Trust Devotion ~ The What-If Woman

This is a chapter from the next devotion book, Trust. It is one of the three books written by Lydia Brownback in the Godly Woman's Adornment series.


The What-If Woman

Many of us are what-if women. What-if women spend a good deal of energy and time worrying not only about what might happen and about what they should say and do, but also about what others think about what they say and do.
"What if I lose my job in the upcoming round of lay-offs?"
"What if I can't conceive?"
"I just can't get to the part next week. What if Sally never invites me again?"
Such worry about what may happen is fruitless. Think about it: our hovering over a situation cannot actually prevent the thing we are worried about from happening. The what-ifs can begin the moment we wake up and often last right on through the day. But God doesn't want us to be what-if women. What-iffing not only zaps our energy, it also indicates a lack of trust in God's wise and loving control over our affairs. He who cares to number every hair on our heads-something not even the vainest of us bothers to do - cares much more about our trusting him with the upkeep of our homes, our health, our mobility, and our relationships with other people. Since he not only cares about these things but is also able to do something about them, he wants us to leave the ordering to him.
When we trust God to run our lives, we find that we are free to enjoy him and other people-free to live and love, because He is taking care of things. We are designed to glorify God and enjoy him, not to spend our energies worrying about the details of daily life or fearing the pain of major crises. He will always supply what he knows we really need for every circumstance we face. Freedom from fear comes from believing that. It comes also from opening our hearts to embrace God's supply, even if his supply differs from what we think we need.

Purity Devotion ~ A Pure Heart

Here it is! My first purity devotion post. I will be rotating through the four different books every few days :) Thank you all for supporting these devotion posts. Enjoy!


We don't hear the word purity much today except in descriptions of cleaning agents and snow covered landscapes. We do hear the word spoken more frequently in the Christian community, but usually only as it applies to sexual purity. We have lost sight of all it means to be pure as God intended. So what does it mean? Purity is much more than moral behavior. Purity is first and foremost a matter of the heart. To be pure is to be single-minded. It is to have a single goal, a single focus, and a single purpose for ourselves and our lives. That is biblical purity, and from it springs moral behavior - the good we do with our bodies. At its core, purity is having a heart for the Lord that isn't watered down or polluted by lesser things.
The apostle James wrote, Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. (James 4:8) According to James, a double-minded woman spends her passion going after what this world offers. In contrast, Jesus describes a very different sort of passion: Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. (Matthew 22:37-38). Elsewhere Jesus attaches a promise to purity: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God Matthew 5:8). To see God is to know the joy of living in close relationship with him. To see him is also to enjoy Spirit-filled, biblically guided direction and guidance for all of life. A woman who is pure in this way realizes an ever-increasing ability to rightly apply God's Word to the little day-to-day things.
Putting Christ first i the essence of purity. That is why Jesus words in the beatitude, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God," are the starting point for any woman who is serious about being pure But the beatitude is not only our starting point; it is also the place to end. Jesus' words form a basis for the kind of purity that will endure for a lifetime. Viewing purity from a biblical perspective takes our understanding of what it means to be pure beyond mere outward conduct to a whole new level - a deeper level. And if we approach purity as Jesus describes it, we will discover that our battle to be pure in body, as well as in mind and spirit, comes much more easily.
We women struggle, often with little success, to master particular sins - outward displays of impurity. Perhaps that's because we have been trying to clean up our act while failing to see the impurity of our heart. What are we to do? We can't clean our own heart. besides, the extent of its dirt and sin is beyond our comprehension. A heart is made pure as Christ washes and cleans it. I once heard someone pray, "Lord wash my heart." That's a good prayer. But becoming pure in heart doesn't end with prayer. It comes as we lean on grace. It comes as we acknowledge our utter inability to become pure women and our need for Christ to make us clean and to purify us through and through. Putting Christ first takes care of everything else.
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God bless you all, and may the Lord give you grace as you try to put him first :)
Abigail Prudence
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Joy Devotion ~ Joy In God's Place

Hi everyone! Since I got so many requests, I have decided that I will be posting my devotions regularly! If anyone has a particular book out of the four that they would like me to post, please leave a note in the comments :D These devotions have encouraged me so much, I would like to thank my father for getting me these books, they have helped me grow in the Lord. So thanks Dad, I know you love me and love to watch me as I learn more about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I love you, thank you for taking care of me <3.

Joy in God's Place

For all the gods of the people are idols: but the LORD made the heavens. Glory and honour are in his presence; strength and gladness are in his place. (1 Chronicles 16:26-27)

We always-every moment, without exception-pursue what we believe will make us happy. For some it's a particular relationship. For others it's a certain home. For still others it's a career path. Whatever it is, we devote ourselves to getting it, pursuing it with all our energy and every resource we have. We are certainly free to delight in the material and relational blessings God brings us, but if we believe our happiness is dependent on them, it's because, whether we realize it or not, we don't really believe God is enough for us.
We say that God is enough, but the fact that we hover and worry and fret when our goals and hopes don't pan out proves otherwise. Jesus said "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21). How do we respond when something we value is taken away? Do we cling to Christ in our sorrow or disappointment, or do we resist him and set ourselves on a determined course to prevent the loss or recapture it? Our attitude toward God in life's ups and downs is always the most honest depiction of what we really believe.
We will never ultimately find the happiness we seek in anything this world offers-even the good things-because we have been wired to find it in God alone. Joy is found only in God's "place," wherever and however he leads us deeper into his fellowship. Joy-biblical joy-is one way for us to know if we are dwelling in God's place. Godly joy springs from living in harmony with God, having a mind set on pleasing him. If that underlies our pursuits, we are in God's place.
If we insist on defining and establishing our own place, we won't find joy, nor will we ever get to where we think we want to go. James Boice wrote:

If you think you are going to get rich through a job that excludes God and a Christian witness, God will let you get close enough to the wealth to taste it but then keep it just beyond your grasp. If you think you are going to become famous in show business and are willing to leave the commands of God behind in your upward scramble to get there, God will let you get close enough to know and envy others who have made it but keep you an unknown. Do you think that God will not do this: That He is too "kind?" I tell you that God will do it, he is faithful to his nature and will not allow the one He loves to be destroyed through an adulterous infatuation with this world's idols.

God's place is first place, whether it be in our relationships, our homes, or our jobs, and he will reign there only if he reigns supreme in our hearts.
Concerning all the varied details of your life, are you dwelling in God's place or your own? Joy, or lack thereof, is a way to know. Joy is always present where God reigns supreme.

God Bless you all,
Abigail Prudence
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The Joy of new Devotions!

Hello everyone! As some of you know, I just had my 16th birthday! And I wanted to share one of my gifts with you all. One of the presents I was given was the Godly Woman's Adornment Collection. It is 4 devotion books for young women, they are sweet little books that are about 100 pages long. The four books in the collection are, Joy, Contentment, Trust and Purity. The first book that I have started on is the Joy book, and I read something so beautiful that I had to share it with you all. For personal reasons this is very relevant chapter to me, so it touched my heart deeply. To any of you girls that are looking for wonderful devotion books, I highly recommend these, you can find them at Vision Forum. I am very excited about going through all of these, and if you like the devotion I am going to post today, please make a comment requesting more Joy posts! :)


Joy In Repentance

Sin brings misery. There are no exceptions. Ever. Experience has shown us all how true this is, but we continue to sin anyway because we think that somehow, someway, this time will be different. This time we will escape. This time things will go our way. This time we will be able to manipulate the circumstances to bring us the outcome we hope for. We buy into the lie again and again, but even when we turn from God, he never turns from us. He is faithful to his unfaithful people. That's why Nehemiah, the governor of Israel, told the Israelites not to be grieved.
The hearts of the people under Nehemiah had turned away from God. The bad choices they had made over a long period had led them where sin always leads - to discouragement, loss, and feeling distant from God. (sin never produces anything worthwhile in our lives.) But when the people heard God's Word, they were deeply convicted of sin. They were done with excuses. They had ignored the Lord and hurt him, and their awakened awareness of it brought grief to their hearts.
We grieve after we sin too, but there is a difference between the grief of consequences suffered and that of having hurt the Lord. Only one leads to repentance. The old saying is true: being sorry for sin means being sorry enough to quit. If we are sorry primarily because our sinful choices don't work out very well, we aren't really going to quit. We will just change our tactics.
Repentance means turning around and going the other direction. It involves an active cutting off of all that has come between us and the Lord. Feelings of grief may or may no be present, but holy action will be, and as we step out in real repentance, we will find that we do feel sorry for how our sin has driven a wedge into our relationship with God. The Israelites had reached this point, and they were weeping over what their sin had done. But it was just at this point that they were surprised by joy.
Joy is the last thing we expect when the fact of our sinfulness penetrates our hearts. We know we deserve to be miserable, and so often we are tempted to wallow in misery as a way to prove how sorry we are or to try and get back in God's favor. But God doesn't want wallowing. wallowing actually has more to do with us than with God: "Oh, Lord, my sin is so very bad. How could you love someone as bad as me?"
Instead of wallowing, godly grief embraces grace. We forget our own badness and look at God's kind heart and willingness to forgive. We look away from ourselves and toward the cross, where our badness was crucified with Christ. it is not our sin that wins the day, but God's mercy. That's why Nehemiah told the people not to be grieved. Now that they had repented and made a wholehearted commitment to turn back to the Lord, joy was theirs. They were to look away from their sin and even from their sorrow over it- away from themselves altogether - and find the joy of renewal, hope, and confident trust that would strengthen them in their way.
Are you discouraged by sin? Do you think you have forfeited joy forever because what you have done is so bad? don't linger there. Turn back to God with all your heart, and you will find that joy is right there awaiting you.

May God bless you all and may you have JOY today!
Abigail Prudence
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Happy new year, and a friend's give away

Hi everyone! Sorry that it has been sooo long since I have made a post! I hope you all had an awesome new year like I did!!! We blew of a lot of mortar fireworks this year, and I was able to get some good shots, if you want to take a peek you can check out my Flickr page, http://www.flickr.com/photos/texasgal15/ Where I post all of my better photography. Wow, it has been an amazing year for me, I moved to Missouri, and now it looks as if I will be moving back down to Texas again. I wanted to tell you all about a blog give away, she is a beautiful person that has a beautiful blog, I hope you all will check it out, http://fashionandmodesty.blogspot.com/
I am excited about this new year! I have so many things that I hope to accomplish, I pray God will give me grace to do his will.









God Bless you all,
Abigail Prudence

Hallelujah Chorus in Mall

Hi everyone, I don't have an article to post right now, but I came across this video that has gotten really popular really fast. It is a video of a choir of people that get together in a mall and start singing Hallelujah, my family really liked it and I hope you will too.



God Bless,
Abigail Prudence

Thanksgiving Verses

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a good time with your family and friend's this Thanksgiving! I had a great thanksgiving with my family, the weather is starting to get colder and you start to get the feeling that winter is just around the corner! But today I just wanted to post a few scriptures about being thankful. We can pray about all of the things we are thankful for, but reading about it is good too, so here are some versus that I have picked out, I pray you all have a great rest of the weekend.













Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

Psalms 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

Psalms 107:1 O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

A Modest Heart

Hi everyone, I'm so sorry that it has taken me so long to make another post, I took a trip back to San Antonio to get my braces fixed and to visit family. It was good to see them again. The weather here in Missouri has been great, it looks like it is going to snow in a few weeks! This will be the first time that my home town will have snow, I am very excited! Thank you all so much for your patience, here is my new article. :)

A Modest Heart

This is an interesting subject. Everyone usually thinks that modesty only applies to the outward appearance, but it doesn’t. Having your heart and mind wrapped in modesty is also very important. In this day and age, it is very hard to keep your thoughts clean. The media constantly bombards us with impure things that can fill our mind. But even if you have been exposed to some very unbiblical things, it is still possible to keep your heart and mind clean. First, if you do come in contact with something, be it music or television, or another form of media that is unbiblical, the first thing you should do is pray that God will help you keep your mind clean. Also, reading your bible and fellowshipping with others will help you keep your mind on the right track.

Remember, what is in your heart will come out through your lips. “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Matthew 12:34b” One of the best ways a person can tell if you have a chaste and modest heart is by listening to what you say. The tongue is the hardest member of the body to control. It is set on the fire of hell and will spew out almost anything, if not controlled by the mind. But the tongue can also be used to bless and to encourage, but it’s all about what you put into your mind. Your ear and eye gates are so important to protect. Both television and music can be used for great good in the kingdom of God, so they are not bad in general. But protecting the kind of fuel that will fire up your spirit tank is harder than it sounds. Everywhere the devil has placed traps for God’s sheep, you can't go hardly anywhere without being bombarded with sinful messages. But the key is to have such an intimate relationship with God that we don’t even notice all the sin around us. This only comes through prayer, reading the word, fasting and praising Him.

There are lots of families that make their own music, if you live in or have been in a musical home, you know that there is a beauty that can't be explained. You can feel the presence of God when you walk in the room. All throughout my childhood I grew up with my father playing hymns on the piano after he got home, I remember dancing around with the tambourine and singing with my father. We had 3 pianos in our living room so we called it the piano room, I still remember him teaching me how to play How Great Thou Art when I was 7 years old. If any of you have experienced this kind of thing in the home, then you know that you can have Godly music in the home and how it can be a great blessing. If you don't have any musicians in the house, then I encourage you to look up and find peaceful Godly music that you can put through the airwaves of your home, it is usually a great blessing to everyone.

Television and movies are not limited to what is available at your local movie rental store. Recently, there has been a lot of very good Christian films that have been produced, you can find a lot of these at the Vision Forum website. And if you can't find what your looking for there, you can always go to Amazon, and see if what your looking for is there. I hope you can all find a way to put something edifying into your heart today.

Here's a couple verses to spur us on to Praise our wonderful Creator:

Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! Psalm 107:15

O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. 1 Chronicles 16:34

May God bless you all,

Abigail Prudence

What He Must Be ~ Book Review

Hi everyone, I have just finished reading this book called, What He Must Be If He Wants To Marry My Daughter, by Voddie Baucham. It's one of my favorite books ever, and I highly recommend it to any young lady capable of reading. The writer has so much wisdom and experience, it's hard not to love this book.

Wow, I can’t tell you how wonderful this book has been for me! The book was initially written to father’s who wanted to know what a Godly young suitor looks like, but it has been a wonderful education for me as well! Before I had read this book, I knew I didn’t believe in dating and was convinced that courtship was the right way to find a husband. But this book expanded my knowledge of this subject so greatly. There are so many roles that a husband has to take on when he becomes the husband of a wife and soon to be father. It is his responsibility to the provider, protector and prophet of the home. He must have a great passion for teaching the Word of God to his Wife and children. If a young lady was to date around with lots of young men, she would probably never find the man God has made her to be with. This book really helped me understand some of the basic rules of courting, rule #1 always stay with your family, it is not proper to go anywhere with this young man you have just meet, it might be romantic, but not wise. Rule #2 If you are interested in this young man as a possible husband, watch him very carefully, see how he treats his mother and sisters, see how he behaves in different situations, this will greatly influence you and your father’s decision. Most of the time when 2 people are in a relationship, they are on best behavior, learn from friends and family members how he normally acts, when your not around. Rule #3 Learn from his family, find out everything you can about him.

There are other guide lines, but every family’s view of a courtship is always a little different, which isn’t a bad thing. For instance, some families think its okay for the courting couple to go off together for an afternoon, other families are very strict about the two having alone time. Again, every family a bit different, and this book just made some basic observations, no real laid out rules, the rules above are my rules for courting. J This book has greatly exhorted me to learning as much as I can about being a wife and mother, so I can be the best wife possible to my future mate. A father and husband’s job is tuff, I want to be capable of doing everything I can to help him in his vision for my family. There are so many things that this book covered, I am so grateful that my dad bought it for me. This book is wonderful for anyone in the family to read, for young women to learn about what kind of husband to look for. A dad might read this book to further his understanding of the qualifications that a suitor should have. A young man might read this to learn more about what roles a Godly husband and father plays in the family. May God give me grace to learn and be the best wife and mother I can be.

God Bless you all and give you grace,

Abigail Prudence

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The Mayflower Compact

Hi everyone, as I have mentioned in my last post, I will be posting my favorite pieces of the new book I have just acquired. This is actually the first thing in the book, I have read quite a bit past this passage, but wanted to share it with you all. Below is the Mayflower Compact, it was signed just a few days after the early settler's arrival. Hope you all enjoy it.

THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT

In the name of God Amen! We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign Lord, King James, by the Grace of God of Great Britian, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith etc. Having undertaken, for the Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith and Honour of our King and Country a Voyage to plant the First Colony in the Northern Parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one of another, Covenant and Combine ourselves together into a Civil Body Politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France and Ireland the eighteenth, and of the Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Domini 1620.

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41 Men signed this document, among them were William Bradford, Capt. Standish, William Mullins, John Carver & 37 more. If you would like me to post a list of all the names please leave a comment.

I really enjoyed reading this document. Something that you all probably noticed right off the bat, was that they are praising God, in a government document! (it was actually the first government document composed on American ground) My guess is (that nowadays) you would have a very hard time finding a legal document that even mentions the name of God anywhere in it - much less praise his name! These men were committed to honoring God in everything, and they were committed to their families well being. This is how our country got started, family men that loved God and their families with all their hearts and would do anything to protect them. Their government structure was based around honoring God, ( and spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ ) which is a far cry from what our government looks like now. There are very few men in government today - who honestly represent God, Family and Country. I encourage you all to pray for the men in our government system that are making and changing laws. This country got started out with the children reading the bible in schools and memorizing verses. The laws are so different now, I wouldn't be surprised if you can get kicked out of school just for bringing a bible. I encourage you all ask your father's during your family prayer time to devote a few minutes to praying for our leaders.

May God bless and keep you all,

Abigail Prudence

THe Portable Patriot

Hi everyone, I am still in Texas. I did pretty well in my last tennis tournament so that means I will be going to state! Since state is in a few weeks, we decided to stay here until it rolls around on the 17th. Today daddy and I were walking around Border's bookstore to get a history book for my schooling. While we were looking we ran across this wonderful book, I have only been able to read the forward so far it looks great. Let me give you a brief description. ~ The Portable Patriot. documents, speeches and sermons that compose the american soul ~. It's composed by a Christian man, and I am very much looking forward to reading the documents and statements from our founding father's that made this country strong in it's beginning. Let me read you an excerpt of a quote from Noah Webster

The history of the first English settlements in America, and of the measures which prepared the way for a revolution in the colonies, is too interesting not to be well understood by men of common curiosity and reading... That history unfolds a series of great events, evidently suited to accomplish important purposes in the economy of Divine Prodence... events which every American of expanded views must contemplate with admiration; and every Christan, with delight.

- Noah Webster

I will keep you updated with my favorite quotes and poems from this book as I read it.

May God bless and keep you all safe this weekend and give you a wonderful time with your families this Labor Day!

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God Bless,

Abigail Prudence

Hi everyone, this is my last post for a while. I am taking a trip back down to San Antonio, Texas for a visit. While I am there I will be playing a tennis tournament, something I haven't been able to do here. I haven't talked about it yet, but I have been able to get horse riding lessons here! I have been having a wonderful time, at some point I would like to get my own horse, but time will tell. So anyways...

I don't really understand why I got this award, but okay! The rules of this tag are as follows: I must answer the questions given to me below by the tagger, and then I must tag more peoples and ask them ten questions for them to fill out. Yeah.So, the questions me:

From Abigail:

1. In what location do you feel God's Presence the greatest?
Definitely when I am sitting on the park bench at the Lake. Sometimes I go there and look at smoke come off the water early in the morning before anyone is up. That is my special time with God.

2. What is your favorite craft? (i.e. knitting, scrapbooking, drawing, etc.)
I don't think I have a craft, I love to cook? does that count?

3. How many brothers and/or sisters do you have?
1 Brother

4. Do you have an iPod?
Yup, i-Pod touch!

5. Do you speak a second language?

I am currently learning Spanish =)

6. What type of food is your favorite? (i.e. American, Mexican, Indian, Chinese, etc.)
Either Tex-Mex (home town cooking) or Chinese.

7. Have you ever eaten sushi?
nope, never and don't plan on it.

8. If you had to live in a foreign country for five years, which country would you pick and why?
Either Egypt or Scotland, I know two really strange choices.

9. Can you either "speak" sign language or read Braille?
Nope, but I should probably learn.

10. Describe your pets:
Midnight, completely black cat. Nacho, white striped with light orange, & Taco, scrougy mutt white and brownish hair.

I hereby award:
Ashley M @ A Cowgirls Dream

Prism @ A Girl of Many Colors
Antoinette @ Practical Simplicity ~ For His Glory
More Questions...

1. What is your favorite book?

At the moment? Probably What He Must Be ~ If He Wants To Marry My Daughter.

2. Comedy or Adventure?

Comedy

3. What is the farthest you've ever traveled from home?

From home (Texas) Maryland is the farthest, but not the coolest place I've been.

4. What is your favorite song, and from which author is it?
Slow Fade ~ Casting Crowns

5. What color is your room painted?

Light Blue and Vanilla

6. What place, for you, in the world has the best memories?
Right where I am, Ozarks Missouri

7. What is your favorite baby name?
I have no idea really? Micha maybe?

8. Do you play pranks? If so, what is the best one you've ever made up?
Nope, not into that.

9. What is your favorite beverage?
homemade lemon aid, seriously the home made stuff, not the stuff from the store.

10. What, to your mind, is the perfect vacation?
It wouldn't be in one place, it would be a world tour of the most beautiful places in the world.

God Bless,

Abigail Prudence
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Awards!

Hello! About a week ago I was given this award, and today I found the blog it was from. http://destinyofone.blogspot.com/, Sarah H is the girl who runs this blog! She is really sweet and is a very good writer, I recommend you check out the link! I am going to pass this on to 12 of my followers, the list is below. I have just starting taking horse riding lessons again! It has been a while since I have gone riding, but has been a lot of fun! I want to hear from you! Do you ride horses often? Or are you interested in riding, but haven't had the opportunity? Comment and let me know! May God bless you all, and if you are on the lists, be sure to award someone else!

1. Post the logo on your blog and/or within the post. 2. Pass it on to 10 other bloggers.

3. Add links to these 10 bloggers within your blog. 4. Let them know they are receiving the award.

5. Share the link of the person from whom you received the award.

I would like to give this award to…

Ashley Kristen Liseby Lee Prisim

Sarah Grace Hannah Leigh Miss Zara

Rachel M Maiden of Emmanuel

Antoinette K. (no link found) Guinevere (no link found)

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I pray you all have a wonderful weekend!

Abigail Prudence