Hello my friends! What a snowy day we have here again! Snow is piled so high! The roads were not good for Linus' first day going to work and back, it's only 7 miles though, so that's not bad. He's learning all about their computers now - and he learned how to enter an order in today. His co-worker, Perry, who used to be his co-worker at the other appliance job that closed, is teaching him. He's always liked Linus and it was because of him that Linus got the job!! Tomorrow morning we start taking care of Ollie again for a few days as Lori leaves tomorrow night for Dallas, Texas to spend her birthday weekend with her sister. I just want to thank all of your for all your prayers for us!!! We appreciate it so much!!! Know that you all are in mine.
If you want peace and goodness in your life you must be kind and loving.
Lord, may I avoid creating misery so that my life will reflect my love for
You.
Scripture for the day:
"My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it
nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces
endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature
and complete, lacking in nothing." ~James 1:2-4
Meditation for the day:
As we look back over our lives, it is not too difficult to see that what we
went through was for a purpose and helped to prepare us for some valuable
work in life. Everything in our lives can help make us of some use in the
world. Each person's life is like the pattern of a mosaic. Each thing that
happens to us is like one tiny stone in the mosaic, and each tiny stone fits
into the perfected pattern of the mosaic of our life, which has been
designed by God.
Prayer for the day:
I pray that I may not need to see the whole design of my life. I pray that
I may trust the Designer.
JUST CALL UPON HIM
-- Author Unknown
The boy walked along the ocean shore . . . trying not to stray. He looked up
to his father saying, "Dad, I want to play."
His father looked upon him, with love showing in his eyes. "Do what you want
to, my son . . . but do not leave my side."
"I would never leave you Daddy, I love you way too much." But the boy took a
step away, out of his father's range of touch.
He walked through the surf, the waves tickling one toe. "If I take one more
step in . . ." he thought, "Father will never know."
His father called out to him, "Son, to me remain true!" The boy thought with
glee . . . "At the moment I don't need you!"
His father felt a sadness, but he held his tongue. Sometimes lessons need to
be learned . . . even when so young.
The boy stepped out a little further . . . the water covering his waist. His
father spoke with urgency . . . his father spoke with haste.
"My son, come back to me," he said, "The day is almost done!" "Not yet,
Dad," the boy yelled, "I'm having too much fun!"
But the boy did not have his father's insight so he could not yet tell, The
tide was coming in fast . . . there would be no time to yell.
"Father!" he tried to scream, as the water covered his head. "I need you
now, Daddy!" was what the boy had said.
And in a single instant his father was by his side. "I thought you left me,
Daddy . . . I thought you went to hide."
The father looked upon his son . . . a tear streaming down his cheek. The
boy looked upon his father . . . and cried the sobs of the meek.
"I would never leave you son . . . for I love you just the same." "I was
only waiting . . . for you to call upon my name."
Does evil exist?
The university professor challenged his students with this question. Did God
create everything that exists? A student bravely replied, "Yes, he did!"
The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil
since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who
we are then God is evil". The student became quiet before such an answer.
The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the students
that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.
Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question
professor? Does cold exist?"
"What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been
cold?" The students snickered at the young man's question.
The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the
laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat.
Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits
energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy.
Absolute zero (-460 degrees F) is the total absence of heat; all matter
becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not
exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no
heat."
The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?"
The professor responded, "Of course it does."
The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist
either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but
not darkness. In fact we can use Newton's prism to break white light into
many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot
measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness
and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure
the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by
man to describe what happens when there is no light present."
Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?"
Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course as I have already said.
We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man.
It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These
manifestations are nothing else but evil."
To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does
not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like
darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of
God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love that exist
just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens when man
does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes
when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."
- - -
"Evil can no more be charged upon God than darkness can be charged upon the
sun." - William Law
Let's not forget our Guardian Angels:
INVOCATIONS TO THE HOLY GUARDIAN ANGEL
Holy Angel, my counselor, inspire me; Holy Angel, my defender, protect me;
Holy Angel, my faithful friend; intercede for me;
Holy Angel, my consoler, fortify me; Holy Angel, my brother, defend me;
Holy Angel, my teacher, instruct me;
Holy Angel, witness of all my actions, purify me;
Holy Angel, my helper, support me;
Holy Angel, my intercessor, speak for me;
Holy Angel, my guide, direct me; Holy Angel, my light, enlighten me;
Holy Angel, whom God has assigned to lead me, govern me.
GOD'S EMBROIDERY
When I was a little boy, my mother used to embroider a great deal. I would
sit at her knee and look up from the floor and ask what she was doing. She
informed me that she was embroidering. I told her that it looked like a mess
from where I was, the underside. I watched her work within the boundaries of
the little round hoop that she held in her hand.
She would smile at me, look down and gently say, "My son, you go about your
playing for a while, and when I am finished with my embroidering, I will put
you on my knee and let you see it from my side."
I would wonder why she was using some dark threads along with the bright
ones and why they seemed so jumbled from my view.
A few minutes would pass and then I would hear Mother's voice say, "Son,
come and sit on my knee."
This I did, only to be surprised and thrilled to see a beautiful flower or a
sunset. I could not believe it, because from underneath it looked so messy.
Then Mother would say to me, "My son, from underneath it did look messy and
jumbled, but you did not realize that there was a pre-drawn plan on the top.
It was a design. I was only following it. Now look at it from my side and
you will see what I was doing."
Many times through the years I have looked up to my Heavenly Father and
said, "Father, what are You doing?"
He has answered, "I am embroidering your life."
I say, "But it looks like a mess to me. It seems so jumbled. The threads
seem so dark. Why can't they all be bright?"
The Father seems to tell me, "My child, you go about your business of doing
My business, and one day I will bring you to Heaven and put you on My knee
and you will see the plan from My side."
-- Author Unknown
The Garden Of My Heart
One day while thinking about my garden,
God showed me how I could think about
my soul in a different way.
As a flower garden!
He said we could imagine
that when we were baptized,
God gave us this beautiful garden
(Our Baptized Soul).
It is a beautiful garden with
every kind of flower that He envisions for us.
He is giving us this garden to tend to
and we are free to do
whatever we want with our garden.
When we die, we present to God
our garden that He first gave to us.
I thought about everything that
it takes to make a beautiful garden
and how much deliberate effort it takes
to keep the garden free of weeds
and the flowers blooming.
A garden needs sunshine,
which I see is God and his love for us.
A garden needs water,
which I see is the life-giving grace
that he freely gives to us.
In order to have strong and
beautiful flowers and plants,
fertilizer is needed to feed and
nourish the soil and the flowers.
In order for a garden to do well,
the soil needs to be tilled and broken up.
I see this as the struggles and
problems we have in our life.
God lets things happen in our life
in order to soften and nourish the ground
(Our Soul) so that the flowers
can have a perfect environment to grow.
By cooperating with the grace that God gives us
and being open to His will,
we are allowing the seeds
that He has sown for us to grow.
Of course a garden has weeds
that always seem to pop up.
Unless we keep control of these weeds
they can overtake our garden and
choke out all the flowers that were thriving.
I see the weeds as the sin and vice
that can be in our lives
and that can keep us from
being more closely united to God.
We are free to ignore or pay attention
to OUR personal gift from God.
God planted the flowers
and it’s up to us to nourish
and tend our garden.
Finally I see that
WE never planted the flowers
and the plants in our garden.
Our garden is perfectly suited for
us according to Gods eternal plan.
God planted the flowers and it’s up to us
to nourish and tend our garden so that
everything God has planned for us can truly be,
and that at the end of our life
our garden will be most pleasing to our Lord.
Author Unknown To Me
A Prayer for Getting Old
Lord. Thou knowest I am growing older.
Keep me from becoming talkative and
possessed from the idea that I must
express myself on every subject.
Release me from the craving to straighten
out everyone's affairs.
Keep me from the recital of endless detail.
Give me wings to get to the point.
Seal my lips when I am inclined
to tell of my aches and pains.
They are increasing with the years and
my love to speak of them grows sweeter
as time goes by.
Teach me the glorious lesson that
occasionally I may be wrong.
Make me thoughtful but not nosey,
helpful but not bossy.
With my vast store of wisdom and experience
it does seem a pity not to use it all.
But Thou knowest, Lord, that I
want a few friends at the end.
Amen.
~Author Unknown~
Blogs & Forums
Forums
Blogs
