Comfort & Mystery Question & Winners of the Scavenger Hunt

Patricia Bradley Mystery Question 39 Comments

 “…Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
3. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…
5. Do not be afraid, for I am with you;” ~from Isaiah 43

These are trying times. And sometimes we want to ask, “Where are you, God?” But like the first verses in Isaiah 43 state, He is here, with us. I think we can all take comfort in that. And in the fact that nothing lasts forever. Some of my favorite scripture passages say, “and it came to pass.” This too shall pass. But until then, scripture verses like the above and Psalm 91 are great ways to remember that God is for us.

Now seems a good time to look at where we stand in relation to God. Are we panicking or are we turning to Him? Depending on Him or ourselves? If it’s the latter, then we are indeed in trouble. If we are depending on Him, it doesn’t mean bad things won’t happen. We live in a fallen world where we have free will, and that means there are consequences to our bad choices and the bad choices of others.

I believe God is still in charge. Does that mean I will voluntarily put myself at risk? No. He gave me the good sense to not congregate in groups of more than 9 and to practice safe hygiene. Washing our hands for 20 seconds should not be something new for us to do!

Now time for some laughter.

Here’s last week’s Mystery Question:

Three of the following stories are true and I made up one. Can you guess which one?
  1. It seems this guy wanted a carton of booze pretty badly. He threw a cinder block at a liquor store window and it bounced back and hit him in the head, knocking him unconscious…yep. It was caught on video.
  2. A man grabbed a woman’s purse and took off. A store clerk dialed 911 and when the police came, the woman gave a good description of the man and he was quickly apprehended. When the police brought him back to the scene of the crime, they told him to stand there for a positive identification to which he replied, “Yes, officer, that’s her. That’s the lady I stole the purse from.”
  3. A man who shoveled snow in a blizzard for an hour to clear a parking spot returned with his vehicle to find a woman had taken the spot. He shot her.
  4. A man siphoned gas from a car and on his way to pour it into his gas tank, he dropped the can, spilling almost all of it. Frustrated, he decided to steal the car instead…yep, you guessed it. He ran out of gas a block away just as the police were putting out an all-points bulletin.

And the answer is…#4. Congrats to everyone who guessed correctly! Now I’m going to see if I can do a better job of fooling you this week. 🙂

Now for this week’s Mystery Question: Three of the following stories are true. One is false. Can you guess the false one?
  1. As two men waited in line at the coffee shop to pay their bill, a third man cut in front of them. He threw a drink at the clerk and demanded all the money from the till. Temporarily surprised, the men quickly recovered and handcuffed the crook. Apparently, in his rush the criminal didn’t notice they were police officers—in full uniform.
  2. Recently, a woman was stopped at a DUI checkpoint for being soused. Ever helpful, she offered up this info: “My husband’s right behind me, and he’s even drunker than I am.”
  3. A burglar carefully removed a window and hopped inside the den, knocking over a set of snare drums that belonged to the teenaged boy living in the house. Police were quickly called.
  4. A woman was arrested for breaking and entering. But she was quickly caught thanks to her ankle bracelet … the one fitted with a GPS system … that she had gotten from the police … for being on probation from an earlier breaking-and-entering case.

Okay, Super Sleuths, which one did I make up? Leave your answer in the comments and I’ll enter you in a drawing for a book from my library!

THE WINNERS OF THE SPRING CHRISTIAN FICTION SCAVENGER HUNT ARE: NINA WAUGH, TAYLOR CARLISLE, AND LAURA MERCHANT!

MY PERSONAL WINNERS OF THE RAFFLECOPTER ARE: ABIGAIL ROSE, JULIE SCHICK, AND JONI LEE!

 

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Comments 39

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  2. Tim Johnson

    Law breakers say and do the dumbest things. I guess when you’re in the serious business of law enforcement, you need a good laugh every once in a while. I will guess it’s #3 this time. If it were true, everyone would be wanting this new “alarm system”.

    And, thanks Pat, for reminding us that God is in charge of our individual lives, as well as the entire creation. It’s mind blowing.

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      Patricia Bradley

      Yes, God is in charge, Tim. But if someone would’ve told me a month ago this would happen, I don’t think I would have believed it. I knew the coronavirus would be bad, but perception is very different from reality. Thanks for stopping by.

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  4. Delores Topliff

    Perfect verse, thx. I think it’s either #1 or #3 but they’re all good for laughs (unless youre the police officers having to deal w/ such craziness. I’ll go w/ #1 this time, the crook who hadn’t had his coffee yet so wasn’t observant.

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      Patricia Bradley

      I’m glad you enjoyed the verses. They are some of my favorites and have always comforted me. We’ll see next week about the crook and his coffee. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by.

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  5. Linda Horin

    Thank you for the reassuring verses. We all need to spend time in the word to quiet our fears, especially those of us who are “higher risk!” I am guessing #1 this week.

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      Patricia Bradley

      Absolutely, Linda! This morning I was reading in Deuteronomy when Moses was telling the children of Israel God to turn to God. This is after forty years of grumbling and grousing. Makes me think of myself…thanks for stopping by!

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  7. Rhonda

    Pat, those verses have been very comforting and dear over the last few days and will continue to be. Also, thanks for still interjecting laughter into “our new normal”.

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  10. Edward Arrington

    I appreciate your encouraging words as you began this blog. They are very timely. We have a family member who desperately needs to get a job and get finances in order. This pandemonium swirling around has caused some great anxiety that we don’t need. I understand it has been labeled a pandemic, but I think there may be more pandemonium than pandemic. I pray both will come to an end very soon. Now for the mystery question, I’m choosing #3. If true, the crook was not only dumb but also blind.

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      Patricia Bradley

      Edward, I have a family member who may lose their job because of the virus and I’m sure there are many more in the same boat. I’m praying it will be over soon and we learn from it. I’d hoped there would be a turning to God like 911, but I don’t see that happening. Sorry I’m late answering, but I’ve been putting our fires caused by the virus at our non-profit.;-) It’s always good to ‘see’ you here!

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  11. Sue Parrish

    I think its #1 just because. I got Kristi Ann Hunter’s newsletter today. She said 2 things that I find profound: 1.” God answers prayer, but He never promises we’ll like the answer.” 2. “Social distancing is not about fear of catching the virus. It’s about loving other people enough to stop the spread. It is digging a trench around an out of control forest fire.” I also like your scripture reference. I agree that people are not turning to God as they should. Sad. I am in the “at risk” group too. At 71 I have no problem being called a “senior citizen”, but I object to being called “elderly”. My baby sister is only 60, and she would fit the new definition of “elderly”. Uh-uh.

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      Patricia Bradley

      As I’ve gotten older, Sue, I’ve pushed back the senior citizen age. lol. But, yes I am in that group that’s at higher risk, although my immune system hasn’t been compromised. And I reject being elderly, too! And we’ll see next week if it’s #1.

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  12. Trixi

    Patricia, do my eyes deceive me? You didn’t give the correct answers for the “Dumbest Excuses People Gave Thier Insurance Companies” from last week (10/10)….instead you repeated the “which one is made up”.

    I’ll go with #4 this week because who would forget they had an ankle bracelet that the police gave her fitted with a GPS? But criminals do the dumbest things don’t they? 😉

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  13. Erika

    I’m going to guess #3. Thank you for the very encouraging newsletter. I’m in an area of big concern. I have friends and loved ones of the affected age and with compromised immune systems. One needs chemo and blood transfusions.

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  16. Gloria A

    Great post, Pat. I am going with #2 this week. I asked for the One Year Chronological Bible from my husband for Christmas as per your recommendation and your mention of Moses is what I have been reading for a while now.

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      Patricia Bradley

      Great, Gloria! I love my One Year Chronological Bible–this is the 14th year for me to read through it(actually I’ve gone through 3 of them and will have to order another one soon.) Next week I’ll show a photo of it! And we’ll see if it’s #2 next week, too.

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  18. Joni

    Going with #4 this week. Thanks for the reminders and the scripture references. I need to keep these at the front of my thoughts.

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