Hello my friends! It was a busy day today - My cousin, Marilyn, came for lunch and she rode along with us taking Sister LaDonna back to the airport. The blessings were the nice drive both ways, even stopping at another sister's on the way - and not hitting rush hour traffic although we were sure we'd get it on the way back. God is a God of surprises, don't forget that!!! It was a nice visit with her, although too short, but glad she could come for a couple days, and tonight late yet Darla will be here for the rest of the week. Looking forward to that!
Apply God's promises to your daily lives and speak to Him from
the depths of your heart. Lord, the more time I spend with You,
the stronger You make my faith and the more blessings You place
in my life.
Scripture for the day:
"Jesus turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are a
stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine
things but on human things. 'Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If any
want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take
up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life
will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.'"
~Matthew 16:23-25
Meditation for the day:
We were born with the Divine within us. Living a selfish life can
hinder the Divine from being expressed and shared. The celestial fire
has to be tended and fed so that it will grow into a real desire to
live the right way. By trying to do the will of God, we grow more and
more in the new way of life. By thinking of God, praying to God and
having communion with God, we gradually grow more like God. The way
of our transformation from the material to the spiritual allows God to
work in and through us.
Prayer for the day:
I pray that I may tend the spark of the Divine within me so that it
will grow. I pray that I may be gradually transformed from the old
life to the new and fuller life.
Story of Edie
Some years ago, a tiny Korean orphan arrived in the United States to join her adoptive family. She was nine months old and weighed only 9 ½ pounds. She grew and blossomed in her new home, but remained a diminutive size.
Her new name was Edie.
One day when Edie was in second grade, she ran home from school, crying. She was frightened. That day, three new girls had been enrolled in her class.
During the first recess, they picked the smallest girl in the class as the object of their anger and frustration. They pinched, poked, and pushed tiny Edie and threatened to beat her up.
Edie had spent an hour in the principal's office with the three girls and was assured the teachers would be watching. The girls were given a warning.
Edie's mother held her little one and comforted her. She learned later, after speaking with the principal, that the girls had been troublemakers at several other schools. They were being given one more chance at anew beginning.
"These girls must have been very hurt in their young lives to be so angry. Her mother said. "The Bible tells us, "Be kind to your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you. Edie, let's pray."
Then they prayed for the girls and asked the Lord for a plan of action.
A plan began to take shape. "I can't go to school with you everyday, so you will need to stay close to a teacher when you are at recess or in line to go into school." said Edie's mom.
"If the girls start to pick on you, tell them, "I'd really like to be your friend Are you brave enough to do that?" Edie's mother asked. "The Lord asks us to be kind to our enemies, let's see what happens, okay?
The tiny girl perked up, and with a smile, looked at her mother and said, "Yes, Mom, I'll try."
The next morning, and everyday before Edie left for school, she and her mom prayed for her to be safe and brave, and for the girls to be open to God's love. Everyday, the girls shoved into line behind Edie and called her names and tried to get in a poke or two.
Each time, Edie looked up at them and said, "I'd really like to be your friend." She did have to look up at them since they were so much taller than she was.
The teachers kept an eye on the proceedings, but did not need to interfere as the girls were not hurting her.
After about two weeks, Edie came home looking so discouraged. She told her mother that she didn't think it was working. After they talked about it some more and prayed, she decided to keep trying and continued to faithfully tell them, "I'd really like to be your friend."
One day the following week, Edie ran home as fast as she could and ran into the house shouting, "Mom, Mom, guess what happened today? Just like I always did, I said I'd really like to be your friend, and one of the girls said, "Okay, Edie, we give up, we'll be your friend."
Edie and her mom thanked the Lord for His faithfulness.
A short time later, as the girls were trying to become friends, Edie asked the teacher if she could sit at a table with these girls in the classroom. She had noticed that they were disruptive because they didn't understand the lessons. Edie became their tutor.
Toward the end of the school year, when Edie's parents went to school for a parent teacher conference, the teacher told them, "Because of Edie's kindness, those girl's have completely turned around and are productive members of the class." She felt she had witnessed a miracle. And so did Edie's mom and dad.
How many people go through life never experiencing kindness? They don't see it in strangers, and some don't even find it in their own families
Without experiencing kindness, it becomes impossible to express kindness toward others. The result of this tragic lack is seen everywhere.
What a different society this would be if everyone who has received kindness would be kind to others, especially the unlovely.
- Author Unknown
For the Presence of God
Through every moment of this day: Be with me, Lord.
Through every day of all this week: Be with me, Lord.
Through every week of all this year: Be with me, Lord.
Through every year of all this life: Be with me, Lord.
So that when time is past,
By grace I may at last,
Be with you, Lord.
God be in my head, and in my understanding.
God be in my eyes, and in my looking.
God be in my mouth, and in my speaking,
God be in my heart, and in my thinking,
God be at my end, and at my departure.
Mother Teresa said...
I always begin my prayer in silence, for it is in the silence of the heart that God speaks. God is the friend of silence - we need to listen to God because it's not what we say but what He says to us and through us that matters. Prayer feeds the soul - as blood is to the body, prayer is the soul - and it brings you closer to God. It also gives you a clean and pure heart. A clean heart can see God, can speak to God, and can see the love of God in others.
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