MY LABOR DAY EXPIERENCE 2026

I had an experience this past Labor Day that I want to address. My husband and I drove over to Roseberg to visit family. Along the way we were stopped in the road work being done on 199. There was a lot of traffic, and so we were pretty far back in the line, but we could see the light ahead and there was a lot of traffic behind us.

In the back seat our 2-year-old granddaughter became car sick and began to throw up. I jumped and got her out of the truck, while my husband put the truck in park and came around to help me. As he took over helping her while she was getting sick, I jumped in the truck and began looking for something to clean up the mess.

While I was in the truck the light ahead turned green and IMMEDIATELY the cars behind us began honking at us and yelling at us to move our @@@XXX truck. Now mind you the traffic ahead of us had not moved enough for us to move at that point.

I jumped out of the truck and took over caring for our granddaughter while my husband jumped in the truck and when he could, he moved over to the side of the road. The whole time the cars are honking, and people are cussing at us.

When the traffic started passing past us, this one very nice lady stopped to roll down her window and hand me a package of wipes. She was very nice and said she hoped it would help.

As I was reaching her window to grab the wipes, the lady in the car behind started revving her engine and acting like she was going to ram her car. She was screaming and flipping her off and cussing her to move her @@@XXX car! I quickly said thank you and she drove away.

During this whole incident, the people were honking their horns, and cussing, and yelling and shaking their fists as us when they drove by. As we desperately tried to clean our 2 year old on the side of the road. Which we were able to do by the way, we had a change of clothes in her diaper bag.

As I was watching the cars drive by and the people yelling, cussing, and shaking their fists at us I was heartbroken. What kind of society have we become? What happened to the compassion for our fellow citizens? What happened to our empathy for what someone else is going through? The bible tells us in the last days lawlessness will abound and the love of many will grow cold. That is found in Matthew 24:12.

What I experienced on Labor Day was just a small taste of what this world is going to be like. The end days are upon us, and they will get worse. People’s hearts will become full of evil. Let’s all begin to pray for each other, pray for our enemies, pray for people who do not know the love of God, pray for our nation.

Reflecting on Life

What about being sick causes you to look back over your life? As you may be aware I was pretty sick the last couple of weeks. I ended up in the hospital for a few days and am just now getting my life back.

Being sick is not something I like to experience. I am not the person who likes to stop or slow down. I like to be constantly on the move. But getting the flu caused me to slow down first and second to stop.

As I was getting well, I was thinking about my life. All the things I had planned to accomplish. All the things I have accomplished. All the things that I still might be able to accomplish. I have goals within goals on top of goals. Goals, goals, goals…

But what will be left after we are gone? Once we pass on to our eternal life, what will remain? Of all the things we have done or will do, what will stand the test of time? What is really worth our time here on earth? One hundred years from now will anyone even know who I was? I doubt it.

So, what is important enough for us to spend time on? What is it that we should stive for? While goals are great and can move us along the road of life. The most important thing according to the Word of God is love. To love people. John 15:12 says “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.”

The most important thing to the Lord is to love each other. Incorporated in that love is to pray for each other. To support each other. To be kind to each other. To be truthful with each other. To check in on each other.

Let’s stop beating each other up with our words. Let’s start acting like we love each other. Let’s start acting like we like each other. Let’s start showing each other kindness and mercy.

One hundred years from now our names may never be spoken, we may not be remembered even by our family. So, let’s focus on what is important. Let us all learn to love each other. Lord help, us all learn to love each other the way you Love us.

PAY ATTENTION TO THE LITTLE THINGS

text Pay attention . Man wearing white blank t-shirt

About thirty-two years ago I was in a bad place emotionally and mentally. I was hooked on drugs, I was in a bad relationship, I was unhappy. My mom had been trying to help me, but I was in the grip of a lifestyle I could not get out of. I was literally in bondage to the very thing I hated.

My mom had given me a bible and asked me to read it. I was desperate, I read it. I did not understand it, but I read it. During this time she would come to my house and bring me into my bathroom to look at myself in the mirror. She wanted me to start to like myself. She wanted me to tell myself that I was loved by myself. At that time I could not even look at myself in the mirror. Telling myself I was worthy of love was out of the question. I did not even like myself, I certainly did not love myself.

That little beginning sparked a change in me that caused me to cry out to a god I new nothing about. In fact I did not really know there was a one true God. My beliefs were twisted and infused with a few different religions so that I had really created my own belief system. But, like I said, I was desperate.

One morning while at my then boyfriend’s mom’s house, I picked up the Triplicate newspaper. I was absentmindedly scanning through the pages reading the classified section. I saw an advertisement for training to become a real estate agent. The small thought came to my mind to give it a try.

If any of you knew me back then you would know that there should have been no possible way for me to pull that off. I would have to do schooling, I would have to pass tests, Someone would have to believe in me. I certainly did not believe in myself.

Fast forward to today, I did pass that real estate test. My mom along with my first broker did believe in me. But above all, that small start with the newspaper, the mirror and my moms bible allowed something to shift inside of me so that years later I could accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

I heard a message at church one time with the title of “Don’t despise the small things”. That is my prayer for all of you. Pay attention to the little things in your life. It could be the Lord leading you someplace you could never imagine going.