"How To Evade Scam Artists & Fraudulent Acts"

I  read an article about an 89-year-old widow (AARP mag. Sept. issue)who lived alone in Turlock, Calif.) and lost $759, 376 by a scam artist claiming to be an attorney and promising her to collect her winnings (multimillion- dollar lottery)
 She wired/trasfered $255,366 from her Wells Fargo bank account and $504, 010 from her bank of America account.
"She sued the banks for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty. She argued that when she directed the banks to wire substantial amount of money abroad, (England) the banks should have suspected fraud."
"The verdict sided with the banks not required to supervise depositors' use of their own money, or expected to prevent fraud against a customer."

What we can take away from this case:
Scam artists are everywhere. Their expertise lies on finding people who are easy prey: frail, old people who live alone, single parents, lonely souls, and even those that are easily taken by sweet talks of persuasion like that of telemarketers.They use every tactic and employ strategies to the point of digging your physical, social, & psychological profiles.

We can evade common scamming :

1.  Thus, we never give away our SSN; DMV license#; credit card and bank accounts or any personal information.
2. Beware of "tough-talk schemes." Pray for wisdom & patience, stillness and ask God for His heart of wisdom in everything that you do (big or small stuff); Listen to your God-given "gut feeling" that kind of sharp intuition & instinct.
3. I would say be exclusive and choosy on who and what to share in social media. There are many beautiful thieves prowling gaining your confidence, faces with a divisive heart.
4. Be more responsible by equipping & armoring yourself with a lot of reading materials. We have a plethora of guidelines. You can almost Google almost anything now.
5. It's common knowledge that "too much of a good thing" is just maybe not a good thing. Give yourself time to prove yourself right. You'll be glad you've waited long enough to arrive at a decisive decision. After all, life is making the right decision.

In the above particular situation, I wonder why no responsible person showed up to her rescue; where are the family relatives, friends or anybody by her side? 
What assailed her not to doubt it and ask for common wisdom for the illegitimacy of the claim? Having this huge amount of money in her account already, should she been more aggressive to guard or protect her money? Did greed predisposed her  to be callous or just oblivious because she's old and alone?

Am I being presumptuous or callous myself? My heart goes out to her because after all she was the victim of many contriving factors: alone, old, vulnerable & susceptible to extortionists, impostors & "scumbags."

Let's protect ourselves from people who wear the cloaks of darkness. God's Word warns & implore us to be vigilant...more so in the end times which I believe in the very heart of my heart that we already are.

• Take care...

"Take Me Deeper Than My Feet Could Ever Wander..."

www.youtube.com One of the best songs originally rendered by Hillsong United about Faith. I just heard it Today at our church (FaithPoint) this morning .I immediately embed it to my blog...I couldn't resist.
As I go back to teaching in full circles with the children in the classroom, this is my heart's yearning--"for God to take me deeper than my feet could ever wander. And not to ever let go of His Sovereign hand."

I could wish for carnal things and other worldly stuff but I know that would only create borders  and false alliances in my spirit. That would be fatal...

Have a Blessed Sunday

"A Castle Of Imagery..."

My kind of castle to visit & delve into a peaceful retreat...
especially when you
want to write the first pages of your authorship and 
signature as the
heart-writer. 
I couldn't think of any more romantic place for my soul to be 
entwined with the gift of nature,
 the blessedness of serenity than this place.
Sometimes where you are could take a toll of your energy
 to collapse;
it's up to us to leverage for a solid ground even
 for a single moment
that would transpire Hope against all odds.
In this setting, I would love to unleash
 the untamed notoriety of my
other self, that part of me
 so ingrained with fantasies, dreams and 
ideals that need a complete overhaul...and 
replenishing.
The poetic side of me, anyway.

"Love Always Hopes..."

When you start getting overwhelmed about how you should go about "loving," and thinking about expectations, I believe solely in the admonition of His Word. You can't go wrong with what the Bible says about the true essence of loving which is self-sacrifice & forgiveness.
Forget spending your time looking into the self-help books section, or worst giving your time listening to the media people. 
Every quest, every chase of your dream and every confusion you may still have, the answer is found in the greatest love ever demonstrated...at the Cross.
Who are we to stray ourselves from the only Truth that justifies the end? After all, we are beautifully crafted by His Holy Mighty Hands...
Open your heart Today to Love that truly abounds. He is waiting. 

"Just Asking?"

                              At eight years old, the radiance, the aesthetic beauty of words came alive in my emotional realm. In the third grade, my perception of power and strength only comes from words derivative of their context. I am always akin to words beautifully written and extemporaneously delivered. The very first manifesto that catapulted me to the love for writing was my dad's loving perception of me in his diary; robust, healthy-looking, beautiful baby girl . How enthralled he was by my baby chuckles and everything about me that had brought him joy. My father saw in my eyes that they are the most expressive members of me. He was very witty to have said that about me as  a child. Because I really do have lens that sees a silver lining in every chapter of my life. And somehow in the catalyst of his dream for me to remain a kindred spirit is my life's link to loving without props--just an inspiration that I am bestowed with the affinity of words that connect me to the Creator of the Alpha & the Omega.

Had I ever indulged myself with constant excuses to achieve greater, better and newer dreams? Absolutely. From time to time...not just periodically. Excuses like ,"I feel too much therefore I can't get totally focused,"I need to go on Sabbatical vacation in order to write cohesively and get hooked to a network of readers or followers or the most infamous one which is, "I'm not inspired to write and needing someone to fill the gaps..." and many more excuses which I think they're getting ancient even to my brain cells.

I do believe that I should let go hanging to those old ideas that once were beneficial."Ideals" that have kept me "from achieving the complete fulfillment of my dream. " and that includes people I've loved so dearly and had given them access to my lofty craft but they never had become what I want them in my life. They were just "spectators" afraid to sail and journey with me. That's the "unhealed aspect" of my dream---that they failed my expectations. So, then here I am writing vicariously and unashamed of what my words could take you. Precisely...

I just have to fight for my Divine inheritance...that higher level of awareness, consciousness and God's aligned wishes and desires for my life. Take heart!

As always, thanks for reading with your heart on the line...

Till tomorrow...

God's Splendor

Happy First Day Of July, everyone!

Add
What comes to mind at first glimpse of this beautiful image: God's omnipresent splendor, an aura of appreciation of His Mighty Hands. Flowers, Trees & Herbs in their own habitat 
 just like this have a grand captivity to my soul. And I'm lost for words...each time. It's no wonder that flowers are like the most romantic living epistle to my heart.

In Genesis 1:11-13 (KJV); And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 
And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day.                                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                             

"The Anchor That Holds My Heart...to Safe Harbor"

The moment your child becomes a man is that time he becomes a testament of what you as a mother empowered him to become. For me, I believe that my passion for good,old/classical music has made my son indelible impression on his psyche. I didn't know till this particular event (Valentine's Day)that happened last year how my "taste in Music" turbo-charge his innate musical ability.I thank God for the unmerited Grace that He bestowed upon me as a single parent, raising two remarkable boys. To be able to share my basic skill in playing the guitar with Calvin and surpassed my level was a high end for me. Because of that, he expanded the guitar strumming to playing the piano and finally the knack for drums. Thanks to Google and some musicians at church and school choir experience. Now that he's completing a rigorous basic training in the Air Force, I really do miss him, his singing voice and his wit & humor. He is after all, my son who's after my own heart. Oh, I love my son so much.