This scripture has been bombarding my brain because I feel I am full to the top–and overflowing.

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If I never publish another blog message; if I never write another story, I want my final words to be those of praise!! For decades, I have marveled that God, my Heavenly Father, “poured” so many  God-loving ancestors into one unworthy woman. Not to say “they” aren’t “out there” but I have never encountered anyone with ancestors who fall into their lap. Today, I am in tears (of joy) because of remarkable new discoveries.

I’m blessed with a “cousin” who sends obituaries (via email). Yesterday, I was documenting “Wrightsman”… and it led to “Brubaker” which led to “Gibbel.” That “Gibbel” has a “Frantz” grandmother. I am amazed!! The families are so entwined, I never find a stopping point. And the  Gibbel/Brubaker couple was neighbors of my grandparents, in LaVerne, California. My genealogy research began in LaVerne. Time spent in the library (yes) but weekends were spent walking LaVerne Evergreen Cemetery. I “read” more than 3,000 tombstones and documented them (in 1989) in a “luggable computer.” I self-published “LaVerne Evergreen Cemetery Tombstone Inscriptions” and the Brubaker/Gibbel couple is listed on page 134.

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Postscript 11:40 PM, 18 Sep 2020 : When I began to document information for the sister, I discovered another “cousin connection.”

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Mistakes like this are “normal” and not the exception.

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On September 15th, I was wide awake in the middle of the night due to pain from edema in my legs and ankles. I prepared a couple of blog messages while watching several programs on TBN. One program was another “wake-up call.” I have had a product named Ancient Nutrition Multi-Collagen Protein in my cupboard for many months. I’ve neglected to “take it.” Watching the broadcast reminded me of my need for “multi-collagen protein.” I’ve complained recently of my wrinkled, sagging-skin, ugly face. So I challenged myself to daily use of the product and to document the “before” and “after” appearance. Honestly, the September 15th pictures do not show the “aging” features that I despise.

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I didn’t plan to publish this… until the”after” pictures. The other day, a blog message titled “Naked truth.” Today: “Ugly truth.” I plan to spend less time “climbing the family tree” and more time riding the “three-wheeler,” and more time working (exercising) in the yard. (No more tortilla chips.)

My legs are hurting so much I felt compelled to get out of bed and Google “edema.” Below is a “screen capture” of one answer to my “why” question. I “doctored” the message so you (the reader) get a laugh. ~~~ A week ago, a neighbor and I went grocery shopping and I purchased (among other things) two enormous bags of tortilla chips. I am constantly snacking on them while spending hours sitting at the computer.

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FYI: This message published prior to three in the morning!! Yes, I was sitting at the computer. No, I wasn’t eating tortilla chips.

Here is the link to an interview with the author of The Harbinger II, Jonathan Cahn.

(Click “skip the ad.”)

Here is his earlier book titled The Paradime. I was spellbound as I listened to (and watched) Jonathan Cahn as he was interviewed by Erick Stakelbeck on the Praise program on TBN. I’ve searched for the Paradime video (planning to share…) but could not find it on the TBN website (but I’ll keep searching).

Please watch the video and consider reading the two books I’ve referenced.

From a computer chair to a bicycle seat. Remember a chewing gum commercial “Double the pleasure, double the fun” ? Now we have two “three-wheeler” bicycles. It’s 10:30 and I’ve had very little sleep. But I’ve quickly forgotten the pain in my legs!!

Hoping and praying for pleasant cooler temperatures. ~~~ Furthermore: Praying for fire-ravaged California, Oregon, and Washington.  Wishing “Sally” never visited the Gulf Coast. Sympathizing with victims of Hurricane Laura. ~~~ 2020 has been a terrible year!!

Remember I mentioned working with an obituary? This researcher (yours truly) documented the individuals you see here, and the siblings, and spouse and children of siblings. Since last night when I shared the image indicating 39,000, I’ve added seventy-eight more… and many of the families were already in my Ancestry.com database.

Last night (about 9:00 PM), I had an uncanny experience. Earlier, “Cousin” sent another obituary and I was adding the family to my database. Obituaries are a gold mine of information and they allow me to connect with families (quite possibly) in my database. Documentation was very ordinary: Name, dates, spouse, children, “sources,” etc., etc. Suddenly the name “Hiva” came to mind. (“Hiv-a” like live-a.) Quite possibly, it has been more than thirty years since I thought of that name. I was visiting the Old German Baptist Brethren community for the first time and it was my introduction to my Frantz-family ancestry. I was invited to go to the funeral of “a member.”

While documenting family in my Ancestry.com database, I reminisced about that trip to Modesto, California, from my home in Lancaster, California. Yes, I “thought about” Hiva and the funeral. Where did those thoughts come from?  Not ten minutes later, “Hiva” appeared in my database. I didn’t remember her last name, I just remembered her odd given name. She was the sister of a person I was entering into my Ancestry.com database.

I deem this “an uncanny experience”  because my mind was working faster than my fingers. Does that make sense? My brain already knew I was working with a particular surname and would make the observation. “My mind was working faster than my fingers.”

God, the Creator of our Universe, gave us a remarkable brain. Computers constantly need to be replaced with a more sophisticated model. Our brain lasts a lifetime.