It is necessary for us to look at our countries as a garden. And if you have ever done any kind of gardening, you know that you must keep out the weeds, right. Weeds will overtake your garden and kill out the good fruit.
The United States became a great nation because it honored God, not because of where it sits geographically on the globe. The best part about this is that this greatness can happen to any other country - proverbial garden - when that country, it's people and leaders, honor this same God that made the U.S. great. This is the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; the Great I Am.
So, let me say here that people are not weeds. But, the negative influences that some have is like weeds, it will choke out the very life you live. We should be careful about the influences we allow in our gardens. 
This garden can also be your heart, your home, your life, or your place of work.
America is great. And yes, this includes our neighbors to the north and to the south of us. They are just as American as those of us born right here in the United States.
Our U.S. history is riddled with ups and downs. When things get going good, its almost like we are saying, Ok, God, we got this, we dont need you anymore.  We see this in our political arena, our education system,  and in our workforce.  You might ask how do you see this in our workforce. Too many companies have outsourced to other countries.  They sent our labor to other countries instead of keeping the work right here in our own land to help our local economies. 
But when things start going down, whose name are we quick to call upon? God! Let's not forget the one who helped this country become so great. When we make decisions about how we are going to live, lets not forget those whose blood was shed to get this country so great. To allow another government from any other country to practice their ways in our land, does not honor those who fought and died for this country.  So our native American Indians have their own laws here, is this okay? Yes, because they were here first. And many natives joined our armed forces and fought for this country. But the key thing is that this land first belonged to them. If anybody, they should have a right to practice their laws in this land.
Now, I want you to put yourself in our natives' shoes.  Think about this, you have your land, you know your boundaries, you hunt on this land, drink from its waters, you live by what food you grow.  You have a certain degree of peace; peace within your own tent and community. Then a white storm moves in and takes over your land. That peace you have lived with for so long is now threatened. You are taken prisoner and you are forced to take on another way of life, another religion, your are forced off of your own land.  And remember, you fought for this land. You alone are not powerful enough to stop this. Their weapons are far more advanced. Yes, in many ways, the white man improved the quality of life here.  Many of us still honor this land, we want to take care of it so that it can continue to take care of us.  This, by the way, is conservation. 
​What happened to our natives can very well happen to us here in America if we continue to let weeds grow in our garden.  There are many who do not take care of this land, and still many others who just want to take down our government and deny us of the peace we have known, the way of life we have been so blessed to have. 
A similar version of this happened to the Israelite's. They were taken captive for 50 years. 50! They were subservient to Egyptians. Do you honestly think the Egyptians at that time cared about their prisoners. Do you honestly think that those who would overtake this country, our faith, our ways, care about us? The answer is a resounding NO!
If we, as a country, are not more careful in the choices we make, we may well find ourselves like our native brothers and sisters, or like the Israelite's. 
So how do we guard our garden? How do we take care of our country? You know,  God's word will always have your answer!
Look at 2 Chronicles 7: 14
     "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. From this verse, write out what you see is our part and what you see as God's part. 
This is the one simple formula for keeping America great. 
1. Let's humble ourselves before the mighty hand of God
2. Pray! Pray with a heart full of Godly love for our leaders and our neighbors.
3. Seek God's face - let's approach Him until we know in our spirit that we have God's full attention.
4. We know what things are wicked and sinful; that's why when we do something wrong we feel it, we feel the effects of it.  
This is a four point strategy to get America flowing in the blessings of God and to keep us there. 
Anytime you vote, or make choices, think about how your decisions can affect your garden and those around you. 

Will I see you on the front lines of prayer for this great nation? Would you care to join me in pure worship and prayer to our God?  Would you dare declare the word of our God over our country, our leaders, our personal gardens? 
Drop me a line below on your thoughts or comments.
La Donna

I'm so glad I belong to a wonderful, mighty God. So, I just gotta tell you something. Yesterday, I woke up with a stirring in my spirit that bothered me all day. It was not good either. And I felt like it had to do with my daughter, Haley. I kept thinking she is fine, she's probably at work. All day I had this insatiable desire to just hold my daughter. There was much grief in this stirring. Well, after church my husband said he got a text to go meet somebody in a nearby town.  Off we go. We arrived and when I got out of our truck, I saw our daughter Haley walking towards us. This was to be a surprise visit. She told me she flew up here and had been camping with one of her best friends from school. She made this arrangement with her dad and didn't tell me; little stinker. The more I was around my daughter that feeling to just hold on to her like it was going to be the last time I saw my daughter grew in intensity. 
Haley knew I was disturbed; I started to cry and I told her something was wrong I just couldn't put my finger on it. I just knew that it was going to be bad. I couldn't stand it any longer. My daughter flew up here which meant she would be flying back to Houston, Texas. I told Haley, if I can't break this, that she was not getting on that flight, that if I had to, I would drive her back home to Texas.  I was praying from Luke 12:2 which basically says "that which is hidden would be made known."  In talking about that flight! It hit me that satan intended to take down her flight home. I went into prayer. My prayer language was very different than other times, very deep and intense. I had to call on some faithful prayer partners to help break this. I sent out that call to prayer at 9:24 pm and by 10 pm, it broke. 
Haley had an early flight back home the next morning. We got her baggage checked in and then said our goodbyes just before she entered that area where they scan you head to toe prior to boarding. 
At the airport, I spiritually, hi-jacked that plane by faith in the name of Jesus. I prayed over every rivet, nut and bolt. I prayed over the pilot and the entire staff, the technicians, the mechanics. I prayed over every panel of metal, even the wires and electronics. I blessed that flight and said, "Lord I want a smooth flight all the way home, in Jesus' name, Amen"

​I'm so glad I belong to a wonderful, mighty God. So, I just gotta tell you something. Yesterday, I woke up with a stirring in my spirit that bothered me all day. It was not good either. And I felt like it had to do with my daughter, Haley. I kept thinking she is fine, she's probably at work. All day I had this insatiable desire to just hold my daughter. There was much grief in this stirring. Well, after church my husband said he got a text to go meet somebody in a nearby town.  Off we go. We arrived and when I got out of our truck, I saw our daughter Haley walking towards us. This was to be a surprise visit. She told me she flew up here and had been camping with one of her best friends from school. She made this arrangement with her dad and didn't tell me; little stinker. The more I was around my daughter that feeling to just hold on to her like it was going to be the last time I saw my daughter grew in intensity. 
Haley knew I was disturbed; I started to cry and I told her something was wrong I just couldn't put my finger on it. I just knew that it was going to be bad. I couldn't stand it any longer. My daughter flew up here which meant she would be flying back to Houston, Texas. I told Haley, if I can't break this, that she was not getting on that flight, that if I had to, I would drive her back home to Texas.  I was praying from Luke 12:2 which basically says "that which is hidden would be made known."  In talking about that flight! It hit me that satan intended to take down her flight home. I went into prayer. My prayer language was very different than other times, very deep and intense. I had to call on some faithful prayer partners to help break this. I sent out that call to prayer at 9:24 pm and by 10 pm, it broke. 
Haley had an early flight back home the next morning. We got her baggage checked in and then said our goodbyes just before she entered that area where they scan you head to toe prior to boarding. 
At the airport, I spiritually, hi-jacked that plane by faith in the name of Jesus. I prayed over every rivet, nut and bolt. I prayed over the pilot and the entire staff, the technicians, the mechanics. I prayed over every panel of metal, even the wires and electronics. I blessed that flight and said, "Lord I want a smooth flight all the way home, in Jesus' name, Amen"​
Later, Haley called to let me know that she landed in Houston without any problems. Remember now, she had already gone beyong the 911 checkpoint when I began to pray with my hubby. Haley told me that was the smoothest flight she had ever been on.
God is so good and so kind, he's so powerful and he hears our prayers. He knows our every need. 
Sometimes, when our spirits are disturbed like that, it doesn't always mean it's the enemy. In this case, God was letting me know that I needed to step into warfare for my daughter's sake. You see, ol' slewfoot cannot sneak one up on Jesus, amen? AMEN! God's got you but you need to learn to work with him so he can help guide you. 
Hit the blue comments link below if you would like to share a special time of victory through prayer. I would love to hear your story. 
​Dee

Ok, so on the home page, there is a notice of my next message about keeping America great.  I will get to that, but last night I had a dream that I felt very important to share with my readers.  
Yesterday, I made the bold move to start blogging again.  Last night I had a dream that was just horrible to me. Somehow, I knew it was from the Lord. I was too tired to talk to God about it so I went back to sleep. But I want to tell you about this dream.
I haven't had a dream about a tornado in many years. So, the dream opened up with me entering my mother's home on a bright sunny day. I walked through the front door and called out for my mom and my dad. Nobody answered. I looked back over my left shoulder, out of the front window and all of a sudden there was a tornado grinding up the very short driveway. I momentarily froze wondering where in this house could I get for safety. I ducked into a small area that had 3 doors. The door in the middle led to the bathroom. The two doors on either side of the bathroom door led to bedrooms. The tornado was approaching the southwest corner of the house and I could tell debris from the home was beginning to be cast around from the winds. I didn't squat down. Instead, I just kind of looked back again over my left shoulder and not out of fear, but in full authority of the Lord, said, "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus." And I just stood there. After a few seconds, the winds died down and the tornado disappeared. 
Now, this next part, I'm not sure of the relevance of it. Right after the tornado disappeared, I saw my grandma. She was on her back on the floor, covered by some debris. She wasn't hurt. I helped my grandma get back on her feet and made sure she was okay. The dream ended.
When I woke up, I told my husband about the dream. He said, "that's not a horrible dream at all." Many times when the Lord has given me dreams, he has given my husband the interpretation of the dream. Jason continued. "I believe the Lord is telling you, that you have rightly assumed your authority in the Lord again by starting your blog. And I believe the dream also shows us that the enemy can come out of nowhere, sneak up on us from behind with full intention, attempt to carry out his plans of destruction; John 10:10."
Listen to me, give me your full attention. If you belong to Jesus, you have authority to stop ANY storm, no matter how close it gets to you. 

Now, you may be saying, but that was all just in a dream. That stuff isn't real. Yes, it is. It is so very real. All attacks are spiritual and often shows up as negative circumstances we have to deal with in the natural. We must first learn to deal with attacks in the spiritual realm, where your seat of authority actually is. Have you put two and two together yet to see that your kingdom is spiritual? God is a spirit, so His kingdom is in spiritual places. That's why folks here on earth can't see, touch, or destroy that kingdom. They can't kill God because he is a spirit. My friend, you and I are spirits, we just live in a body. Our kingdom, just like God's, is in the spiritual realm.  And when we take up our authority in heavenly places, we can move mountains, we can walk on water, we can call down the powers of heaven and change most any situation. The only situation I'm aware of that we can't change is another person's will. Our authority, no matter how heavenly, stops at the point where another person's will begins. In those situations, all you can do is continue praying that God's will is done in your life and others involved.
My husband and I route approaching storms away from our home all the time. You can watch the radar, you'll see the storm cells splitting as they approach our area. Our neighbors always say, did you see how those storms just go around us. They don't have the foggiest idea of how to make that happen. One of our neighbors really believes in prayer, so she prays in a simple basic heart of faith kind of way with us when storms approach.  
In closing, I want you to think about this. If spiritual warfare was not real, God would not have given us Ephesians 6:10 through verses 18. Everything God gives us in His word has purpose, and it is never there just to fill up a page. 
If you would like more information about spiritual warfare, please let me know. When you learn to take up your authority, your life will be so much better and your prayers for others can help them. If you enjoyed this post, please hit the blue comments link below and leave me a comment or question. I will get back with you. 
In His Service,
​La Donna

Every one of us is well acquainted with challenges that rock us to our core, challenges that seem to yank the carpet of faith right out from under us.
And I'm not talking about some little situation that is just simply aggravating at best; in these situations we often see how to deal with it, it just always seems to happen at a not so good of a time and we'd rather not deal with it.
No. I'm talking about situations that shut us down, circumstances beyond our control that leave us in a deep and dark realm of grief beyond control.
You know what I'm talking about? Sometimes this is just the death of a loved one that can send us spiraling downward in our faith walk.
Since April of 2018, I found myself in such a valley. A valley in which I was convinced that for whatever reason, God no longer wanted to have anything to do with me, He wasn't answering my prayers and I could not figure out why. What on earth had I done?   Why is this happening to me? Is this real or did something happen to me and I'm in some state of a coma? Will I ever wake up from this, will I ever know the Father and His precious promises as strong as I had believed them before?
Friend, let me tell you something. John 16:33 says, "these things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."
None of us are exempt from tribulations. I don't care how much money you have. I don't care about the color of your skin. Unless you are some alien from the planet whatever, you will have tribulations. 

When you find yourself in such a valley remember this. Nothing grows high on the mountains. It is, at times, necessary for us to enter the valleys below.  While we are in such a place, keep in mind that it won't be long until tender shoots of fresh foliage will begin to spring forth. Faith will arise again. Just as I learned, you will come out stronger, ready to shout from the roof tops.
​2Corinthians 1:20 says, "For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. 
The promises of God are yea (yes) and amen (I said it, so be it). I struggled hard to hang on to the truths I had learned about standing in faith trusting God. But in the end, I had to shut down. I couldn't keep living the way things were. I needed some answers and I needed them right away. Those answers didn't come right away but just as the Psalmist says in 30:5, "....weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. ​
When I was finally able to spend time just getting still in my spirit and quiet down, I saw light at the end of my dark tunnel. Gently, and graciously the Lord led me through.  
Recently in prayer, in my spirit, I saw the Lord had led me to a place where I could crawl back up into my throne chair. But it was still different. I wasn't no longer able to fill my chair out. My faith had been damaged so much that my spirit had shrunk a bit. I'm still on the road to healing but I'm confident, I will grow up again into all things of my Father. I will be big enough to fill out my chair and I will wear my crown again some day soon.
So, I invite you to join me here at my new blog, Mornings with La Donna. I may not post something every morning. But please check back often.
​Come heal with me. Come learn with me. Come grow with me.
See you soon,
La Donna