Some people believe in literal tithing which is to give 10% of your income to God.
Some people believe it's not meant to be literally 10% but meaning simply to give to
God your best and be generous (give with a cheerful heart rather than giving disgruntled).

Then we have to define what does it mean to give to God? How do you give tithing to
God exactly? The church? Missions? Other charitable projects or recipients?

So here is a question I have specifically about giving "tithing" to your church.
Is there anything wrong with giving to your church in the form of "good works/generosity"
and not financially? So for example, let's say I don't want to give the church $200 a month
but I'd prefer to give them $80 a month and the other $120 I'll give to the church in the form
of paying it forward like taking people out for lunches/dinners, treating them with food,
snacks, gifts, and driving people to and from places so spending gas money and time etc.

Would you say this is acceptable form of tithing or do you think tithing should be specifically
monetary and then doing charitable acts is just bonus and out of your own good heart?

Also, I believe the leaders of the church who may be privy to members tithing stats, might
start to judge or develop a reputation around a person who is not tithing and even start
to condemn or resent them. I can sort of understand on the one hand, if you are a member
of a church and use their services such as sunday worship, snack/food time, events, programs
and you don't even give the church offering, you'd be like dead weight or "lazy welfare"
people who just eat up the systems resources without contributing or giving anything back.
In that sense, I can understand why some elders, leaders, (whoever is running the church) might
start to feel a little resentment towards you but may not say it directly because they are "christian"
and don't want to come off as being coercive and bullying.

At the same time, I think it's also a negative sign of a church that treats its members differently
based on how much they tithe or don't tithe. So you know that Johnny here is giving 100% of tithing
each week/month/year but Sally here is being cheap considering she makes good money.

Regardless of how much or how little you tithe, shouldn't a church not judge and treat you differently
because of it? Otherwise it seems like the church is just a business and cares more about your money
than they actually care about your soul.

If I don't trust or agree with the church's way of doing things but still want to be part of the church, isn't
fine for me to limit my monetary tithing and decide instead I'm going to give by doing things personally
for others in the church (lunch, dinner, drives, volunteering, etc.)?

What do you think?

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I'll be lying if I said I'm not happy about the news. I'm not one to celebrate the termination of a person's livelihood however I'll make an exception on this one. For far too long western localizers have been butchering Japanese media with their political activism destroying the property of the original creator. Their job is to translate the Japanese media to the closest intent and meaning of the original work. Yet they took liberties and injected unwanted personal "Western progressive" talking points into other people's works.

Now with the advancement of AI it seems their butchering days are over. While AI translations are not on the level of human translators who better understand context, it will not be long before AI eventually catches up. AI voices have already reached a stage that it can be hard to discern from the actual human. Near perfect text translations are soon to come. Good, excellent and all is well in my opinion.

We have lived through the early days of poorly translated Japanese media (yet more faithful in essence to the original) when they were done by the Japanese themselves. 80s & 90s kids will remember gems such as "All your base are belong to us" and "Congraturation. This story is happy end". We can live through it again if it means the end of "Western progressive" talking points in our Japanese media. We love Japanese media for what it is, all the quirks and mannerisms. From games, anime, tokusatsu and light novels, it's the Japanese characteristic of it that is appealing - NOT "Western progressivism".

Looks like the Japanese companies themselves have finally woke up to the damage done by the western localizers. They now will start to employ AI. So let me end with a phrase I would like to borrow from Mortal Kombat - Enough of your madness (butchered translations)! If you (western localizers) must die (career) so be it!

The United States and a handful of its allies on Thursday carried out military strikes against more than a dozen targets in Yemen controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia, U.S. officials said, in an expansion of the war in the Middle East that the Biden administration had sought to avoid for three months.

Britain joined the United States in the strikes against the Houthi targets, the U.S. officials said, as fighter jets from bases in the region and off the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower bombed targets. At least one Navy submarine fired Tomahawk cruise missiles, the officials said.

The Netherlands, Australia, Canada and Bahrain also were expected to participate, providing logistics, intelligence and other support, according to U.S. officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters.

The American-led strikes on Thursday hit radars, missiles and drone launch sites, and weapons storage areas, according to a U.S. official, who said President Biden had approved the retaliatory assault.

Im really down in the dumps, and just need to type this.

I really think I have damned myself. God has given me chance after chance. He has delivered me from multiple sins, swearing, using his name in vain, anger (although this is still a work in progress). But Lust I can't shake. Still when faced with a choice between God and Lust, I spit in his face and choose lust, everytime. I can't stop it...I want too...I hate it. But I cant. I have prayed for Gods help and still I fall. Im sorry Lord, I want to stop. Ive fought like hell, but still I can't. Im not strong enough...forgive me.

The past last year especially the past two months I was really depressed. I had thoughts that God hated me. He was punishing me for my sins. Because I wanted to be in a relationship and was using him because of this he was purposely hurting me so I would say bad nasty things to him and sin against him. I was even considering leaving the church the second time even though I have a loving community of friends who care for me unlike the last church who abandoned me which made me backslide for 15 years.

I was really sick during the holidays and fell into bad dark sin blaming and cursing God's name. I was getting better health wise for Christmas eve service but I did not feel God and I was still angry and still fell into dark sin.

The new year came and I started to go out more to do my routine since the place I go to in the morning and evening was open. I also started to connect to people online.

Then last Thursday I was randomly swiping and I encounterd this woman doing doing a Bible study online. At first I did not think anything of it. Until she told her story on how she cane to christ in only three years, was so devoted to her faith after living a real sinful life who knew she was going to heaven. Meanwhile me a so called Christian been over 20 years, backslided for 15 years, then still sinned, and hated God and still kept saying that I know I am not going to heaven when I die. I contact that woman and she assures me that God loves and forgives me.

So I talk to my lifegroup and they assure I believe in God. Then that night I pray to God in a long time. Last time it was an angry prayer. I start to apologize, then I start to cry, really cry and beg for his forgiveness.

After that the next day I am filled with his spirit. I can't stop praying. I go to church worship. People greet me. I greet them. Two women who always ignore me say hello to me.

At home I am watching faith videos and reading scripture and I sometimes start to cry. I just can't stop crying because of my past sins and what I did or said. What makes me cry the most was when I was around 18 or 19 years years old as an atheist when I was handed a pamphlet that said Jesus saves and then I looked at it, then walked a few steps and threw it in the trash. Yet the woman I connected too got a pamphlet but when she took it home read it and then came to christ. I felt like I betrayed God and I can't stop crying because of that.

sometimes we flip the scriptures looking for a suitable passage that will suit our prayers but a contrite heart doth God had pleasure because He owns us and He knows the thoughts of every human whom He created and there's nothing we can hide from Him.

Source: Lessons 2 Review: Teach us to pray

Please my family needs your prayers. Brother, and dad are sick suffering from bronchitis. Please also pray for me as well. Thank you
Much Love
God Bless

Trump feels inevitable, but nothing is settled until Republicans actually caucus and vote. They would be well advised to opt for one of the alternatives who are far and away better on the merits, more likely to win in November, and, if elected, more likely to deliver — free from the wild drama of a second Trump term — conservative results.

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They’re right, of course.

A Republican member of the Maryland State Board of Elections was arrested by federal authorities this week and charged for his alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the U.S. Department of Justice has announced.

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According to allegations contained in a 13-page charging document, Ayala was identified as being part of a group of rioters illegally gathered on restricted Capitol grounds near the scaffolding erected for the inauguration of then-President-elect Biden, which was scheduled for Jan. 20, 2021. Federal officials say Ayala wore a sweatshirt hood cinched tightly around his head, a grey 3M-style painter’s mask with large filters on each cheek, and, at times, carried a distinctive black and white flag affixed to a PVC pipe flagpole bearing the words “We the People” and “DEFEND.” An image of an M-16-style rifle was featured prominently on the flag.

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(OSV News) — A Wisconsin judge has suspended a criminal case against former cardinal Theodore McCarrick Jan. 10, citing incompetency. McCarrick had been charged with fourth-degree sexual assault for abuse that allegedly took place in 1977.

The ruling follows a dismissal of all criminal charges against McCarrick in Massachusetts in August, when the former cleric also was deemed no longer mentally competent. In that case, Dedham District Court Judge Michael Pomarole ruled McCarrick, a once-powerful and influential Catholic cardinal, is unable to stand trial after receiving a medical report from prosecutors which agreed with the earlier defense report that McCarrick, 93, is suffering from dementia.

No other criminal cases regarding McCarrick are pending at this time.

Continued below.

As followers of Jesus Christ we are all part of the body of Christ, his church, by God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ. By God’s grace and by such faith as this we are all crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness, if our faith is genuine. And as his church we are to gather together daily to minister to one another.

Nonetheless, we live in a day and time when “the church” has been turned into a marketplace to be marketed to the people of the world, and so many of these gatherings are now just businesses of men trying to appeal to the felt needs of the ungodly of the world via entertaining them, and via altering the character of God/Christ and of his gospel and of his biblical church, the body of genuine followers of Jesus Christ, to make them appealing to flesh.

And so, if you are like I was, you may be in a situation where you are trying to find a local biblical gathering of the body of Christ which is operating in the power of the Holy Spirit, and which is operating as the biblical body of Christ, and which is following the teachings of the Scriptures, in context, and which is not following after the ways of the flesh of man and worldly ways and marketing schemes intended to attract the world to your gatherings.

Now my husband and I have moved around much. We have lived in five USA states and in 10 cities, and together we have been a part of a total of 30 church gatherings over the course of 63 of my 74 years of life, before the Lord convinced me that most of these gatherings were not of him, for they are presently mostly all incorporated under the state and are operating as businesses of men who are marketing their gatherings to the world.

2 in Akron/Stow, OH
2 in Ft. Wayne, IN
2 in Charleston/Mt Pleasant, SC
1 in Raleigh, NC
3 in Cleveland, TN
4 in Mauldin, SC
16 in Rock Hill, SC
0 in Nashville, TN
______
30 total


In most of these “church” gatherings I was deserted by those who were supposed to love me and nurture me in my walk of faith in the Lord. And for a period of time I did fall away from following the Lord as I had been and now do again, and it was largely due to the persecution and rejection I received from those in positions of leadership because of my walk of faith in the Lord, and because of those who were pushing me in the direction of sinning against my Lord and away from following him in obedience.

For I gave way to that pressure, and I gave way to fear, and I let that fear and that pressure push me in the wrong direction for a period of time before the Lord brought me back and turned me back around and then called me to this present ministry. So human beings were no help to me at this point, for I received more acceptance when I was living in moral failure than I received when I was walking in faithful surrender and in obedience to my Lord, and it shouldn’t be this way, but it is the reality of where things are presently.

So, this is one very good reason that we cannot put our trust in other human beings, for many of them will lead us astray, and many of them are not teaching the truth of the gospel but they are teaching lies which make it easier for professers of faith in Jesus Christ to keep living in sin while claiming heaven as their eternal destiny. We can’t depend on other humans to point us in the right direction and to not try to push us in the wrong direction. So our faith has to be in the Lord regardless of what humans do.

Anyway, the Lord worked on me for about nine years, working to convince me that what I called “church” was not the functional body of Christ, under his authority, but mostly these gatherings were of men, being marketed to the world just like any other businesses, and thus they were altering the character of God/Christ and of his church and of his gospel in order to attract the ungodly to their gatherings via entertainment and appealing to the felt needs of human flesh. But I kept hoping there was an exception to the rule.

Finally the Lord convinced me to come out from among her (Babylon) so that I don’t share in her sins and in her punishment, for her sins are piled high to heaven, and that I am not to be unequally yoked together with the ungodly, for there is no fellowship between light and darkness. And if the light of “the church” is really darkness disguised as light, then that is not where we should be. We need to be with the body of believers who are walking in the ways of the Lord so that we can encourage one another.

[1 Corinthians 1:10-17; John 2:13-17; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Revelation 18:1-5; Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]

That is when the Lord called me to go to the internet and to minister to and to be ministered to by the body of Christ, i.e. to/by those who are seeking after the Lord and his righteousness and who desire to do his will. And it was to internet that he sent me in order for me to share the truth of the gospel with the nations and to refute the lies of the enemy that are coming against the Lord and his gospel and his divine character and will and purpose for us as his followers to be Christlike in all that we do and are and say.

So, follow the Lord Jesus wherever he leads you, and do what he says, and obey his commandments, and forsake your lives of living in sin and for self. And find a fellowship of genuine followers of Christ that you can be a part of where you are able to minister in your spiritual gifts and where they minister to you and encourage you in your walks of faith and obedience to the Lord. For where man (flesh) cannot be trusted, the Lord can be trusted fully to do as he says he will do. So trust him, and do what he says, for he is God.


Follow Him

An Original Work / February 21, 2013
Based off Luke 9:22-25

Jesus, Son of God,
Died for us on a cross.

Anyone who would come to Him
Must deny himself and follow.
He must take up his cross daily;
Die to sin and self each day.

Father, God above,
Loved us so: gave His Son.

If you want to save your old life;
Keep on sinning, follow your ways,
You will lose your life forever;
Hope of heaven gone away.

Spirit of our God
Gives us life in God’s Son.

Nonetheless, if you die to self;
Forsake your sin; follow Jesus,
You will live with God in heaven,
And forever praise His name!

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I have a job interview today for C.B.S. at 1pm central time. Pray I will be confident with no anxiety and that I will do really well in the interview and get the job and get hired Amen

Greetings from Austria and it is a pleasure to joing the form.

Now the law is based on God's holy nature and as such scripture states are holy, just, and unchanging, and we see this in the Ten Commandments. But then you also have the ceremonial law which focused the people’s attention on God and gave the people signs that point to the coming Messiah, such as the Passover, and the sacrifices of the unblemished lamb by the priests. One was written with Gods own finger, and the other was from Moses.

Matthew 5:17-19
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

We see here that Jesus stated "Think not that I am come to destroy the law..but to fulfill", what did He mean? Now, since Jesus knew what laws His death would fulfill, would He be saying this about the Ten Commandments if He were going to fulfill them? So what was He fulfilling, it seems clear it was what pointed to Him, Moses’ ceremonial law which is evident if we see what Jesus said when asked.

Mark 12:28-31
28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

Matthew 22:37-40
37 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.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

The Ten Commandments are arranged in two groups, the first group of four commandments deal with our relationship to God, the second group of the fifth to the tenth commandments deal with our relationship to one another. When Jesus talks about 'not that I am come to destroy the law', it is obvious that it is the Ten Commandments Jesus is talking about. So did Jesus want to do away with the Ten Commandments or did He came to fulfill that which pointed to Him as the Lamb of God, the ceremonial law of Moses. We have to understand His purpose...

So my sister in-law had this dream. So she had a dream that I heard like a chirping sound in my house she wasn't for sure if it was the place I'm staying at now or a different place but I kept hearing this Chirping sound. And eventually I found a bunch of animals and insects behind like a paneling in the wall and that was what was making all the noise and there was a bunny , a snake and some other animals.

I asked her was I afraid in the dream and she said No it was like all of the animals were living together. None of them were interacting with each other.
She didn't think I was afraid it was just like what the heck is that noise and no it wasn't negative. And then when I found the animals it was just like shock and surprise!

If Moses was born today, would Genesis be written differently? Would there be a different ten commandments? Would we be presented with a different God?

I came across this quote:

Gods always behave like the people who make them.

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By Zora Neale Hurston.

Isn't Jesus a new version of God created for the times?

Or looked at more internally.. do we create a version of God in our own minds in order to address our own inner conflicts today?

YouTube Channel Video Devo
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“The Proof Is In The Pudding”
John 14:23 NIV
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

Think about some of the ways we prove our loyalty and dedication to people and situations.

If we want good grades, we prove that we want to pass by studying diligently.
If we want to get a job, we do our best to prepare for the interview.
If we want to date and marry someone, we will go to great lengths to show and prove our love and devotion to the person.
If we want to get on a sports team, we will practice and show our determination to get better.
If we want to be a good student in school overall, we will listen to the teacher and obey what is taught.

We could think of many other ways in which we prove our loyalty or devotion to a situation or to someone because we want to show our devotion. We have to work hard at proving we are serious about something or someone by showing we are devoted. I think of the saying, “the proof is in the pudding”. If we are real, authentic and genuine about what we want to do and who we want to be devoted to, it’s going to show.

Jesus is very clear about the devotion we need to have in our relationship with Him. If we truly love Him and are devoted to living a life of service to Him, we will obey Him. It’s as simple as that. If we are not devoted to Him, we won’t obey Him. It’s either one way or another. The proof is definitely in the way we live our lives.

Do we really love Him enough to completely obey His teaching, no matter what it takes. If we want people to believe we are truly devoted to someone or something, we must prove it somehow. Being loyal to someone and working hard at something shows our devotion. If someone told you they loved you over and over again, but didn’t treat you that way at all, you’d probably finally say, “Okay, see ya!”

If we really, really are devoted to Jesus, we will obey His teaching, regardless of what that entails and what challenges it brings.

My sister's new boss hates her for unknown reasons, possibly because she's a Christian. The hardest portions of the work is being dumped on her and her boss is always finding fault with everything she does. She works at a hospital and 2 write-ups are a cause of dismissal. She already wrote her up once and is looking for an opportunity to do it again. My sister is exhausted and is desperately praying to the Lord to help her while looking for another job. She has a lot of experience as a secretary and admin assistant, but so far, she has not found a suitable job, although a lot of people are contacting her from LinkedIn and other places. Please, pray for her, that she might find another job before this lady fires her for any reason. Thank you so much! God bless you all!

Does anyone know what a chin mean in a dream. I had a dream about a coworker I work with. In the dream I was removing something off their chin then after that they wanted to go outside to release so we walked outside. What does that mean? In the same dream I saw another coworker who was on crutches and it look like she was having a hard time trying to do the work while injured.

What does it mean when you dream a man put his head on your shoulders. He was got so close to me that I can actually feel his body heat in my dream it felt so real that I could feel his body heat. He was showing me something in my dream then all of a sudden he got close to me.

I asked this because I asked the guy that's a Christian who happened to know that I already have feelings for him but I didn't know at the time he knew that already. I came to him one day and told him I didn't want these feelings because I was having these feelings for someone and I realized that it was wrong and I told him that if he could pray that God removed these feelings and he told me he wasn't going to pray for that because he said that God give us control over our emotions. I was kinda of shocked he said no because he always pray with me when I ask why is this different.

I work with this guy who also is a Christian. My thing is why is he always around me and always taking glances at me and sometimes stares at me. Should Christians of the opposite sex engage in such activities? Should that be reserved for the man or woman that God wants you to marry? Like why would a man or ♀️ focus on a particular person if they know that's not their future spouse?

People often think of prayer, the inner journey, and seeking to live a deep spiritual life as a hobby of sorts, which is not all that important. Or if pursued, is something done to get some sort of result? Inner peace, healing, etc. The seeking after God can bring all the above, but often not in ways that people seek, or want.

From my experience, and I am truly only speaking for myself here, it is the practice of prayer that allows one to deal with inner chaos in such a way that leads to the fulfillment of one’s purpose.

One of the biggest obstacles to prayer is society in general. Cultures want their citizens to lock step in a tight formation. Meanwhile using the term liberation as its catchword. As society becomes more dependent on technology this process is speeded up and harder to overcome.

This can be seen on an innocent level by the popularity of tattoos. Everyone has them, they mean nothing but simple ornaments. Yet they can be shortsighted because of the aging process. The in thing is to be oneself, by being like everyone else. This is not always bad if it allows us to deepen our relationship with Infinite. Fashion is another example
of mindlessly following the dictates of someone else telling us what is in, and what we need.

How do prayer and a deep inner life free us from being herded along following the orders of the prevailing culture?

Well, one thing to remember is that we all need some sort of community to live in. We need feedback, as well as the struggle, that allows us to grow in our knowledge of self. A good Spiritual path will bring us in direct opposition to all that is in us that wants to just go along. To sink into the collective and not struggle, at least on the level of morality.

Now spirituality has its pitfalls as well. All one needs to do is investigate some of the fanatical forms of religion. That is to be expected given the nature of our species as well. It can be seen in political movements. Even in sports, people go nuts over their home team, and when they lose, well it can be truly tragic for them.

As a species, we are trapped in acting out in ways that seem to be programmed. We can’t seem to break out of cycles of war. Hatred comes naturally to us for those who are different. Yet it would seem we go along with it no matter how absurd we know the outcome will be. It is always the same outcome.

The problem is that to break out of these ways of acting calls for a deep inner struggle that fights our need for revenge, often called justice, and other forms of collective destruction. The wheel turns and for the most part, it is easy to be caught on the outside of this ever-turning wheel.

When we pray from the heart, there is a slow turning towards seeking solutions to the above. The answer seems simple, but it is one of the most difficult chores we are all called to do. It can take a lot of inner struggles, and sweating blood to allow it to happen. It also takes ‘grace’.

It is forgiveness of our enemies, to love those who hate us. These words flow easily but are hard to accomplish. It does take death to self to be able to let go of the need for some sort of blood depth. If we could begin with that, then other aspects of our inner lives could be looked at and find answers from living out of our deep center. I guess we can only do this one person at a time, and then as we learn to forgive, love, and let go of other tendencies that lead to chaos in our lives, perhaps change will come.

In the United States, the year 2024 is going we be a wild ride. We are backed into some tight corners with no way out. All that seems to be happening is that pretty much two sides are hating each other, throwing the same insults at one another, and thinking that they are taking the high road. I have no idea what is going on. I do know that unless the soul is dealt with, and healing sought, we will take our inner wars outside to those around us. Leading to all of us carrying the pain, anger, and yes, the deep rage of one another.

So, pray, give it a try. If you do not know who you pray to, just address your heart, desires, hopes, and yes dreams, to the ‘Great Mystery’. Christians know with whom they seek union I believe that those who pray from the heart, will in the end find Infinite Love waiting for them. It is grace, we can’t earn it, but we are called to seek, knock, and open up our hearts.-Br.MD

What if I turn out to be a "good and faithful servant"… but, for whatever reason (Hypothetical examples: (A) I don't want to do all that reigning/ruling. (B) I somehow identify with the unborn, who never got to earn any rewards), want the default/unrewarded experience?
Can I turn-down the rewards, recommend a different Believer, etc., or would He see it as rebellion?

"tailgating, erratic lane changing or illegal passing,” factors into 56 percent of crashes resulting in a fatality."

My wife and I experienced all of the above for 2500 miles during a trip on I-75 to Florida, last month.

Many don't remember their drivers ed instructions.