Current Mood: thoughtful

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries: 6 November 2025

Marriage in God’s Kingdom

Luke 20:27-40 – There came to Him [Jesus] some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, and they asked Him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. And the second and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. Afterward the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.” And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now He is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to Him.” Then some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” For they no longer dared to ask Him any question.

Will I still be married to the one I love in heaven? Jesus says no—and that worries a lot of people. They imagine an eternity of loneliness and a few mild friendships—something not as good as what they have on earth.

But this is just one example of a problem lots of people have when it comes to imagining the world to come. God tells us that something we know will not be there—marriage, in this case; and we immediately imagine the same life we know but with something good taken away. Of course we’re unhappy!

But the problem lies with us, not God. We forget that our generous God knows what we love and enjoy—how not, when He created us? And so if He takes something good away, it can only be to replace it with something even better. What this will be is something we don’t know yet; but we can be certain that it will be wonderful. God is like that—taking away water to replace it with wine; changing a little boy’s lunch into food for five thousand; taking ordinary bread and wine and using it to give us the best gift of all, Himself.

So we need not be afraid of losing the relationships we love. If not that, something better—we know that from the fact that God loves us so dearly. He who died and rose for our sake, to rescue us from evil and bring us safely into His kingdom—how can we imagine He would give us anything less than the best?

WE PRAY: Dear Lord, I don’t know what You’re planning, but I’m sure it will be wonderful. Thank You for that. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.

Entry tags:

2026,
volunteers

Call for Volunteers 2026

It’s coming up at that time of the year again and we wanted to let you know that the Fandom Snowflake Challenge will be happening again in January. We are very excited about hosting another round! To make the upcoming round as awesome as it can possibly be we are looking for volunteers to help us out! Here are the details on what the requirements and expectations of volunteer mods are for you to consider.

Requirements and Expectation of Volunteer Mods

General Volunteer Requirements:

All volunteers will have the opportunity to help us mold the challenges by helping come up with what challenges we offer and when we offer them.

Volunteers must be willing to interact with a lot of people who have different interests and levels than you and some of them, you might be the only interaction they receive. You must be able to offer support and encouragement or alert other mods to the need.

We have 4 levels of involvement that can fit most people's availability.

1) Poster and First Comment Responder

2) Comment Responder

3) Other Site Organizer

4) Graphics

Poster: We have 19 posts scheduled (15 challenges, one introduction, one meet the mods, one wrap up post and the friending meme.) You can sign up for only one if you'd like, or more if you're able.

Responsibility of Poster: create the post using the template provided. Seek feedback if you'd like. Post into the community, and then notify us in the mod community so we all know it's there. Then you are the first responder to that post. You don't have to answer every comment or read every post after. But you'll be the one getting the notifications as the challenge progresses so you'll have the sole responsibility of cheering on the stragglers.

Second Responder, Third and (hopefully) Fourth Responder Responsibilities:

✔️Help poster respond to comments on the community post (we get an average of 150 participants per challenge)

✔️Take turns commenting on each post of our participants.

✔️Communicate with other volunteers throughout the month.

Other Site Organizers Requirements:

We need volunteers familiar with other fandom spaces that aren't Dreamwidth if we want to have a presence in these spaces. This will require adapt each Dreamwidth post to making a post on your site, which may include fixing links, removing or altering HTML, sharing a small quote and linking to the Dreamwidth post, tagging appropriately, and/or removing or altering images to your site's specifications. You should be prepared to post the above 19 posts listed under Dreamwidth Poster and you should also be prepared to make additional posts as needed on your site to share any applicable graphics, share your site specific tags, or otherwise interact with your site participants.

Depending on your site, you may need to keep track of a tag, reply to comments on your post, keep track of reblogs, keep track of direct messages, or otherwise monitor your site for participant entries. You need to interact with participant entries in some way, such as commenting, reblogging, Liking, or whatever is possible on your site. Ideally, each site should have an additional volunteer (or volunteers) to help with posting and commenting on your site which might involve creating site specific templates, communicating outside of the Dreamwidth mods community, and other mod duties (like answering asks, checking an inbox, or maintaining a community.

Graphics:

We'd love to have someone with graphic abilities to help us create some banners and icons. Only requirement other than making awesome pretties is to supply the coding needed to post it.

It really is a lot of fun, made more so by the inclusion to as many people from as many fandoms and spaces as possible.

Current Mood: thoughtful

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Church of Hope: 5 November 2025

Wait for It

Scott Rains, Lead Pastor, Hope Ankeny
2 Peter 3:11-18

Going out for dinner is one of my favorite things. This has, however, not always been the case. When I was a kid and our family went to a restaurant, the time between making our order and taking our first bite seemed like an eternity. I would sit in anguish at the table just waiting.

God doesn’t seem to mind waiting. This is partially because God is working on a different timeline. “A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day” (2 Peter 3:8).The Alpha and Omega, the one who is the beginning and the end, is unaffected by the ticking of a clock.

Abraham and Sarah care greatly about the ticking of the clock as they wait to become parents. Their great-grandson Joseph is sold into slavery and winds up imprisoned in Egypt. He interprets the dream of a fellow inmate, the cupbearer to Pharaoh. Joseph asks the cupbearer to speak highly of Joseph so he might be set free, but years pass while Joseph waits.

The Psalm writer faithfully exclaims: Come quickly to help me, O Lord my savior (Psalm 38:22).

We want God’s help to come quickly. More often than not, we find ourselves waiting and wondering what God is up to and why he is slow to respond.

Peter reframes it beautifully: The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake (2 Peter 3:9).

In Paul’s famous love chapter (1 Corinthians 13), the first word Paul uses to describe God’s love is patient. God isn’t slow. God is patient. Because God is love.

One of my favorite examples of this is at the beginning of the Exodus:

When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land. God said, “If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea (Exodus 13:17-18).

God, precisely because he loves us, refuses to give us the shortcut we would much prefer.

Current Mood: thoughtful

YMI -- ODB: 4 November 2025

ODB: God Hears Our Prayers

Nov 4, 2025/in Our Daily Bread/by YMI

November 4, 2025

READ: Isaiah 38:1-6

Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. Isaiah 38:2

My friend Christine and her husband sat down to dinner at their aunt and uncle’s house. Her aunt had recently been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. Before anyone started to eat, her uncle asked, “Does anyone have anything to say?” Christine smiled because she knew he meant, “Does anyone want to pray?” He wasn’t a believer in Jesus, but he knew Christine was, so this was his way to invite prayer. Speaking from her heart, she gave thanks to God for His care and requested that He would perform a miracle for her aunt.

King Hezekiah became ill and had something on his heart to say to God after the prophet Isaiah told him he was going to die (Isaiah 38:1). He “wept bitterly” and pleaded, “Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion” (v. 3). His was an honest, desperate appeal for deliverance. Even though healing isn’t dependent on our “goodness,” and God doesn’t always heal, He chose to extend the king’s life by fifteen years (v. 5). After his recovery, Hezekiah thanked and praised Him (v. 16).

God invites us to pray—whether it’s for an urgent need or to thank Him for something small or significant. He hears our prayers, sees our tears, and will answer according to His plan. Our place is to “walk humbly all [our] years” with Him (v. 15).

— Anne Cetas

What concerns do you have to bring to God? How can you place your trust in Him?

Loving Father, thank You for wanting to hear my heart. I trust that You’re powerful and able to bring about Your good will in my life and in those I love.

Source: Our Daily Bread

Current Mood: thoughtful

YMI -- ODB: 3 November 2025

ODB: Joined by Jesus

Nov 3, 2025/in Our Daily Bread/by YMI

November 3, 2025

READ: Ephesians 2:12-22

In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. Ephesians 2:21

Andy Goldsworthy’s Grand Rapids Arch sits on the side of a road as if striding alongside travelers. The artist created the eighteen-foot-tall, free-standing arch with thirty-six blocks of Scottish sandstone without using mortar or pins. The ascending angled stones, each one different and cut to fit together, depend on pressure created by a wedge-shaped keystone—the top center stone—to remain perfectly intact. The keystone is essential to holding the structure together, much like a cornerstone.

The sculpture reminded me of how Jesus serves as “the chief cornerstone” of His diverse church (Ephesians 2:20). The gentiles—all non-Jewish people—were once “excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world” (v. 12). Jesus made “the two groups one” and “destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” (v. 14). He created “one new humanity,” and “in one body [reconciled] both of them to God through the cross,” giving them all “access to the Father by one Spirit” (vv. 15-16, 18).

Christ builds us up as a church “in which God lives by his Spirit” (v. 22). He sculpts each unique person, connects us to Him and to each other through Him, and walks with us. The church is joined by Jesus.

— Xochitl Dixon

What hinders you from connecting to Jesus as Messiah, the one who unites the church? How has He helped you connect to His diverse church?

Dear Jesus, please strengthen my connection with You and the members of Your diverse family. Learn more about having a personal relationship with God.

Source: Our Daily Bread

Current Mood: energetic

Entry tags:

Successful Schlock! Fics Finished and Fics to be Continued

Hi there! A month ago I proclaimed my goal for October, which was to write three specific, silly fics for a set of Schlocktober prompts in the fandom Hello From the Magic Tavern. I'm here to navel-gaze on what the experience was like. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with how things went.

( The original goals, under the cut )

My Method: Fun and Games
The main obstacle I foresaw was that I would get stumped trying to write for a canon with such a particular tone/vibe, and for which canon review was difficult. The fan wiki's quality and completeness leaves something to be desired, and there are no scripts to reference since the show is entirely improvised. One thing I did to surmount this was extensive long-form pre-writing.

( More on fun and games under the cut )

What I Actually Wrote: Gore, a Prequel, and the Weirdest Vehicle for Unrequited Love Yet
The first fic I posted for the challenge was "Proprioception" (on AO3), which is nasty gory self-cest. I must emphasize that I am a huge scaredy-cat about gore so it is especially astounding that I wrote this. But, it was something I felt had to exist. More extended reflections are in this post I wrote in the beginning of the month. In retrospect, I do think it helped me build my confidence. It felt more approachable because I really only had to review a few episodes of canon to write it, and the canon had already set up the premise for sex. Armed with a detailed outline, I wrote and posted the fic with an incredible amount of momentum. And at least one other person than me liked it!

I started on the next fic, which was supposed to be a quick, silly little PWP with secret identities and cross-dressing. I'm sure you can guess what happened.

( More about what I wrote under the cut )

Suffice it to say I'm really happy with my progress. I'd written fics for Hello From the Magic Tavern before, but that was a long time ago, and I wasn't 100% comfortable writing in that world yet. (For one, the canon is hilarious, and writing humorous fic is not easy.) This has been a great month to work through some of those hesitations, to discover that there are a handful of people who are also excited about this fandom, and to stretch myself as a writer.

Current Mood: contemplative
Current Location: comatose in bed
Current Music: birdsong

Entry tags:

Dark Shadows: Blood Levy by Susan Rains/Carey Kasdot

Fandom: Dark Shadows

Pairings/Characters: Barnabas Collins, Roger Collins, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, Angelique Bouchard Collins, Elliot Stokes, Julia Hoffman, David Collins, Hallie Stokes, Maggie Evans, Willie Loomis

Rating: T

Length: 102,807

Creator Links: SusanRains | Archive of Our Own

Theme: Mystery & Suspense

Summary: Four strangers converge on Collinsport. But maybe one of them is coming home.

The vicious killing of two young boys has Barnabas convinced that a vampire preys upon Collinsport. His suspects are four newcomers: three strangers, and an enemy from his own past, long believed dead.

Reccer's Notes: Though it may be read separately without much fuss, this fic follows Lunatic Yarn, recc'd a few days ago. Blood Levy details the goings on of the ever-put-upon Collins family as they struggle to maintain their reputation while wringing a little love and enjoyment out of ~Life. It's a fine mystery using all the familiar TV show performers, the main ones in their regular roles, while various supporting performers Author has envisioned as original characters. Beginning with sudden action, continuing in an eerie atmosphere, well, could we expect anything else?

Fanwork Links:
Blood Levy (Dark Shadows 1971) Book 3 - Chapter 1 - Carey Kasdot (SusanRains) - Dark Shadows (1966) [Archive of Our Own]

Current Mood: thoughtful

Upwords - Max Lucado: 2 November 2025

The Immutable Qualities of God

Here is a practical idea. Quarry from your Bible a list of the immutable qualities of God and press them into your heart. When calamity strikes, recite them over and over. My list reads like this:

He is still sovereign. He still knows my name. Angels still respond to his call. The hearts of rulers still bend at his bidding. The death of Jesus still saves souls. The Spirit of God still indwells saints. Heaven is still only heartbeats away. The grave is temporary housing. God is still faithful. He is not caught off guard. He uses everything for his glory and my ultimate good. He uses tragedy to accomplish his will, and his will is right and holy and perfect. God bears fruit in the midst of affliction.

Welcome this truth into your heart: Jesus understands. Grip God’s sovereignty and never let it go.

Entry tags:

Sherlock Holmes: Bad Dog by Unpainted Canvas

Fandom: Sherlock Holmes (tagged both books and Granada)
Pairings/Characters: Holmes/Watson
Rating: T
Length: 11,539 words
Creator Links: Unpainted Canvas (RatTale)
Theme: mystery & suspense, casefic

Summary: During a hard case Holmes and Watson part ways after an argument, and now Holmes suddenly has more to worry about than missing children.

Reccer's Notes: After they have a terrible row, Watson is kidnapped by bad guys to prevent Holmes from pursuing a case. The entire story is from Holmes POV, and there is a lot of worry and tension as Holmes tries to solve the disappearance of his friend. It's a good casefic, as well as the circumstances leading to realization of feelings by Holmes.

Fanwork Links: AO3

Entry tags:

Round 180: Mystery & Suspense

Moody photograph of the ocean from an outlook. In the foreground, two dirty hands claw their way up over the edge toward the viewer. Text: Mystery & Suspense, at Fancake.

Spooky season's not over yet because our theme for November is mystery & suspense!

The tag for this round is: theme: mystery & suspense

If you're just joining us, be sure to check out our policy on content notes. Content notes aren't required, but they're nice to include in your recs, especially if a fanwork has untagged content that readers may wish to know about in advance.

( Rules! )

( Posting Template! )

( Promote this round! )

Reblog on Tumblr | Reskeet on Bluesky | Retoot on Mastodon

Current Mood: thoughtful

YMI -- ODB: 1 November 2025

ODB: A Great Multitude

Nov 1, 2025/in Our Daily Bread/by YMI

November 1, 2025

READ: Revelation 7:9-10, 13-17

There before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. Revelation 7:9

In 2010, nearly four thousand believers in Jesus gathered in Cape Town, South Africa. Participants from 198 countries were represented at the conference—a gathering considered to be the most representative meeting of the Christian church in the two thousand years since Jesus walked the earth.

There will come a day when a gathering needn’t be “representative” because all believers will be together. John, in a vision from God, describes it this way: “I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb . . . and they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne’ ” (Revelation 7:9-10).

Our local churches may not always reflect the diversity that exists in God’s eternal kingdom. Sometimes that’s the result of factors outside our control—other times we may be drawn to worship with those we perceive to be similar to ourselves culturally, generationally, politically, and economically.

But we honor God when we embrace—and even seek out—the beautiful differences He has endowed to His children. They offer a foretaste of that diverse, heavenly gathering when all those who trust in Jesus’ sacrifice will worship Him together.

— Kirsten Holmberg

How can you better embrace those who are different from you? How might those differences grow your understanding of God?

Thank You, God, for the opportunity to worship You with those who are different from me-both now and in eternity.

Source: Our Daily Bread

Current Mood: peaceful
Current Location: comatose in bed
Current Music: birdsong

Entry tags:

Dark Shadows: The Lunatic Yarn by Susan Rains/Carey Kasdot

Fandom: Dark Shadows

Pairings/Characters: Barnabas Collins, Julia Hoffman, Elliot Stokes, David Collins, Elizabeth Collins, Roger Collins, Angelique Bouchard Collins, Harry Johnson, Willie Loomis, Maggie Evans

Rating: T

Length: 37,304

Creator Links: archiveofourown.org/users/SusanRains/pseuds/Carey%20Kasdot

Theme: Uncommon settings

Summary: A dumbwaiter system found in the house unleashes a baffling illness which turns pleasant friends into infatuated screwballs. Meanwhile, games with the dumbwaiter bring Hallie and David nights of terror. With the addition of an afghan that roams the house at will and a houseguest no one wants, Collinwood hits the height of mayhem.

Reccer's Notes: You'd be pretty hard put to discover a stranger, more unsettling setting than a dumbwaiter in which an intrepid soul or two ventures to travel. Add to this Halloween rec the inimitable spookiness of the great estate of Collinwood and you've discovered a delightful read with stellar characterizations and the usual undercurrent of Things Unseen in the fandom.

Fanwork Links: The Lunatic Yarn (Dark Shadows 1971) Book 2 - Carey Kasdot (SusanRains) - Dark Shadows (1966) [Archive of Our Own]

Entry tags:

Mo Dao Zu Shi, Chen Qing Ling: medium blues, by darkterrible; art by Mojoflower.

Fandom: Mo Dao Zu Shi
Pairings/Characters: M/M; Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian; Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, Lan Sizhui, Jiang Yanli, Jiang Cheng, Jin Ling, Wen Qing, and others.
Rating: Explicit
Length: 193,252
Content Notes: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, animal death, body horror, bullying, conspiracy, domestic violence, Scenery Porn, Scenery Gorn, Smut
Creator Tags: Horror, Spooky, Opposites Attract, Fluff and Angst, Gore, Ghosts, Necromancy
Creator Links: (AO3)

darkterrible; (Threads) tucsonodd; (Twitter)

darkterrible666

Theme: Uncommon Settings, Casefic, Canon LGBTQ+ Characters, Cops & Crime, Fandom Classics, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery & Suspense, Novel-Length Fic, Psychic Powers, Uncommon Settings, Urban Fantasy, Worldbuilding

Summary: Wei Wuxian can see the dead. Weird happenings ensue.

Author’s Notes: I really struggled with putting this back up again (sorry I know I'm a flake) I have a love/hate relationship with it. But here it is.

This is a repost (it's all over the internet in various formats and languages) but it is mine.

I wrote this a looong time ago, before I really had a GREAT understanding of the naming conventions used in the untamed. Some of it might be incorrect.

Reccer's Notes:: Although November’s Mystery & Suspense theme would apply, I’m using Uncommon Settings to shoehorn in this beloved modern-with-magic paranoir fic in time for Halloween; the intrigue-haunted waterfront city of Lotus, patterned after Venice, is very much a character in its own right. (Note that, despite the geographical inspiration, nobody seems to have been whitewashed.)

medium blues has a history as cryptic and elusive as its subject matter: for various reasons (including having been targeted in the fandom’s 2020 cyberbullying scandal) the author—along with this fic—has periodically vanished and resurfaced under a succession of pseudonyms.

Here are the author’s original summary and tags:

( Continue. )

Fanwork Links: medium blues, by

darkterrible.

(Wayback Machine): https://web.archive.org/web/20220625040644/https://archiveofourown.org/works/39589791?view_adult=true&view_full_work=true

(Archive.today): https://archive.ph/cJARF

Frontispiece by

mojoflower, from her review on

wangxianficrecs: https://wangxianficrecs.tumblr.com/post/643044937390325760/medium-blues-by-darkandterrible-e

Entry tags:

2025,
reveals

Happy Halloween! Tricks and Treats are revealed!

Explore the collection here! Enjoy!

Works will remain anonymous until creator reveals on November 7, 16:59 UTC.

Entry tags:

due South: Academic Punk by thehoyden

Fandom: due South
Characters/Pairings: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski, Diefenbaker, Victoria Metcalfe, original characters
Rating: Explicit
Length: 19,093
Content Notes: no AO3 warnings
Creator Links: thehoyden on AO3, luzula on the Audiofic Archive
Themes: Uncommon settings, Friends to lovers, First time, Working together, Complete AU: academia

Summary: "What the hell is this, an Austen novel?"

Reccer's Notes: Complete AUs are unusual in due South, and this is that rarity, a dS AU set in academia. Fraser is a new professor, looked down on by his colleagues as he's from the University of Guelph, and only Ray Kowalski, a punky, nonconformist professor, befriends him. They both have offices on the unpopular top floor (Fraser as he's bottom of the pecking order, and Ray as he likes to get away from the rest of the department), which helps kickstart their friendship. The story is about the highs and lows of academic life and there are some great sections showing Ray's unconventional teaching style which the students love, and Fraser's more traditional, but solid, approach. There's academic politics and also drama with the return of Victoria, Fraser's ex and his academic rival. It's about character development, and about Fraser and Ray's friendship which blossoms gradually into much, much more. The fic's beautifully written, and an extremely good read - highly recommended.

Fanwork Links: Academic Punk on AO3, and the excellent podfic by luzula is here

Current Mood: thankful

YMI -- ODB: 31 October 2025

ODB: What Jesus Did for Us

Oct 31, 2025/in Our Daily Bread/by YMI

October 31, 2025

READ: Ephesians 1:5-7

In him we have redemption through his blood. Ephesians 1:7

Andres, the owner of an electronics company, was giving employees with outstanding sales records a day trip to a beach resort. Andres was also taking his seven-year-old son Jimmy. Before departure, he excitedly held his dad’s hand as everyone boarded the van. “You’re joining us? How many sales have you made?” one employee jokingly asked Jimmy. “None!” he replied, motioning to his dad. “He’s letting me join!”

Jimmy didn’t have to work to earn his inclusion on the trip because his dad was paying his way. As believers in Jesus, we also don’t rely on our good works as the basis of our inclusion in heaven. We’re granted access because of Jesus’ death and resurrection on our behalf. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), and Jesus’ own blood was the “payment,” releasing us from our debt to Him. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Ephesians 1:7). He opened the way for whoever believes in Him to “not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Christ’s work and our trust in that work allows us to be with Him for eternity.

When we believe in Jesus as Savior, we become God’s children. Such is His “glorious grace, which he has freely given us” (Ephesians 1:6). Like Jimmy, we can look to our heavenly Father and say with confidence, “He’s letting me join!”

— Karen Huang

How does knowing that Jesus died for you make you feel? How does this truth impact your life?

Dear Jesus, thank You for dying for me. Because of Your grace and love, I’m forgiven. I can look forward to being with You forever. Learn more about having a personal relationship with God.

Source: Our Daily Bread

Entry tags:

2025

On track for reveals!

All pinch hits are in, and we are on track for our regularly scheduled Halloween reveal! Work reveals will be October 31, 16:59 UTC (12:59 pm EDT).

In the meantime, we've completed the first tier of the community challenge! Here is the Treatless Spreadsheet to find more treatable treats to treat :)

Current Mood: thankful

YMI -- ODB: 30 October 2025

ODB: Repurposed by God

Oct 30, 2025/in Our Daily Bread/by YMI

October 30, 2025

READ: Genesis 45:12-15, 21-27

[Joseph] kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Genesis 45:15

In the early 1930s, Cleo McVicker came up with a product that could be used as wallpaper cleaner. Back then, most homes were heated by coal, and walls became covered in soot. Cleo’s invention could be rolled over wallpaper and would pick up the grime. Well, the wallpaper cleaner never became popular, but decades later, a teacher used Cleo’s product in her classes to create Christmas ornaments. From that was born a new company—Rainbow Crafts—and the wallpaper cleaner was repurposed as a children’s toy: “Play-Doh.”

On a far greater scale, God has a way of repurposing people. We remember the biblical story of Joseph and his “coat of many colors.” As a young man, he was a lowly shepherd and was sold into slavery by his brothers. But God led Joseph through great difficulties and into the top ranks of government. Eventually Joseph became “repurposed” as “the ruler of all Egypt” (Genesis 45:26). Yet Joseph’s calling was not about power but about grace—something he extended to his brothers as he forgave them (v. 15).

In a sense, all of us are “failed products.” It’s through “the grace of a Son,” Jesus, that we are repurposed into greater things. As you do life today, think of your higher purpose and remember to extend grace to others, just as Christ does for us.

— Kenneth Petersen

How has God repurposed you in your life journey? What might you learn from the example of Joseph’s life?

Dear God, if I’ve forgotten the grace You’ve called me to, please remind me and help me extend it to others.

Source: Our Daily Bread

Entry tags:

2025,
pinch hit

The final three! dundundun

Three pinch hits remain! These must be filled in order for the collection to open on Halloween. Thank you to everyone helping out!

These are due October 30, 23:59 UTC. (8 pm EDT)

To claim, please comment on this post with your AO3 name and the number or name of the pinch hit you would like. Comments are screened. Pinch hits are first-come, first-serve, and if you're the first to claim, you'll receive the assignment to your email.

You don't have to be signed up to Trick or Treat to claim a pinch hit.

CLAIMED PH #13 (plicate):
Head On (1998), Set It Off (1996), Succession (TV 2018)
https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/trickortreatex2025/user/plicate

CLAIMED PH #29 (Audrelite):
Teen Titans (Animated Series), Metal Family (Cartoon), Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You (Video Games), ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 | JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, 氷属性男子とクールな同僚女子 | Koori Zokusei Danshi to Cool na Douryou Joshi (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Depois do Universo | Beyond the Universe (2022)
https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/trickortreatex2025/user/Audrelite

CLAIMED PH #41 (merle_p):
Downton Abbey, The Pitt (TV), Mid-Century Modern (TV), Nicked - M. T. Anderson, Crossover Fandom, Olympo (TV)
https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/trickortreatex2025/user/merle_p

Current Mood: hopeful

UpWords - Max Lucado: [From] 27 October 2025

The Battle Belongs to the Lord

“‘The battle belongs to the Lord” (1 Samuel 17:47 MEV). When everyone stared at Goliath, David never gave him the time of day. David found a source of strength into which he could tap. The right thoughts led to the right reaction.

No one needs to tell you giants roam this world. No one needs to tell you this life is a battle. But maybe someone needs to remind you the battle belongs to the Lord. You never fight alone. You never fight solo. You never face a challenge without the backup of God Almighty. God is with you as you face your giant. With you as you are wheeled into surgery. With you as you enter the cemetery. With you, always. Silence the voice that says, “The challenge is too great.” And welcome God’s voice that reminds, “The battle belongs to the Lord.”

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