Hello my friends!! Early today because we are going out for supper to our friend's who used be our neighbors here, we will have supper with them, and learn a new game called carble - it's with cards and marbles. I never heard of it! So I don't know when we'll get back, it's a half hour away - where we used to live, another couple, friends for 30 years, is joining us there, they are neighbors to them. They live out by a lake. The garage is getting cleaner and looking good - the cupboards came that he bought for $100.00, used ones that look as good as new, now he needs someone to help him hang them up. They are heavy! Today it was really a blessing helping in the garage, cleaning out drawers etc. and finding things I didn't remember I had and now putting to good use! That was fun - and working with him a blessing. Thanks in advance for your sharing your blessings with us! May God bless you all and answer all your prayers.
In your search for peace, look within. If you are looking elsewhere,
you are looking in the wrong place. Lord, help me to open my heart
to Your gift of peace and refuse to let anything in that disturbs it.
Scripture for the day:
"Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all
these things will be given to you as well." ~Matthew 6:33
Meditation for the day:
"Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all
these things will be given to you as well." We need not seek material
things first, but seek spiritual things first and material things will
come to us, as we honestly work for them. Many of us seek material
things first and think they can then grow into knowledge of spiritual
things. We cannot serve God and earthly things at the same time. The
first requisites of an abundant life are spiritual things: honesty,
purity, unselfishness and love. Until we have these qualities,
quantities of material things are of little real use to us.
Prayer for the day:
I pray that I may put much effort into acquiring spiritual things. I
pray that I may get right spiritually and enjoy the many gifts around
me.
Words of Encouragement
The Hope That Awaits!
2 Corinthians 5:1
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a
building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
“Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up,” said Jesus. His
enemies, thinking him the enemy of the Herodian temple, made this claim the
basis of the charge against him and used it to destroy him. It was the
greatest turnabout in history, since in so doing they fulfilled his words
and God, for his part, kept his end of the prophecy as well—-three days
later. Now Jesus reigns eternally in the heavens and we who are baptized
into his death will share with him in that risen life as well. Today, thank
God for the new life of soul and body that Jesus won for us in the
destruction of his earthly tent and the establishment of his eternal and
heavenly House.
Just a Word of Encouragement
from Mark Shea and Jeff Cavins.
The Right Moves
One day, many years ago, when I was working as a psychologist at a
children's institution in England, an adolescent boy showed up in the
waiting room. I went out there where he was walking up and down restlessly.
I showed him into my office and pointed to the chair on the other side of my
desk. It was in late autumn, and the lilac bush outside the window had shed
all its leaves. "Please sit down," I said.
David wore a black rain coat that was buttoned all the way up to his neck.
His face was pale, and he stared at his feet while wringing his hands
nervously. He had lost his father as an infant, and had lived together with
his mother and grandfather since. But the year before David turned 13, his
grandfather died and his mother was killed in a car accident. Now he was 14
and in family care.
His head teacher had referred him to me. "This boy," he wrote, "is
understandably very sad and depressed. He refuses to talk to others and I'm
very worried about him. Can you help?"
I looked at David. How could I help him? There are human tragedies
psychology doesn't have the answer to, and which no words can describe.
Sometimes the best thing one can do is to listen openly and sympathetically.
The first two times we met, David didn't say a word. He sat hunched up in
the chair and only looked up to look at the children's drawings on the wall
behind me. As he was about to leave after the second visit, I put my hand on
his shoulder. He didn't shrink back, but he didn't look at me either.
"Come back next week, if you like," I said. I hesitated a bit. Then I said,
"I know it hurts."
He came, and I suggested we play a game of chess. He nodded. After that we
played chess every Wednesday afternoon - in complete silence and without
making any eye contact. It's not easy to cheat in chess, but I admit that I
made sure David won once or twice.
Usually, he arrived earlier than agreed, took the chessboard and pieces from
the shelf and began setting them up before I even got a chance to sit down.
It seemed as if he enjoyed my company. But why did he never look at me?
"Perhaps he simply needs someone to share his pain with," I thought.
"Perhaps he senses that I respect his suffering." One afternoon in late
winter, David took off his rain coat and put it on the back of the chair.
While he was setting up the chess pieces, his face seemed more alive and his
motions more lively.
Some months later, when the lilacs blossomed outside, I sat starring at
David's head, while he was bent over the chessboard. I thought about how
little we know about therapy - about the mysterious process associated with
healing. Suddenly, he looked up at me.
"It's your turn," he said.
After that day, David started talking. He got friends in school and joined a
bicycle club. He wrote to me a few times ("I'm biking with some friends and
I feel great"); letters about how he would try to get into university. After
some time, the letters stopped. Now he had really started to live his own
life.
Maybe I gave David something. At least I learned a lot from him. I learned
how time makes it possible to overcome what seems to be an insuperable pain.
I learned to be there for people who need me. And David showed me how one -
without any words - can reach out to another person. All it takes is a hug,
a shoulder to cry on, a friendly touch, a sympathetic nature - and an ear
that listens.
12 Signs of a Spiritual Awakening
1. An increased tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.
2. Frequent attacks of smiling.
3. Feelings of being connected with others and nature.
4. Frequent overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
5. A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than from fears based
on past experience.
6. An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.
7. A loss of ability to worry.
8. A loss of interest in conflict.
9. A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.
10. A loss of interest in judging others.
11. A loss of interest in judging self.
12. Gaining the ability to love without expecting anything in return.
PUPPY SIZE
"Danielle keeps repeating it over and over again. We've been back to this
animal shelter at least five times. It has been weeks now since we started
all of this," the mother told the volunteer.
"What is it she keeps asking for?" the volunteer asked.
"Puppy size!" replied the mother.
"Well, we have plenty of puppies, if that's what she's looking for."
"I know...we have seen most of them," the Mom said in frustration...
Just then Danielle came walking into the office.
"Well, did you find one?" asked her Mom. "No, not this time,"
Danielle said with sadness in her voice. "Can we come back on the weekend?"
"You never know when we will get more dogs. Unfortunately, there's always a
supply," the volunteer said.
Danielle took her mother by the hand and headed to the door. "Don't worry,
I'll find one this weekend," she said.
Over the next few days, both Mom and Dad had long conversations with her.
They both felt she was being too particular.
"It's this weekend or we're not looking any more," Dad finally said in
frustration.
"We don't want to hear anything more about puppy size either," Mom added.
Sure enough, they were the first ones in the shelter on Saturday morning. By
now Danielle knew her way around, so she ran right for the section that
housed the smaller dogs. Tired of the routine, Mom sat in the small waiting
room at the end of the first row of cages.
There was an observation window so you could see the animals during times
when visitors weren't permitted. Danielle walked slowly from cage to cage,
kneeling periodically to take a closer look. One by one the dogs were
brought out and she held each one. One by one she said, "Sorry, you're not
the one."
It was the last cage on this last day in search of the perfect pup. The
volunteer opened the cage door and the child carefully picked up the dog and
held it closely. This time she took a little longer.
"Mom, that's it! I found the right puppy! He's the one! I know it!" she
screamed with joy. "It's the puppy size!"
"But it's the same size as all the other puppies you held over the last few
weeks," Mom said.
"No not size ---- the sighs. When I held him in my arms, he sighed," she
said.
"Don't you remember? When I asked you one day what love is, you told me love
depends on the sighs of your heart. The more you love, the bigger the sigh!"
The two women looked at each other for a moment. Mom didn't know whether to
laugh or cry. As she stooped down to hug the child, she did a little of
both.
"Mom, every time you hold me, I sigh. When you and Daddy come home from work
and hug each other, you both sigh. I knew I would find the right puppy if it
sighed when I held it in my arms," she said. Then holding the puppy up close
to her face she said, "Mom, he loves me. I heard the sighs of his heart!"
Close your eyes for a moment and think about the love that makes you sigh. I
not only find it in the arms of my loved ones, but in the caress of a
sunset, the kiss of the moonlight and the gentle brush of cool air on a hot
day. They are the sighs of God. Take the time to stop and listen; you will
be surprised at what you hear. "Life is not measured by the breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath.
-- Author Unknown
God made
Adam bit
Noah arked
Abraham split
Joseph ruled
Jacob fooled
Bush talked
Moses balked
Pharaoh plagued
People walked
Sea divided
Tablets guided
Promise landed
Saul freaked
David peeked
Prophets warned
Jesus born
God walked
Love talked
Anger crucified
Hope died
Love rose
Spirit flamed
Word spread
God remained.
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