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Sunday, January 11, 2026

 Yesterday we celebrated the second birthday of my grandchild. I do not post anything, especially photos, of my grandchild on social media or the Internet. Her mother does, but I will not do that. 

Things I'm thinking about today. 

Will there be another revolution in Iran? I hope so, except that is easy for me to say. Revolution means people die and there is a risk factor--very large--about who will take over. I definitely would not want Donald Trump to! The Iranian people are suffering from oppression and from economic default. 

My prayer is that they regain their human rights, first, then their resource-rich land can be used properly for their benefit, and third, the gospel can flourish there. I want the same for Turkey, which is nowhere in the position of Iran but could use new leadership. The Turkish people did not strike me as happy, but somewhat scared, definitely unfulfilled. 

From sources I read, the Ayatollah has a ticket to ride, probably to Moscow, when things finally fall. I'm glad Zelensky did not take that path. "I oppress people for forty years and fly the coup." Got to love it. 

Second, this ICE agent situation. It seems that everyone has an opinion and it is pre-determined. Pro-Trump folks and some non-Trump conservatives see Ms. Goode's actions as either 1. politically motivated, 2. bad judgment, or 3. wrong place at the wrong time. That last one makes the most sense to me. Seriously, why was she even there? I do not understand the mentality of protesters in that kind of situation. She could stand on the side of the road with a sign--that is warranted; I have done that myself for a different cause. .But sitting in the way of traffic in a way that looks like she wants to egg the ICE agents on?  

On the other side, she is a martyr gunned down by ICE agents. And really, I partly see that. Their actions seemed hasty, at least, and therefore deadly. We assume these (mostly) men have been well trained and even have the right to deal with protesters when their job is to bring undocumented aliens into custody. That wasn't even close to what was going on here. I can't say I have a great deal of faith in these "law enforcement" officers. 

Third, will the "success" of Maduro's arrest lead to more such actions, or will dictators get the hint and bow out?

Then there's Philip Yancey, but I've already written on that. The "grant him grace, he who is without sin case the first stone crowd" has been called to task pretty strongly on social media, mostly because "eight years is not one bad decision." I can't even fathom how he could have kept that kind of secret that long. 

For me, I watched a very good video on Ozempic last night that woke me up to my sugar problem and that woke me up to a deeply embedded sin I will just call "self-justification" as a pattern and way of being and that touches many areas of my life. The awakening called me to repentance this morning. I did not attend church due to fatigue. 

Also, yesterday I participated in an authors' event in a nearby town. It was pleasant but a lot of work to sell one book, and I had to work for that sell. I have not found the secret sauce to selling books. Yet I write. I will be seeing my eleventh novel published, which mean six of eleven will NOT be self-published. But this one needs work; it's not ready. Are they ever?

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