first place? Just some of the things I think about…

I will continue to believe that the United States is the last bastion of freedom, because capitalism has taken more people out of poverty than socialism – it’s a fact. People need to take pride in what they’ve worked hard for and not have the government spoon feed them anymore.

I do not and will never support ESG (Environmental, Social and Government) scoring. Good example, Black Water Series, Season 3, Episode 1 – Nosedive – Netflix.

I will fly the American flag, daily, with pride and honor.  My family and I have been blessed to live in a country where many of my family served to protect it. 

I will not forget what a privilege it is to live in a country where the citizens will fight to keep the freedoms that were given to them, by God, and supported by the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights for the past 247 years.

Happy Birthday America!

Grateful for you and Freedom,

Sheree

This is Iyabo. She was bought from a beautiful woman at a market in 1996 when we lived in Kokomo Indiana.

I loved her from the beginning.  I loved her dress, her jewelry and I loved the woman who sold her to me.  The woman was from Africa and explained, in a beautiful accent, how she was sharing a little piece of her culture through Iyabo.  Being an artist, I appreciated the craftsmanship and the attention to detail which brought her to life.

Iyabo has been on and off my shelves for almost 26 years.  She is still a beautiful piece of art, and she still makes me smile.

Fast forward to today…

I was unpacking some of my treasures and I came upon my beloved Iyabo.  How things have changed since she became a part of my life.  I needed to tell her… everything.

I told her, today, it might be considered cultural appropriation if I put her on my shelves. 

She laughed.

I described how white and black humans have been divided – again. We’re told to no longer judge a person on their character or integrity but by skin color, beliefs, where they live, and what they do for a living.

She furrowed her brows.

I warned her that any discussions of differing opinions on subjects, such as these, were basically forbidden.  Respect and civil discourse were a thing of the past.

She became sad.

I explained that the freedoms her designer came to America to find, are starting to crumble.  Sadly, while many of us stand on the sidelines and watch it happen.

She was shocked.

Not to be a complete downer to this little work of art, there was some discussion how I truly believe, people just want to be loved, heard, hugged and to be free.  They want to take pride in their jobs (as her designer had), have food to eat, live without fear of crime and believe in what people say to them.  People want the truth, which is hard to share at times, rather than the lies which seem to come so easily to so many.

She whole-heartedly agreed.

I also described “social media” to her, which was not around when she was created.  “Although humans think they are truly advanced,” I shared “we are not ready for this type of communication. We share “our” truths and believe it should and must be “everyone’s” truth.  We’ve forgotten that “the” truth is truth…”

She understood.

I finished up our talk and placed her in a perfect place on the shelf so I can smile at her daily.  She’ll remind me of the beautiful intentions, the talent, and the reasons her designer came to this country. 

She’ll tell me, often, to ignore what’s being published or posted and continue to believe as I have always believed, that people are basically good. 

Her cute little smirk will impress upon me how character and integrity need to be brought back into our everyday lives and taught ‘by example’ to younger generations.

“Character is one’s moral and ethical code, and integrity means that one lives according to that code”

My wish is that you have an Iyabo come into your life to keep you centered and grateful.

Grateful for you,

Sheree

P. S. Thank you E. Robbin for being at that market and bringing Iyabo into my life.