Hello my friends! Hope your day is going well! At this point I am still waiting to hear some Good News. Everything takes so long. But I'm trying to think positive, what else can I do, that and continue praying and that I do, too. Got a blessing call from my sister, Deil, today, always so nice to visit with her on the phone. She drove to her son's for Mother's Day, the day before because her son's daughter sang a lead in a concert - much talent in that girl. The girl who was born without a bladder and had to have many surgeries, but what a girl!! She's the youngest of that family. Praying for you all - may God grant healing touches to all who ask!
Move with a gentle spirit, a compassionate heart and a patient disposition
and you will accomplish much more today. Lord, grant me a quiet mind
and the wisdom to move my mountains.
Scripture for the day:
"The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" The Lord replied, "If
you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry
tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. ~Luke
17:5-6
Meditation for the day:
I can gain faith by my own experience of God's power in my life. The
constant, persistent recognition of God's spirit in all my personal
relationships, the ever-accumulating weight of evidence in support of God's
guidance, the numberless instances in which seeming chance or wonderful
coincidence can be traced to God's purpose in my life. All these things can
gradually engender a feeling of wonder, humility, and gratitude to God.
These in turn can be followed by a more sure and abiding faith in God and
God's purposes.
Prayer for the day:
I pray that my faith may be strengthened every day. I pray that I may find
confirmation of my life in the good things that have come into my life.
Holy Are Your Ways
Help me to understand, Lord,
that what counts is not the road traveled,
but simply putting my hand in yours
and journeying side by side with you, Lord Jesus --
O you who are the joy of my journey
and also the repose in the Father's home!
Holy, holy is the Lord, for eternal is His love.
Sweet Life
Life is so sweet
How can I repay?
For all the joys
I reap day by day.
The beauty of nature
I steal by the hours
The aura of God
The soul holds and devours
There are sweet moments
That live in my heart
And all thru a lifetime
We're never apart
We have but to note them
This beautiful place
Full of God's blessings
And filled with His grace.
I thank you so, Father
For all the gifts you bestow
So that in my heart
Love continues to grow
author unknown
The Emperor's Seed
Once there was an emperor in the Far East who was growing old and knew it
was coming time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his
assistants or one of his own children, he decided to do something different.
He called all the young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, "It
has come time for me to step down and to choose the next emperor. I have
decided to choose one of you." The kids were shocked! But the emperor
continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today. One seed. It is
a very special seed. I want you to go home, plant the seed, water it and
come back here one year from today with what you have grown from this one
seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring to me, and the one I
choose will be the next emperor of the kingdom!"
There was one boy named Ling who was there that day and he, like the others,
received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the whole story.
She helped him get a pot and some planting soil, and he planted the seed and
watered it carefully. Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had
grown.
After about three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their
seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Ling kept going home and
checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five
weeks went by. Still nothing.
By now others were talking about their plants but Ling didn't have a plant,
and he felt like a failure. Six months went by, still nothing in Ling's pot.
He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall
plants, but he had nothing. Ling didn't say anything to his friends,
however. He just kept waiting for his seed to grow.
A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their
plants to the emperor for inspection. Ling told his mother that he wasn't
going to take an empty pot. But she encouraged him to go, and to take his
pot, and to be honest about what happened. Ling felt sick to his stomach,
but he knew his mother was right. He took his empty pot to the palace.
When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by all the
other youths. They were beautiful, in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his
empty pot on the floor and many of the other kinds laughed at him. A few
felt sorry for him and just said, "Hey nice try."
When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people.
Ling just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees and
flowers you have grown," said the emperor. "Today, one of you will be
appointed the next emperor!"
All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his
empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was
terrified. "The emperor knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!"
When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. "My name is Ling,"
he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor
asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling, and then announced to the
crowd, "Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!" Ling couldn't believe
it. Ling couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor?
Then the emperor said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I
told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me
today. But I gave you all boiled seeds which would not grow. All of you,
except Ling, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found
that the seed would not grown, you substituted another seed for the one I
gave you. Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a
pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new
emperor!"
Blogs & Forums
