Fun in the Northwoods

Yesterday, 9:45 am

September 25, 2026, the 268th day of 2026 The Dignity of True Royalty Jesus never stopped being the King when He left His throne in Heaven and took on flesh.... View MoreSeptember 25, 2026, the 268th day of 2026 The Dignity of True Royalty Jesus never stopped being the King when He left His throne in Heaven and took on flesh. Everything He did carries the dignity of His royal position, of His Godhead. Jesus humbled Himself and became a servant to humanity, to save us and lift us out of the slavery of sin. But He never lost the dignity of the King of kings, even as He fed the masses, healed the sick, washed the feet of His disciples, even the one He knew would betray Him. But Jesus never became a door mat. He allowed what had to be, in obedience to His Father, but He knew Who He was during the process. There is a dignity in true royalty, dwelling in Heavenly places, the Creator of all that is. Knowing Who He was, He could reply, unflinching, to the rants of the Pharisees. He was so far above them that He could pity them. They thought to put Him in His place, not knowing what His place actually was. Jesus has mercy. Jesus knows our frailty. He came to redeem us. Even as He was mocked, torchered and scorned, they could not break down that royal dignity, which probably enraged them the more. Jesus is so far above us, that to even look upon us, was to look into the mud soaked trenches of sin. But He was not concerned about what He appeared to be as He pulled us out. He knew Who He was. And He knew His mission. Jesus not only washes away our sin, our guilt, our shame, when we repent and turn to Him in surrender as our Lord, our Master, our King. He makes of us a new creation, eternal, a child of God, a royal child of the Kingdom of Heaven. When we do His work, we should never lose that dignity. It comes from a pure heart, the heart of righteousness, the heart of love. It is nevet snooty, proud or arrogant. In its humility there is strength, not weakness. In doing the tasks we are called upon to do by our Father, the High King, we are serving the Kingdom as His children, not as His slaves. And though we call ourselves slaves to Jesus, we are slaves to no other. We serve our King, not man. In our tasks we too carry the dignity of true royalty with us. And because of that, we can reach down and pull up. We can lift up and encourage. We can carry the light into the darkness. We can smile in the face of the Devil and say, "you have no dominion over me!" Many have repented and surrendered to Jesus. But many have never left the dominion of this world. They are still held by its system, by its cares, by its whims. But it is an ungodly system. Though they are the royalty of Heaven, they live as servants of those who dwell in darkness, forgetting Who their Lord and Master is, and of what Kingdom tbey are. That is false humility. It is a trap of the Devil to keep God's children down and ignorant of their position. And it is something vile. It is serving a corrupt system as a pawn, instead of serving the righteous Kingdom as an heir. And they need to wake up or they will be swept away with it. Stay strong! Do all that God would ask of you with the dignity of true royalty, the dignity of Jesus, Who did what He did, never forgetting Who He was, where He came from and where He was returning to. NAN

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Nelani Nettrour

September 24, 2026 6:49 pm

September 24, 2026, the 267th day of 2026 A Sparkling Hard Road When we are a child of God, we want to be used of God. We want to shine. We want to make Him proud of us. We want Him to get excite... View MoreSeptember 24, 2026, the 267th day of 2026 A Sparkling Hard Road When we are a child of God, we want to be used of God. We want to shine. We want to make Him proud of us. We want Him to get excited about how far we have come. But sometimes we want to do what God did not make us for. We look at a Christian singer, actor, author, dancer, preacher, the ones who seem to be standing on a sparkling stage, known and loved by their peers, cheered on and supported in their work. We stand in obscurity and wonder why our talents are not appreciated and why our hard work is ignored. We may begin to envy the position those with such success are in, seemingly blessed by God so much more, doing so much more with the same amount of time that we have, some with the same talents we've been given. We imagine that we would like to do it, and we think, "I could do that. Why not me?" And maybe we can. But maybe we have not been made for it. Maybe we have been made for something different, the same talents used for a different purpose in the Kingdom of God. We do not see all the prep work that God put into fitting them for the job they would one day have. They did not just walk into it, as an overnight success, even if we see it that way. The family they were placed into, the time they put into honing their skills, the lessons they willingly learned, even the hard ones, all impacted the outcome. We do not see the late nights and early mornings working on the gifts that God gave them, finding ways to incorporate them into their daily life. We do not see the sacrifice, the time they would rather have been just home relaxing. We only see the success, the acknowledgement of a job well done, the accolades. But none of that is easy, no matter how gifted a person is. There are always hard choices. And not everyone is made to shine in a spotlight. Some people would wilt there. Most people would. There are those that are made to shine brighter, to encourage us who are struggling along, but humming their tune while doing so. They write books and the scripts that move our hearts and tell our story, that we could not tell. The actors try to convey the intent of the part they have been given. Together they weave the tale and we are drawn in. For a while we escape to another time or place. We did not create it, but we can feel a part of it. Pastors and orators do the research so we have the answers to questions we may not have even thought to ask. Their voices ring out, drawing us to the throne of God. These professionals are not satisfied with just being good enough. They want to get better and make an even greater impact. They strive to excell and to bring us with them in the experience. It is more difficult for successful Christians to remain grounded, to not lose focus on the message. There are many hardships behind the ability to smile and keep going, because they work for a higher calling and are called to greater scrutiny. All of that is a part of what we don't see, behind the glamor. Don't envy it. Pray for them. They need it! Stay strong! Your purpose many not be flashy but it is still to live a righteous life, seeking to do the will of God. NAN

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Nelani Nettrour

September 23, 2026 7:28 pm

September 23, 2026, the 266th day of 2026 Money is a Tool Money is one of the most misunderstood of tools. In and of itself, it has no power. The power is in how it is used.... View MoreSeptember 23, 2026, the 266th day of 2026 Money is a Tool Money is one of the most misunderstood of tools. In and of itself, it has no power. The power is in how it is used. The love of money is an improper use of the tool and can lead to all kinds of evil. Warning of desiring to be rich and the temptations that come with it, the Bible summs it up in this verse. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” I Timothy 6:10 Money is a tool that easily becomes the goal. We must guard ourselves from lusting after what is not ours. We must stop ourselves from feeling cheated because we have less than others. Contentment has to be a part of us before God can trust us with more. When used properly money can do a lot of good. But that also takes discernment. Everything that looks like it is doing good, may not be doing good, but actually evil. Most people wouldn't willingly give to evil causes, but evil will dress itself up like a good cause and many won't look any deeper, and the wicked prospers. Money used improperly can cause all kinds of evil. Bribery, corruption, extortion, manipulation, controlling influence and blackmail are some of the forms wickedness may use the tool of money. The tool is not the issue, what use it is put to, is. Money, earned through honest work, investment and/or inheritence is a tool. It can be used for good purposes, by allowing families to thrive and be independent of outside interference. Simply through wise purchases we can help support and grow businesses that impact the world for goodnes. Having our own money as a tool and not as something to be hoarded or wasted we can do even more good. When we find places that are doing the work that God has put on our heart, but we cannot physically do, we can help support that work. Money is always needed to pay bills. If we want more family friendly and moral books, television shows and movies, we need to support them. No matter how great the message, if they do not keep making money on their projects, they cannot keep producing them. There are simple ways, through spending we already do, that will help one company thrive as another falters. Choose to support those who share your values, not just are easy on your pocketbook. Quality has gone away from many businesses because people will not pay for it. Going cheaper is often robbing from the hard working people in our own country. Being frugal is sometimes being stingy. Learn to tell the difference. Thrift shops may not provide work to those producing the product, but are usually run by churches that use that money raised for good works. For those who do not want to be wasteful and have money to spend on new things, they may do so more eagerly knowing that their cast offs can help another. We do not spend a lot on money on new things, so we really are thankful for Thrift Shops. But I am also thankful to those who can buy the new things that eventually are donated. Someone spent good money on that outfit, so it is good that it finds a place where it can still be used and appreciated. With limited income there are still ways we can help one another. Every little bit helps when we support the places we want to prosper, including our local churches that stand on the word of God. Using our money wisely, can give us a good life and also have money left over to share with those who are truly doing God's work, eternal work. Stay strong! Seek to spend wisely and use your money as a good tool, a proper tool, not a corrupted tool. NAN

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Nelani Nettrour

September 22, 2026 8:26 pm

September 22, 2026, the 265th day of 2026 Mom's Birthday My mom has been gone 15 years now. Today is her birthday and I cannot help thinking about her, as a girl, a young woman, a young wife, a you... View MoreSeptember 22, 2026, the 265th day of 2026 Mom's Birthday My mom has been gone 15 years now. Today is her birthday and I cannot help thinking about her, as a girl, a young woman, a young wife, a young mother and a young grandmother. When I look back, I really am amazed at what she managed. Mom's mom had to work because of her divorce and did extra work in the place they lived, so they could have their rent reduced. But she missed her mom, and didn't like that she had to be away so long, so she wanted to be the kind of mom who was there for her children. And that took a lot of work. Mom had 9 children, starting when she was 17. Her last child was born in her mid 30's. When I look back, now, it fills me with more wonder than ever before. She taught us all the time, even when we didn't realize. And sometimes she taught us by her own mistakes telling us why some choices were bad and not to make them. Others we did not hear the stories to until we were adults. Before that she would say, "do as I say, don't do as I do". She never claimed to know it all. She never claimes to be perfect. She only claimed to be our mom. She did not have a housekeeper or a nanny. She did not send us off to daycare. She wanted to raise us. She wanted to be a part of our lives. We helped in little ways, that we thought were bigger ways when we were children. But really she took most upon herself. As children we just expected that. I don't think we realized how amazing it was. But when preparing for guests and holidays we would all scurry about doing this task or that. I really loved when she waxed our large hardwood floors, because we would put on thick socks and skate about "buffing" them. We had all kinds of music playing in the background, opera to rock, ballet to ballads. She would laugh and say it was to keep down our noise, but it filled us with the love of music, all kinds of music. Mom loved to dance and had wanted to be a dancer. If they were a class we would share , she would take us with her. Or if they were dance classes with other children, she encouraged us so we could learn poise, movements, balance and flexibility. She also loved to write and I would have loved to have had more of our family history from her perspective. I only got a small part of her writing published when I added a section of it to my Pathways book. Mom loved mystery books, movies and television shows. She also loved Spencer and Tracy, and J ohn Wayne and Maureen O'Hara movies especially. I loved watching them with her when she would actually sit down long enough to do so. Throughout our childhood she taught us to be respectful of others, to consider others' time as important, not to be late, not to make people unduly worry, not to be inconsiderate. She taught us to take care of putting our dishes in the sink, but she usually was the one who washed them. We would take over for Mother's Day and her birthdays, but those we exceptions. She taught us to keep our rooms clean and put the dirty clothes in the laundry shoot or the hamper, but she washed those clothes, dried them, ironed them as needed and folded them for us to put away. She taught us to look out for one another and to keep an eye on the younger ones, so we became observant and on the lookout for dangers that could happen, that were not obvious. Even the younger ones had mom's grandchildren coming as they were growing up. Sometimes these lessons were obvious, about the dangers of leaving the handle of a pan pointing into the room where it could be bumped or a child could grab it and pull the hot food down upon themselves. Or the danger of a hot drink being left unattended, within reach of a child. Not only "don't talk to strangers", but why. The danger of going off with strangers, or how bad people may entice children with candy, puppies, kittens etc. There is really too much to cover that i find she had an impact on. Even the things I did differently she encouraged, as she said that each of us are free to live the way we want to when we leave home. I thank God for my mom and the family He put me into! Stay strong! Remembering the youth and humanity of your mom will make your memories more enjoyable. NAN

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Nelani Nettrour

September 22, 2026 12:00 am

September 21, 2026, the 264th day of 2026 Crispness Today was beautiful and sunny, but there was a crispness in the air that tells of cooler days ahead.... View More

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Nelani Nettrour

September 20, 2026 6:59 pm

September 20, 2026, the 263rd day of 2026 Hope Carries Over the Rough Patches Sometimes things get so challenging and the future so unsure, that all we have to cling to is hope. Sometimes it is all... View More

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