Hello my friends! Finally got signed in! The Q was temporarily unavailable. I'm tired so this will be short. Blessings today - a call from Darla in Texas. Nice visit with Lori at supper, always a blessing to be in touch with my girls. Praying for you all.
Our words are powerful tools and can influence even when we are not aware.
Lord, help me to speak with kindness and sensitivity and to be a positive
source of encouragement and support to others.
Scripture for the day:
"Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in
you?" ~1 Corinthians 3:16
Meditation for the day:
God is all around us. God's spirit pervades the universe. And yet we often
do not let God's spirit in. We sometimes try to get along without God's
help and we make a mess of our lives. We can do nothing of any value
without God's help. All our human relationships depend on this. When we
let God's spirit rule our lives, we can learn how to get along with others
and how to help them.
Prayer for the day:
I pray that I may let God run my life. I pray that I will never again make
a mess of my life through trying to run it myself.
+ + +
So much for love! We all want to do it, but so often we get lost in the
details. Sometimes we fool ourselves with cheap imitations, like good
wishes: I wish you well, and I think I’m loving you. Not so. As the saying
goes, “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.” Wishing is nice, but it
isn’t love.
Neither are those warm, mushy feelings that come upon as at times. Those
sentimental feelings are nice, and very pleasant too, but they’re not love
either. Five minutes can cool off any bowl of warm mush!
Real love wants the best for the other, and then works at making it happen.
Real love acts, but not like a tank. Real love is circumspect. It thinks
and prays long and hard in search of what the best really IS for the other.
And sometimes it has to say in truth, “I don’t know what the best is in this
case. So I’ll just be quiet for awhile, and be open and attentive to the
Holy Spirit till I do know.”
Real love for another has at its root the experience of BEING loved, which
enables us to see, through the eyes of another, all the goodness God has
planted in us. Now if we don’t see the good God has put in us, we won’t be
ABLE to love ourselves, and in turn we’ll never be able to see and trust the
goodness in others: we’ll never have the heart to love.
Instead, knowing for sure that we’re not lovable, we’ll be equally certain
that nobody else is lovable either, and we’ll waste our lives alternately
holding each other at a distance and trying to steal love we’re sure we don’t
deserve: Buying it or tricking folks into it one way or another. What a
waste!
We’ve gathered here in this church because we don’t want to waste our lives.
We know Jesus is right when he says the only path to life is loving God and
our neighbor as ourselves. We want to do and not just talk about it. So what
comes next is clear: We have to let God’s love enfold us and wrap us round.
In the embrace of him who sees everything and yet loves us nonetheless, we’ll
find the power to act, the power to give ourselves to one another. And in
doing that, we’ll find the joy we long for.
Trust his love for you. Trust the full extent of it. Let him enfold you
completely. The power to love with all your heart will follow!
This story should remind us all to take time and care.
A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside. Your son
is here," she said to the old man. She had to repeat the words several
times before the patient's eyes opened. Heavily sedated because of the
pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young man in the Marine Corps
uniform
standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand. The Marine
wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man's limp ones, squeezing a
message of love and encouragement. The nurse brought a chair so that the
Marine
could sit alongside the bed. Nights are long in hospitals but all through
the
night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward, holding the
old man's hand and offering him words of love and strength. Occasionally,
the
nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile. He refused.
Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and
of
the night noises of the hospital - the clanking of the oxygen tank, the
laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and
moans
of the other patients. Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words.
The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the
night.
Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine placed the lifeless
hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she
had to do, he waited. Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of
sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her. "Who was that man?" he
asked. The nurse was startled, "He was your father" she answered. "No, he
wasn't," the Marine replied. "I never saw him before in my life." "Then why
didn't you say something when I took you to him?" "I knew right away, there
had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just
wasn't
here.
When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was
his son, I knew how much he needed me so I stayed."
The next time someone needs you...be there. Stay
RECIPE FOR KINDNESS
Author Unknown
Fold two hands together
And express a dash of sorrow
Marinate it overnight
And work on it tomorrow.
Chop one grudge in tiny pieces
Add several cups of love
Dredge with a large sized smile
Mix with the ingredients above.
Dissolve the hate within you,
By doing a good deed
Cut in and help your friend
If he should be in need.
Stir in laughter, love an kindness
>From the heart it has to come,
Toss with genuine forgiveness
And give your neighbor some.
The amount of people served
Will depend on you,
It can serve the whole wide world,
If you really want it to.
The Lord's Prayer
Leader: When we feel that we are not succeeding and begin to doubt our sense
of worth, Lord, teach us to pray:
All: Our Father, who art in Heaven
Leader: When we become too closely involved in our own affairs, Lord, teach
us to pray:
All: Hallowed be thy name
Leader: When we think of the future as fixed and impossible to change, Lord,
teach us to pray:
All: Thy Kingdom come
Leader: When we begin to dodge our commitments and evade our obligations,
Lord, teach us to pray:
All: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Leader: When we are smug, comfortable and satisfied and forget the needs of
others, Lord, teach us to pray:
All: Give us this day our daily bread
Leader: When we hold grudges and allow bitterness and resentment into our
hearts, Lord, teach us to pray:
All: Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us
Leader: When we find it hard to say 'No' and the pressure to give in mounts,
Lord, teach us to pray:
All: Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil
Leader: When we become self-centred and seek only our own gratification,
Lord, teach us to pray:
All: The Kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Adversity Can Distress Us, Or Bless Us
By: Helen Steiner Rice
The way we use adversity is strictly our own choice,
for in God's hands, adversity can make the heart
rejoice. For everything God sends us, no matter in
what form, is sent with plan and purpose, for by the
fierceness of a storm, the atmosphere is changed and
cleared, and the earth is washed and clean, and the high
winds of adversity can make restless souls serene
.
And while it's very difficult for mankind to understand
God's intentions and His hand, if we observe the Miracles
that happen every day, we cannot help but be convinced
that in His wondrous way God makes what seemed unbearable
and painful and distressing easily acceptable when we
view it as a blessing received from God.
Know that God is present in all situations and with every situation there's
a blessing for you! Have a blessed weekend and know God loves you and so do
I.
This Prayer to St. Joseph is over 1900 years old, from the "Pieta Prayer
Booklet".
O St. Joseph whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the
Throne of God,
I place in you all my interest and desires. O St. Joseph do assist me by
your powerful
intercession and obtain for me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings
through Jesus Christ, Our Lord; so that having engaged here below
your Heavenly power I may offer my Thanksgiving and Homage
to the Loving of Fathers.
O St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep
in your arms. I dare not approach while He reposes
near your heart. Press Him in my name and kiss
His fine Head for me, and ask Him to return
the Kiss when I draw my dying breath.
St. Joseph, Patron of departing souls, pray for us. Amen.
Say for nine consecutive mornings for anything you may desire.
It has seldom been known to fail.
SCARS
Some years ago on a hot summer day in south Florida a little boy decided to
go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house.
In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving
behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went. He flew into the water, not
realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was
swimming toward the shore.
His mother, in the house was looking out the window, saw the two as they got
closer and closer together. In utter fear, she ran toward the water, yelling
to her son as loudly as she could. Hearing her voice, the little boy became
alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his mother.
It was too late. Just as he reached her, the alligator reached him. From
the dock, the mother grabbed her little boy by the arms just as the
alligator snatched his legs. That began an incredible tug-of-war between the
two.
The alligator was much stronger than the mother, but the mother was much too
passionate to let go.
A farmer happened to drive by, heard her screams, raced from his truck, took
aim and shot the alligator.
Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived.
His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. And, on
his arms, were deep scratches where his mother's fingernails dug into his
flesh in her effort to hang on to the son she loved.
The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked if he
would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, with
obvious pride, he said to the reporter, "But look at my arms. I have great
scars on my arms, too. I have them because my mom wouldn't let go."
You and I can identify with that little boy. We have scars, too. No, not
from an alligator, or anything quite so dramatic. But, the scars of a
painful past. Some of those scars are unsightly and have caused us deep
regret.
But, some wounds, my friend, are because God has refused to let go.
In the midst of your struggle, He's been there holding on to you. The
Scripture teaches that God loves you. If you have Christ in your life, you
have become a child of God. He wants to protect you and provide for you in
every way.
But sometimes we foolishly wade into dangerous situations. The swimming hole
of life is filled with peril - and we forget that the enemy is waiting to
attack. That's when the tug-o-war begins, and if you have the scars of His
love on your arms be very, very grateful.
He did not - and will not - let you go. Time is a very precious gift of
God; so precious that it's only given to us moment by moment.
THE 7 UPS!
Author Unknown
1. Wake Up !!
Decide to have a good day.
"This is the day the Lord hath made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it."
Psalms 118:24
2. Dress Up !!
The best way to dress up is to put on a smile.
A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.
"The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.
Man looks at outward appearance,
But the Lord looks at the heart."
I Samuel 16:7
3. Shut Up!!
Say nice things and learn to listen.
God gave us two ears and one mouth,
So He must have meant for us to do twice as much listening as
talking.
"He who guards his lips guards his soul."
Proverbs 13:3
4. Stand Up!!
. . . For what you believe in.
Stand for something or you will fall for anything.
"Let us not be weary in doing good; for at the proper time,
We will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good..."
Galatians 6:9-10
5. Look Up !!
. . . To the Lord.
"I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me".
Philippians 4:13
6. Reach Up !!
. . . For something higher.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not unto your own understanding.
In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path."
Proverbs 3:5-6
7. Lift Up !!
. . . Your Prayers.
"Do not worry about anything; instead
PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING."
Philippians 4:6
Gifts
Each of us brings to the world unique talents, gifts and abilities.
Even if you don't know what it is, or value what you do, someone, somewhere,
will benefit from your presence.
No one can do what you do exactly the way you do it.
It is this uniqueness that makes you valuable to the world.
We are each as unique and valuable as the other.
It was designed that way. A gift from God.
Gifts are not given on the basis of race or gender.
As a matter of truth, gifts come in many shapes, sizes and colors.
When you do what you do, exactly the way you do it,
You are sharing God's gifts, bestowed for the good of the world.
Mother Teresa Said...
We need to work for Christ with a humble heart, with the humility of Christ.
He comes and uses us to be His love and compassion in the world in spite of
our weaknesses and frailties.
Meditations by Padre Pio
Jesus and your soul must cultivate the vineyard together. It is for you to
pick up and carry away the stones, to pull out the thorn bushes. It is the
task of Jesus to sow, plant, cultivate, to water.
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