Blessings on St. Patrick's Day!

It's somewhat late in the day for wishing you or giving you a traditional Irish blessing for today.

but

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY!

However, when I opened to Substack today and saw HUGO, I could not resist. And Canada Resists was kind enough to give me permission to share his photo with you, since he was my inspiration and motivational encouragement to finally share a blog post for the 1st one of 2026, which makes this #3501 so the "luck of the Irish" sent from Canada to Minnesota to you is no Blarney. He's a great featured guest to begin 2026!

If you're unfamiliar still with Substack, this is a good day to check it out and this is a really good place to start with HUGO, because he recently shared, in this last week, this "Hugo's Take on Doomscrolling: 5 Signs Hoomans Need to Stop" (you know by now that this special dog and his "hooman" have a special place in my heart, and we  don't even know each other) but this is a special place for me to go for support for practical advice & love the humor. I am linking to two more from Canada Resists that I recently enjoyed: "Hugo's Top Five Ways to Find Calm" (but sadly you're unable to read these without subscribing, which I just went to check out the link - trust me, you can use your imagination & I'm sure you understand why I enjoyed) ... the other one is the same and was the first Substack article written & now reposted a year later; "Alliances ... We Need Alliances". 

Another one that caught my attention in November last year was "Are You a Lost Canadian?..." because even though my ancestry includes being a quarter IRISH, I am also a quarter French Canadian (from my French speaking grandpa, I hardly knew & met just once when I was 4 years old). Anyways, having your posts for "subscribers" gives you a bit more freedom to share openly your thoughts - somewhat like "blogger" made available at one time too. Sorry, I was not able to connect you. But the most recent article, March 16th is available to read on "Relationships ..." (and that is what you are to me Readers, whether we ever met in person or not, through our interactions and encouragements here on my blog, or yours (when you blogged) we connected, so I thank you & want to introduce you to HUGO because our BELLA would never take a photo like this.

 

[image credit: Hugo from Canada Resists Substack]
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As you can see I have waited quite a while to begin 2026 on my blog as I debated with myself about whether I would continue to blog or end with that 3500th blog post of 2025 (not all are available anymore but I still have them in "drafts" if you can't visibly see them. I waited also so I might share my 2026 One Word, which I usually confirm that first month of time spent away in prayer yet I still am unsure. So this will not be a revelation of that 2026 One Word, although after finishing 6 more weeks in the book study of "The GREAT Morning Revolution", I thought that I might have decided on one, but I still was not ready to write that this was my 2026 One Word. I thought that when a church online chose "FORWARD" that this might be a good word for me as I restart my life going "forward" from 2025 but I sensed that God & I perhaps were not on the same page and you can't go forward unless you resolve 70 previous years & where you're at ... and just turn the page to a new venture in the midst of so much turmoil going on. At this point, I will just continue into 2026, without mentioning any One Word - but know I do have some and I'm waiting still. 

As I do, I would like to use this blog post to announce a new FaithGateway OBS starting on April 20th & invite you to join. I'm all ready & set to go. Or better said, it's about time that I RELAX like Jesus. {I do understand why the author uses "RELAXED" but I need it as a command to just "RELAX" - it fits/suits me better}  

Even the book cover invites me to be

"RELAXED"

{this is so close to my consideration of 2026 One Word}

the part before "Relaxed" is very important

"Letting Go of Self Reliance & Trusting God"

by 

Megan Fate Marshman

{new to me}

the entire book & study is based on

Proverbs 3:5-6

which just so happens to be the

Verse(s) of the Day

today

3/17/26

With TRUST as my 2025 One Word & admitting that 

too often, I lean on my own understandings,

so I will trust and submit to God alone

(not any human authority or otherwise)

because His Word declares that

"He will make my paths straight"

and my human heart belongs to Him

so that it remains humane to all creation

from

YouVersion

which alerted me early this morning that today was the day

to consider "blogging" but than

HUGO

inspired me to read on

RELATIONSHIPS

written by his hooman

and connect with both my own dog friend Bella

as well as my blog readers/friends/support

and not let it go as "underrated" 

because we all need to invest & support one another

[maybe we should all go to Canada]

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The image above is not the traditional Irish Blessing that I know below:

"May the road rise to meet you, May the wind be always at your back, 

May the sun shine warm upon your face, The rains fall soft upon your fields. 

And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand".

"Puisse la route s'élever pour te rencontrer. Puisse le vent être toujours dans ton dos"

Thanks HUGO and Canada Resists!

and also any of my dear readers (if you're still around) bless me

with a hello or your 2026 One Word or whatever you'd like to share!

Welcome All!

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#3501 blog post