Smite Your Enemies?

 

Do you have enemies? People who lie about you? Want to rid the world of you?

Most of us do or have had foes at some time in our lives.

I'm thinking of King David. He had plenty.

Samuel anointed the young shepherd boy, David, to be the future king of Israel. With this annointing, folks began to hate David. 

God planned for David to defend Israel, but David needed to learn a few military skills first.

David grew in faith and confidence as a youngster taking care of the sheep. The little lambs faced adversaries like bears and lions, but David killed these predators. He also slew Goliath, the enemy of the Israelites.

After he assumed the kingship, David faced opposition from opponents, both foreign and local. Who in leadership doesn't? From President George Washington to the present one, our presidents have faced their share of foes. And these leaders found it tough. David discovered the difficulies of hostilities, too.

I've been teaching the Psalms in my Bible Study. David wrote the majority of these songs, and he sings, prays, and talks to the Lord about his foes in the Psalms. Sometimes he wants to be delivered or protected from these evil people, and sometimes he wishes God would smite them.

How about you? How do you feel about people who oppose you?

I spoke about it last Sunday on YouTube. I tell about a few unkind people who were my enemies for a short time. 

Gay on YouTube

Have you read any of my books lately? If not, grab one and start reading. 

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Squirrel Stew

 

Unable to find a chicken dish I ate years ago; I looked through an old cookbook. I mean really old. This tome existed in the 60’s, but recipes dated before that era.

I found instructions for “Squirrel Stew.”  Yep, you read that correctly. Squirrel, as in the backyard variety. I doubt city people in the 60’s created this questionable cuisine, but I know people in the early 1900’s did.

In fact, people ate this common source of protein during the Great Depression.

My dad’s siblings ate it regularly. As a sergeant in the USA Army, he earned medals as a sharpshooter and netted a reputation for his marksmanship. He may have gained this skill by providing food for the family table.

His mom, my grandmother, was an accomplished cook and could make anything taste gourmet.

As a wee child, I recall eating a piece of fried squirrel she had prepared. My dad enjoyed it, but then he liked dark, fatty, meat.

The housewives of yesteryear possessed numerous abilities with food preparation. Can you imagine dressing a squirrel to fry, bake or roast?

Yuk. Me either.

I didn’t see my grandmother prepare the delicacy, for which I’m grateful.

I prefer selecting protein in a shrink-wrapped package at the grocery store. I don’t find squirrel as an option there, and I hope I never need it as a future staple. However, squirrels abound in plentiful supply in our backyard.

I suppose, if need be, my hubby could provide a dressed squirrel, and I would fry it, but if I had to dress the thing, we’d go hungry.

Would you believe squirrel protein is experiencing a comeback?  

Yep!

Some among us (about 1.8 million Americans according to the Internet) enjoy squirrel. They appreciate the taste and nutritional benefit of this “new” food. A few compare it to the taste of rabbit.

Squirel Popular Today

How many of you eat rabbits these days? Do you want to try it or squirrel? If you don’t have squirrel, you can substitute rabbit in the following recipe.

Here’s a way people cooked it years ago. I’m sure today’s measurements are updated. This recipe calls for quarts, but a lot of people are canning foods again, so quarts may be in their pantry.

Squirrel Stew

Ingredients

3 plump dressed squirrels

Seasoned flour

Salt and pepper

6 onions sliced thin

3 cups of water

6 tomatoes, peeled and diced

3 red peppers, seeded and chopped

Pinch of thyme

1 qt of lima beans

Kernels from 6 ears of corn

1 qt of okra

1 Tbsp chopped parsley

Butter

Directions

Cut meat into serving pieces. Dip into flour and seasonings. Brown in fat with onions. Transfer to a casserole dish. Add water, tomatoes, peppers, and thyme. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. Add lima beans, corn, okra, and parsley. Cook until tender. If desired, thicken with flour and butter kneaded to a paste.

If you try this, let me know how you like it.

While it simmers on the stove, read one of my books.

Gay's Author Page

Santa Clause Enjoys Texas Beaches

It's hot down here in Texas!

Many of my friends are headed to beaches. Not me, I'm not a sand loving gal, but it looks as though Santa is! He's enjoying a vacation away from the North Pole! 

He can take off the fur-trimmed suit in Texas, in fact, it looks like he took off almost everything, even his hat! However, he's wise. He's wearing sunglasses and sitting under an umbrella. The Texas sun is brutal.

He must be in Galveston. We have palm trees there, but the water is seldom that blue. Or maybe he's at South Padre Island, it is a glorious beach, if you like beaches, that is.

He should be holding my book, Sarah and a Texas Christmas. He'd laugh his head off. Sarah is a bumbling angel, and she takes everthing literally. So, language is difficult for her. Talk about chaos!

It's six months and a few days before Christmas, but why wait? Enjoy a Christmas tale now! It's on sale!

Sarah and a Texas Christmas

Happy Birthday!

 

July 4, 2025.

Today is America’s birthday. She is 249 years old.

Today is my birthday, too, but I’m not telling you my age or weight.

After waking this morning, I stumbled into my study with a cup of coffee and picked up my Bible. I sat in my comfy chair, placed the Good Book on my knees, gazed at it, and spoke aloud. “Okay, Lord, it’s my birthday. What Scripture do You have for me today?”

I opened His Word to this Psalm.

Psalm 144:4 reads, "Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow."

I glanced upward and said, “Really, Lord?” And then I guffawed. I think He did too. God showed me His sense of humor. I felt a bit depressed as my birthday approached. As I grow older, I know my time on Earth grows briefer, so what did He do? He gave me a Scripture that says life is short.

 

I love it when He does things like that!  He is real, and He talks to us in mysterious ways. Do you hear from Him? If not, draw close to Him, and He will become more existent to you.

People may think I’m sacrilegious with this post. We once had a church member who thought it sinful to laugh. She thought God wanted us to act, think, and talk in a serious manner all the time.

God gave me a sharp sense of humor, and I’m grateful for it. He made man (and woman) after His image, and added jocularity is in the mix. Why? Because He can chuckle too. In His creation, He created outstanding beauty, but He included funny looking animals and flowers too.

Naked Man Orchid

https://earthlymission.com/strangest-flowers-orchids-world-resemble-look-like-something-else/

Back to the Scripture quoted above.

Life is short, and I’m blessed to have the gift of living to an older maturity.  In the past nine months, we have attended nine funerals for people under the age of 60.

How often do you hear a person say, “I have years before I need to get into the Jesus stuff.”

Not so.  We don’t know when our breath will be like a passing shadow.

I want all who read this to have many more trips around the sun, and I want you to know and laugh with the Lord.

 Gay's Author Page

Gay on YouTube

A Deer Momma and her Children

 

Hubby and I watched a momma deer and her newborn twins yesterday. Momma ambled on our side of the fence, and her children wandered on the other side. Momma Deer traipsed back and forth from our yard to the neighbor’s yard. Her twins stayed trapped in another yard. They followed her as she looked for ways to rescue them.

How did the twins get through the enclosure and away from momma? Hubby and I couldn’t guess. They touched their mom’s nose through the fence, but their size prevented them from going through the bars.

In my mind, I heard the mom say, “What are you doing over there? I told you to stay close to me. Now, how am I going to get you back over here? I’ll find a way, and when I do, you’re in trouble.”

Both mom and babies walked along the neighbor’s barrier for hours. With no gate at the back, we had no way to open the railing. The opening exists at the front of the neighbor’s house near the garage.

If we had ventured outside, we would scare the momma, and she’d dart away, but the twins couldn’t go with her. On the other hand, deer can be dangerous. A man, along with his dog, took corn outside to feed the deer. The animal kicked the dog and injured it.

Who or what agency do people call when animals have an emergency?

We continued to stay on guard to help if we could.

Children and momma remained safe, and I wondered how the twins would find momma once they discovered a route out of their confinement.

Meanwhile, the mom lay down. She looked exhausted from worry, but she kept an eye on the stranded children. At times, she glanced toward our house as if to say, “Can you help me?”

I am guessing she knew she could jump the fence, but then she’d be trapped, too. This deer family remained split apart for hours. I know the mom worried, and the children? Well, they wanted to be with momma.

One of the neighbors must have seen Momma Deer’s plight and called for help. I saw a truck arrive, but I didn’t see how someone rescued the deer family.

Once freed, the trio returned to our residence. The twins ate, but they seemed more interested in new things.

The mom ate grass from our yard, nibbled our trees, and bushes. The poor thing hadn’t eaten all day. Apprehension can do that to you. Her anxiety kept her appetite at bay, but once the kids became safe, she could eat.

The twins didn’t learn a lesson. They wandered from mom’s side, but mom kept an eye on them while she dined. The newborns wanted to explore their world, but like human children, they don’t know how to reason and stay away from trouble. Moms teach those lessons.

With an awkward, bounding gate, the twins suddenly ran away from her and out of sight, but she seemed to know they were okay and in no danger. I don’t know how deer communicate, but Momma Deer’s ears tweaked back and forth, and she’d gaze in a certain direction.

When the fawns experienced trouble, they wanted their mom. Once free from fear, they returned to their normal, rebellious behavior.

Mothers and babies show similar traits in every species.

Gay's Author Page