As women, we set either a negative or a positive atmosphere for those around us. When I am distraught, it affects my whole disposition. We all go through difficulties in life and are not completely upbeat all the time. Yet, overall, we should create a positive atmosphere around us that draws people in, starting with our friends and family. I learned a powerful lesson about this from something very close to home—right in my backyard, in fact!

“The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands.” — Proverbs 14:1

A new study of more than 600 children, conducted by a university in Belgium, found that the more exposure children have to “green spaces,” the higher their IQ (Euronews.com, August 24, 2020). Researchers discovered that “a three per cent increase in the greenness of a child’s neighbourhood raised their IQ score by 2.6 points on average.”

As the date for a “hard Brexit” approaches, divisions among the nations of Europe continue to grow, as does the desire of some of them to leave the European Union. In Italy, the new “Italexit” Party began in July—inspired by Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party in the UK, with the hope of a similar result.

God has given many gifts to each of us. We’ve not only been given life, food, clothing, and shelter, but we have also been given individual talents, inborn or innate aptitudes, and abilities. Are we developing them and using them in the right way for good purposes?

These wide-ranging gifts may be mechanical and mathematical or musical and artistic. We may be good at organizing, analyzing, strategizing, communicating, teaching, networking, influencing, negotiating, designing, singing, entertaining, encouraging, or empathizing. Human beings are certainly very gifted!

You don’t need to be a prophet to realize the entire world seems to be on the verge of a dangerous turning point. We’ve lived in times of relative peace and calm over the last several decades. However, the past several years have seen increasing tension all over the world, and many would say that 2020 is the worst year yet. Stability seems to be evaporating more rapidly than ever. Citizens are revolting against their governments around the globe. COVID-19 has brought powerful economies to their knees.