Among Friends

[gloriajean]

Greetings my friends! Well today I did my list on hotmail and it worked out fine!  I praise and thank God for this!  That was one blessing.  This morning we were invited to the man's house who bought our house to show him things, and we had a nice visit.  He's a 77 year old man, wife died a year a half ago, moved here because his daughter lives not far away.  We hope he'll love the house as much as we did!  

Most often a gentle approach is the best resolution to a conflict.

Lord, I have been given today to improve myself and make life

better for others. Help me walk in the way that You lead me. 

S C R I P T U R E   F O R   T H E   D A Y 

"For we are God's servants, working together; you are God's field,
God's building."  ~1 Corinthians 3:9

M E D I T A T I O N   F O R   T H E   D A Y 

We are God's servants.  We can serve God cheerfully and readily.
Nobody likes a servant who avoids extra work, who complains about
being called from one task to do one less enjoyable.  A master would
feel that he was being ill served by such a servant.  But is that not
how we so often serve God? We can view our day's work in this light.
We can try to do our day's work the way we believe God wants us to do
it, never shirking any responsibility and often going out of our way
to be of service.

P R A Y E R   F O R   T H E   D A Y 

I pray that I may be a good servant.  I pray that I may be willing to
go out of my way to be of service.

“THE ONION”

I was an onion before Christ set me free;

Layers upon layers of iniquity.

An ugly old onion whose fragrance was strong;

That my Jesus bought and loved all along.

Unknown to me what He was going to do;

Of what He was planning, I had not a clue.

Pulling each layer off one by one,

In order to make me more like Jesus the Son.

The first layer wasn’t so bad,

I saw all the sins that I knew I had.

They were easy to fix, just change the way I talk,

And learn more of how He wanted me to walk.

Reading His Word, and learning again;

How to put aside my life of sin.

But the next layer was pulled which hurt more,

He was getting closer to the core.

Unknown what He would find there,

I simply gave it to Him in prayer.

As another layer was removed, He started to cry;

Pulling this layer brought pain to my Father on high.

And I was crying over the sadness I felt;

The brokenness and all the guilt.

Past memories that I thought were gone;

But they were buried under layers disguised in a fragrance so strong.

As onions are peeled more and more,

They put tears in our eyes as we get close to the core;

So my Father wept over my pain;

Giving me a balm of comfort and strength to sustain.

“NO MORE LAYERS!” I would scream,

As he continued to peel each layer off of me.

“I’ll have nothing left, my Lord, what will I do?

I’ll be nothing but a worthless core to You.”

But he simply said “Trust Me,” continuing to peel,

I believe he was blinded to my pain that was so real.

Year after year I shrunk more and more;

Until all that was left of this onion was a core.

It was then that I began to understand;

As the Lord embraced me in His loving hand.

He said, “Now and only now, can you be;

The creation that will minister before Me.

“Clothed with the righteousness only from above;

Gone are your layers of self, so you can be filled with My love.”

He took my layers of sin, hurt and pain;

And clothed me with love, truth and mercy in His name.

Yes, we are all onions, learning with each day;

How to overcome as each layer is taken away.

Some layers tear and pull at your heart;

While others grieve us to our innermost part.

But we are nothing but an ugly onion before Christ.

Layers upon layers of pride, sin and strife.

Only God can take those layers away.

And clothe us with His righteousness in that final day.

EVERY DAY PRAYER

 Every Day I need thee Lord,
 This day especially

 I need some extra strength to face
 Whatever is to be

 This day more than any day
 I need to feel thee near

 To fortify my courage
 And overcome my fears

 By myself I cannot meet the challenges of the hour

There are times when human creatures need a higher power

 To bear what must be borne
 And so dear Lord I pray

 Hold on to my trembling hand
 And be with me Today

 Amen

 Author Unknown

The Little Girl and the Piano

A little girl wanted to become a great pianist, but all she could play on the piano was the simple little tune, "Chopsticks." No matter how hard she tried, that was the best she could do. Her parents decided after some time to arrange for a great maestro to teach her to play properly. Of course, the little girl was delighted.

When the little girl and her parents arrived at the maestro's mansion for the first lesson, they were escorted by the butler into the parlor, where they saw a beautiful concert grand piano. Immediately, the little girl dashed over to the piano and began playing "Chopsticks." Her embarrassed parents started across the room to tell her to stop, but as she played, the maestro entered the room and encouraged the little girl to continue.

The maestro then took a seat on the piano bench next to the little girl, listening to her play. After a moment he began to play along with her, adding chords, runs, and arpeggios. The little girl continued to play "Chopsticks." The parents couldn't believe their ears. They were hearing a beautiful piano duet, played by their daughter and the maestro, and amazingly enough, the central theme of it was still "Chopsticks."

At times you may feel like you're a nobody, that you will never accomplish great things. But think of that little girl. All she could play was "Chopsticks." Nobody wanted to hear "Chopsticks." It was an embarrassment to her parents and annoying to everyone else. Yet the maestro encouraged her to keep on playing.

God knows what you can do. He created you with gifts and talents. Sure, compared to some people's abilities, your gifts and talents may seem like "Chopsticks"-- not very original and not very spectacular. But God says, "Keep on playing--and make some room on the piano bench for Me." God is able to take the little that we are able to do and turn it into something beautiful for Him.

Author Unknown

St. Paul of the Cross

Blessed Redeemer, Saint Paul had a devotion to Your Passion since early childhood and grew up adoring the Blessed Sacrament. Before he was ordained, You set him to work forming a new religious community, the Passionists, with the mission of preaching the glory of Your cross. I ask him to pray for my home, my parish, ministry teams, and other communities to which I belong. O Jesus, may Your holy cross always remind us to make sacrifices for the sake of love. Bind us together in service and unity. Teach us to lead others to salvation and to reflect on Your Passion. Saint Paul, pray for us. Amen.

October 19 - Jesus Calling

Come to Me with your defenses down, ready to be blessed and filled with My Presence. Relax, and feel the relief of being totally open and authentic with Me. You have nothing to hide and nothing to disclose, because I know everything about you already. You can have no other relationship like this one. Take time to savor its richness, basking in My golden Light.

One of the worst consequences of the Fall is the elaborate barriers people erect between themselves and others. Facades abound in the world, even in My Body, the church. Sometimes, church is the last place where people feel free to be themselves. They cover up with Sunday clothes and Sunday smiles. They feel relief when they leave because of the strain of false fellowship. The best antidote to this artificial atmosphere is practicing My Presence at church. Let your primary focus be communing with Me, worshiping Me, glorifying Me. Then you will be able to smile at others with My Joy and love them with My Love.

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. —1 John 1:5–7

The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” —Exodus 33:14

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable…think about such things… —Philippians 4:8

[Sweetbay magnolia]

I am sincerely glad that you sold your house.  That is a difficult road to travel.

Thank you for your kindness.

[gloriajean]

Welcome to our thread, Sweetbay magnolia!  Come again anytime. We'd love to see you again!!  Selling our house was a good move, now we're in an apartment that has a pool, sauna, and hot tub, which we can use anytime!  But I still miss our house, it's going to take time.