Welcome to the edition that generally heralds two major national holidays!  One of them sees a host of normally reserved people suddenly break out in red and white, bbq block parties, multicultural celebrations across the nation and fireworks displays by certified pyrotechnic teams.  The other holiday sees typically patriotic people putting on the red, white and blue, taking off to baseball games, breaking out the bbq and engaging in backyard fireworks displays for themselves and the rest of the street.  At both holidays flags are flown, worn, draped, hung, displayed as cakes, artwork, fruit trays and anything else that can be decorated in the national colours.  

I think by now, most of my readers know which two holidays I'm talking about, and they both take place next week!  I'm referring to Canada Day on July 1st when Canada celebrates it's 148th birthday, and Independence Day on July 4th, when the United States celebrates it's independence from the Crown of England.

To citizens of both countries, I wish you joyful, sober merry-making, and a time when you are able to gather with friends and family to remember the best of what both countries have to offer, giving thanks to God for granting us the mercies He has over the years and seeking His guidance going into another year as a nation.

These days, national leaders are more in need of God's wisdom, discernment, insight and foresight than ever before!  To my Canadian readers, remember that your Prime Minister is a fellow believer in Christ and is deeply in need of your prayers for God's wisdom to permeate his decisions.  He isn't a perfect leader, but no nation on the planet is able to make that claim.  Pray for your brother in Christ and for his family, that they will seek God in all they do.  Give thanks to God that our Prime Minister unequivocally stands by Israel when almost every other nation is against them.  In making this stand, our national leader has ensured God's blessings on our own land no matter what mistakes you may have trouble forgiving him for.  

To my US readers, I am seeing quite a bit of dismay at the things your federal government has been doing, and there is much discontent with your President in many circles of society.  Scripture commands us to pray for our leaders, and I urge you to pray for your President like never before!  Bombard heaven's gates to have God turn his head in the directions God wants him to go as Proverbs says God does.  Scripture says if we pray for our leaders, that we will invite God's blessings over our own lives and families.  So while it's currently quite popular to dump on Obama and his surrounding leadership, may I instead ask as we approach July 4th this year, that you take time to intercede, to repent on behalf of your nation and government, and seek God's face on behalf of those who lead your nation.  Stand in the gap and pray for wisdom, for guidance, for discernment, for insight for foresight, both for yourselves at home and for your government at all levels.  Examine your life, your hidden thoughts and hidden convictions, and seek God's cleansing and restoration for yourself, your family, your church and your community.  It is only as people allow God to move through the dark recesses of their individual lives that entire communities and even entire nations can be changed.  Gather in your prayer groups this July and fall on your knees before the only God who will hear and take action on your behalf.  May July 4th 2015 be known as the date when American fell to it's knees in humble repentance, and rescued a nation on the brink of disaster.

To those who live overseas, as you scan the news online or flip the channels on your television set, it is clear that there is trouble brewing worldwide at this time.  Unrest has taken over major areas of the globe as governments and religious groups try to crack down on those who do not follow their creeds.  As these scenes cross your screen, reach out a hand toward that screen and pray over those going through these troubling times.  Pray for comfort for those losing family members, pastors, and community leaders.  Pray for those committing such crimes and claim their souls for the Kingdom of God outloud so that they are unable to die until they have made Christ Lord.  Pray that the Holy Spirit will invade troublesome governments and tight-fisted regimes, that in these last days the name of the Lord will be lifted up.  Pray for peace, wisdom, guidance, discernment, insight and foresight for the governments and leaders at all levels right where you live.

Yes, this is a call to prayer.  This is a call to self-examination.  This is a call to surrender to the cleansing fire of the Holy Spirit so that you are free to do battle in the heavenly realms on behalf of those who can't.  This is a time for the army of Christ to stand up and be counted!  Nation after nation is falling prey to the forceful voices of sin demanding that their sin be legalized, accepted, respected, and not only tolerated but engaged by those who these voices know right well will not do so.  Christians in "free" countries are being dragged through courts and heavily penalized for standing up for their beliefs where once they used to be free to do so.  

Darkness is falling across the globe as we enter the wee hours before morning when Christ will return for His Church, the Bride of Christ.  The birth pangs as of a mother in labour according to Matthew 24, are upon us and getting closer and closer together.  The frequency of these pangs are causing some to think we have entered the Tribulation period, although Christ said these were only precursors to that time.  Even as precursors however, they are catching people off-guard.  They are creating panic and heartbreak and even the earth is not immune.  The saying goes that it's always darkest before dawn.  However it is also said that one small candle can light an entire room when that room is darkened.

We live in dark days that are only going to get darker and more troublesome before the great and terrible Day of the Lord comes.  The enemy of our souls knows his time is short and he has begun his offensive.  Christ when looking out across time to this period says Himself, will He find faith on the earth when He returns?  Indeed, will He?  Only you and I can answer that question for ourselves and for those we love.  Only we can engage in intercessory prayer for those God places on our hearts.  Only we can ensure our own hearts and minds and our own outward daily walk is upright and clean before the Father.  Only we can ensure that our Robes of Righteousness have been washed by the Word so that Christ can present us blameless to the Father.  

Remember that your heart-felt prayers are powerful!  Not because of what you say, but because of Who is listening!  Lastly, remember Psalm 91. . . Read it before you go to bed tonight, and read it often in the days to come.  Create a poster and copy and paste the passage into it, print it and post it on your kitchen or living room wall for all to see as the days get darker.  If you were tried in a court of law, would there be enough evidence to brand you a Child of the King?  Take time this coming week of celebration, to make sure you will be celebrating your citizenship in Heaven.

Seasonal News

June was marked by one major word for this author this year. . . GRADUATION!!!  As a soundtech at my church, I do events at various times of the year.  This month I did three graduation ceremonies, one for a nursing school and two high school graduation ceremonies.  These were followed by a middle school awards night.  Amongst all that were two funerals, which were graduations of a sort all their own.  I'm not sure where one graduated to, but the other for sure graduated into Heaven.  Two copies of "Mom's Little Black Book: Godly Advice for the High School Graduate" sold this month as well, bringing the final total to somewhere around 33 books being given to grads this year.  It is my prayer that this little book blesses each and every graduate receiving it, long into their young adult years and beyond.

Prayer Cards From "A Year in Prayer With Jesus"

"A Year in Prayer With Jesus" prayer cards continued, with month's three and four added to the list over at gumroad.com.  I need to schedule month four into hootesuite but finally have the picture versus link figured out.  Now the focus is where it should be, which is on each prayer card every five minutes from 7am Pacific time to 7:30am PST.  These are being shared via      
-Facebook,
-Twitter,
-LinkedIn,
-and my author profile on G+. (although twitter users must click the FB link to see the images).  I've begun work on month five, but as you can imagine, life has been busy and I have either been too exhausted, or had other things to keep track of.

Month One: https://gumroad.com/l/PC-YPWJ
Month Two: https://gumroad.com/l/PC2-YPWJ
Month Three: https://gum.co/PC3-YPWJ
Month Four: https://gumroad.com/l/PC4-YPWJ

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Wrap-up

It's interesting as I look back over the past month, that subjects God's had me writing about on my blog tie in so closely with what I felt I had to write in this newsletter tonight.  Obedience, Gratitude, reverence for God's Word, guarding our heart, and remembering the nature of God Himself.  I would strongly urge, if you don't already follow my blog as sporadic as it is, that you take time to read the blog posts shared at the end of this newsletter this month.  Some of the posts below contain links to other posts because it made more sense to share previous blog post links than to write everything out all over again.

So grab a cold tall iced tea and plate of your favourite summer snacks, and take time to read through these articles.  In light of all that is going on in the world, the Church around the globe, and in our very own lives, these thoughts are timely and challenging.

One more article that isn't below, but that I pray encourages many of you, will be seen in the sidebar of any article you click on.  "I am thy part and thine inheritance".  Take a gander at that one as well.  You won't regret it.

May God go with you into the coming week.

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Latest Content on the Songdove Musings Blog:

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Deuteronomy 4: Of Words, Hearts and the Nature of God

As I read through the Bible again, one chapter per day, I now come to the book of Deuteronomy and when it comes to firsts, the fifth book of the Torah does not disappoint.  Chapter four brings with it not one, not two, but three admonishments that we see sprinkled throughout Scripture and are more likely to recognize from other …

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Gratitude - A Many-Splendored Thing!

What is "Gratitude"?  According to dictionary.com: Gratitude is "the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful".  According to Collins English Dictionary: Gratitude is "a feeling of thankfulness or appreciation, as for gifts or favours".  When I look up the word in Nave's Bible Dictionary, I am told to look at the word Thankfulness.  Gratitude then, is a form of …

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Obedience: A Many-Splendored Thing!

Anyone who has followed my blog long enough, will know that I have written at various times about how obedience shows the Triune God that we love Him! Blog posts such as: Genesis 22: Obedience Leads to Blessings: Exodus 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto …

Anyone know where May took off to???  As I write this, the calendar says May 27th and June 1st is on Monday!  So I'm sitting here realizing it's time for yet another monthly newsletter. . . Could have sworn I wrote one just a couple weeks ago. . .

One thing's for sure, May's focus has been GRADUATION!

 
Seasonal News

The biggest event of the month was probably the discovery of 26 copies of "Mom's Little Black Book: Godly Advice for the High School Graduate" flying off the Amazon shelves!  That brings the total paperback copies of this book sold to 31 this year!

31 graduates will receive this from loved ones in their life seeking to offer unspoken assistance as they cross the stage from school into the big wide world!  I've been told this is a great book to send kids off to college with too.


Prayer Cards From "A Year in Prayer With Jesus"

The second event to have me both relieved and excited about, is that the prayer cards for "A Year in Prayer With Jesus" have resumed production now that I have more hard drive space, and I was able to schedule month two, and both start AND complete month three, complete with scheduling in hootesuite!  All three months are now available as hi-res downloadable printables on gumroad.com.  Month four is now in the works and when that's done, I'll be a solid third of the way through!  It really is a relief to be working on this project again!  

The remainder of Month Two and Month three begin resumed daily morning postings on June 1st.  You'll be able to catch them every five minutes starting at 7am via my author page on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and my author profile on G+.  Those versions of the prayer cards however, are only 72dpi (web quality) and not very suitable for printing.  You can however, share them as far and wide online as you wish, if you so choose.  Just keep the cards intact for copyright reasons.

The $20 price of each printable deck over at gumroad works out to less than 20 cents per hi-res image.  While many graphics artists will scream at so little per image, this is my attempt to make printing them more affordable for you, as ink and paper aren't cheap either.

Month One: https://gumroad.com/l/PC-YPWJ
Month Two: https://gumroad.com/l/PC2-YPWJ
Month Three: https://gum.co/PC3-YPWJ


Promotional News

Locations online where Songdove Books may be found grew again this month.  All four ebooks can now be purchased from Best Indie Book Store.  Needless to say, if you haven't already, you'll want to review the Songdove Books Presents: list of where to buy around the world to see if you favourite store is there yet or not.

The list is both growing and shrinking, as a UK site removed their ebook section this year as well.

I won't bore you by listing all the current locations in this newsletter, just click over to the site to peruse at your convenience.

http://songdove.fa-ct.com/wordpress-mu/songdovemusings/where-to-buy-around-the-world/


Wrap-up

As usual, God's provisions never cease to amaze me.  I have wrapped up the "heavy lifting" for a client's website and brand new social media presence and am now handling things back on a maintenance basis.  That client almost single-handedly covered my desired monthly earnings for most of 2015 so far.  As that began winding down, soundtech events at my church began picking up!  Several events in April and May combined with an unknown donor's gift back in April, have ensured things keep rolling in this house.  Funerals, concerts, a wedding. . . A sound tech never knows what they'll be doing next around my church.  June will see me doing three graduation ceremonies as well.  

The large number of grad gift sales this Spring has meant I'll be due for my first Createspace royalty cheque come the end of June as well!  Since first publishing in 2012, this is a BIG deal!  I've sold books via other outlets over the past few years, but Createspace has a very large minimum amount before they will cut you a cheque, so I'm thrilled to be getting my first cheque from them at the end of June!  

Createspace isn't the only one to be sending me a cheque either.  I am looking forward to getting my first payout from Hubpages.com at the end of this month as well!  I haven't had as much time to engage in freelance writing this year, so it's great to see the writing I have done start to pay off.  So much of my writing isn't designed to earn a penny and appears on my blog, my facebook and LinkedIn notes areas, or even my private profile notes.  But whenever it's possible to use my gifting not merely to share, but to put milk in the fridge too, that's a big deal!

For those who might be wondering, my health has improved to a point and plateaued there for much of 2015.  I do get setbacks every now and then, and my mornings the week of this newsletter have been "dragging" physically, mentally and emotionally.  I don't know if it's the heat already, as the Okanagan is already spending more time in the mid to high 20's (celcius), or if it's sleep issues, as I get interrupted every morning to take my daughter to work, or if it's just my body's response to being busier and me not finding the new boundaries yet.  It's great to generally have more energy to do stuff, because that allows me to be more productive around the house, take on more work, etc.  Just pray I'm not overdoing it and that I'll discover where my boundaries are at this stage of healing and not cross them till I'm ready to.

Blog posts continue as I go through the Bible from front to back in my personal devotions.  An interesting thought came to me as I read Numbers 18 a few days ago.  You'll want to read that.  So often we think God's holding out on us when He chooses not to bless us with things or situations or circumstances that we feel we've done our part to receive.  There might be a higher reason why those things have apparently been denied.  Read on to discover how all this played out in my personal devotions.

 
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Latest Content on the Songdove Musings Blog:


Numbers 18: . . . I am thy part and thine inheritance. . .

Numbers 18:20  And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel. During a time when, as Israel was stumbling quite badly getting into the groove of all God had just handed down to them in …

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Numbers 12: Murmuring and Railing Against God's Anointed!

Not all firsts mentioned in the Torah were beneficial firsts.  There was the first murder in Genesis, the first turning away to another god in Exodus, the first act of strange fire in Leviticus, and now the first act of openly railing against one of God's anointed here in Numbers.  Each of these unfortunate firsts carried with them drastic consequences.  …

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Leviticus 25 and the Subject of Redemption (kinsman redeemer)

For everything there is a purpose, and a time and season under the heaven.  This is a slight paraphrase to a well-known passage out of Ecclesiastes, and a nod to the song popular back in the late 60's/early '70's, Turn Turn Turn. I bring this up today, because of having landed in Leviticus 25. Leviticus 25 is one of those …

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The end of another month already!  As I begin writing this, it's Saturday night, the eve before Palm Sunday on the Christian Calendar.  Thoughts turn to Passion Week, Passover, Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday.  How do you celebrate this coming week?  

In our house, we began celebrating a Christian and somewhat shortened version of Passover when my kids were small.  I'd intended to add to it as they got older, but the book I'd borrowed moved away and I can no longer remember the title.  The intention however, has not diminished.  There are so many correlations between that first Passover and what Christ came to do for us, that engaging in this bit of ceremony and feast reminds us every year, of why Christ came and what He came to do.  There is even a part of the Messianic ceremony at the end of the feast, that celebrates Christ rising from the dead.  Is my household Messianic? No, but we do recognize the Jewish nature of our Lord and Saviour, and show our respect for that with this celebration.  This week's shopping trip will partly be spent on the fixings for that special meal.

Many people engage in special Scripture readings throughout Passion Week, and I received a package in the mail from the Canadian Bible Society containing a card with a list of Scriptures and suggested prayers at various points throughout the coming week.  They included Easter greeting cards as well.  I was a bit surprised by that.  Who do you know that hands out Easter-themed greeting cards??!!  No one I know. . . but as it turns out, only one of them was truly themed around the Resurrection, leaving the others to be used as nice note cards for the future.

I always look forward to Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday.  To me, these days and their significance are why Christmas happened.  For many churches, my own included, this weekend unfortunately tends to take a back seat to the amount of effort, build-up toward, and focus of this Christian holiday.  For myself, that's backwards.  As exciting and glittery as Christmas tends to be (never mind that first Christmas was anything but), the very fact that we have been granted entrance into the Holy of Holies through the shed Blood of Jesus on the Cross of Calvary, should be enough to get every born-again Christian more than willing to make the most of next weekend.  

When God was impressing on me the nature of the Bride of Christ, and how the Church should be longing for reunion with their Heavenly Bridegroom, a poem came to me that my Pastor shared that Easter:

Bride Price
Copyright 2010 Marilynn Dawson

Eyes of love
Closed in pain
Opened to gaze on you

Arms outstretched
Nails pierced
Eyebrows stained for you

Blood and water
Broken heart
Such love poured out to you

Do you see it?
Do you feel it?
Has He captured you?

Cup of wine
Piece of bread
A speech to those He loves

Garden prayer
Romans stare
Lashes thorns and Cross

Veil Torn
Empty tomb
Christ rising in the air

Bridal price
Father's smile
A promise to return

Do you see it?
Do you feel it?
Has He captured you?

Do you see it?
Do you feel it?
The price He paid for you?

Do you see it?
Do you feel it?
The love for which He died?

Do you see it?
Do you feel it?
His Love His Church His Bride?

What do you do in your household to bring solid focus and celebration of all Christ came to do for us during this time on the Calendar?  

 
Grad Season is Approaching!

Grad season is not quite upon us yet, but will be gearing up over the course of April until it reaches full force in May with graduation ceremonies taking place one after the other until the end of July, depending on where you live in the world.  But already,  a copy of "Mom's Little Black Book: Godly Advice for the High School Graduate" sold to someone in Denver Colorado just this past week.

If you are looking for an affordable grad gift under $20, then you'll want to head to my website (linked above) where you can get it for just $10, and $7 shipping and handling.  On Amazon and other locations, the paperback runs for $12 or less, depending on vender store-wide sales and discounts.  So at times, you may even get it for cheaper at those locations than what I sell it for myself.

If you are wanting to buy it in bulk for your youth group, or for your young adults group heading off to college, contact me to find out more precise shipping for a bulk order to your location.


Spending Time in Prayer with the Lover of Your Soul

There hasn't been much feedback on the first 50 days of 2015 where I shared prayer card images from "A Year in Prayer With Jesus".  All efforts have halted on that project due to hard drive limitations.  The first month's worth of cards is available on Gumroad.com for $20 as a downloadable set of high-quality printables.  Eventually, I hope to have the entire book in prayer card format.  

This coming Easter Weekend is actually a great time to begin your own year in prayer with Jesus.  The book in paperback can be purchased online for $25.50 or as an ebook for $9.99.  The ebook displays best on a laptop or computer screen, as some ebook readers struggle with the large size of the main part of the book.  Because of areas after each prayer point where you can write in your own thoughts, my recommendation is to have the book in print anyway.

This is an undated book so that Day One can begin literally on any calendar date of the year!

Check out this video to get a feel for how to engage with The Lord's Prayer at a deeper level this year.

 
Dressed for Eternity

Resurrection Sunday would be a great time to dive into the book, "Dressed for Eternity" as well.  Available as an ebook at $9.99, or in full-colour paperback for $36.00 from me and more from other online locations, this book takes you through a detailed discussion of Aaron's Breastplate, the New Jerusalem foundations, the priestly clothing, the annointing oil's composition, jewelry in Exekiel, and so much more!  Learn how God adorns His Bride in the Scriptures as you prepare yourself for being united with Jesus Christ, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and the Celestial Bridegroom coming for His Bride.


Becoming the Bride of Christ: A Personal Journey

My own journey learning how to live life as the Bride of Christ began in 2007, and I've captured a fair bit of the bootcamp portion of this journey in my series, "Becoming the Bride of Christ: A Personal Journey".  So many lessons, discoveries, revelations, and challenges. . . The volumes in this series are all sold individually anywhere they are found online from my website to Amazon and other online locations.  Because they have questions and places for notes, I recommend getting the paperback version.  The entire series, including a Leader's Guide, costs roughly $56 before shipping and handling, depending on where you shop.

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Wrap-up

March didn't see any special promotions going on.  No contests took place.  It was a quiet month on the book front in general.  Not so quiet on the blog however, as you'll see in the blog snippets below.  I pray that God meets you this Sunday, and this coming week in an extra special way.  May you see Christ's sacrifice for your sins in a whole new light and be struck once again with the impact of what He did for you.

 
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