Community Chat

[gloriajean]

Be wise enough to thank God for not giving you some of the things you've
asked for and gracious enough to gratefully enjoy what He gave you in its
place. Lord, You know better than I what is right and best for me.

Scripture for the day:

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so
that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
~Romans 15:13

Meditation for the day:

The power of God's spirit is the greatest power in the universe. Our
conquest of each other, the great kings and conquerors, the conquest
of wealth, the leaders of the money society, all amount to very little
in the end. But the one that conquers him or herself is greater than
the one who conquers a city. Material things have no permanence. But
God's spirit is eternal. Everything really worthwhile in the world is
the result of the power of God's spirit.

Prayer for the day:

I pray that I may open myself to the power of God's spirit. I pray
that my relationships with others may be improved by this spirit.



Hello my friends! Today was not just an ordinary day – it started out with
a phone call from Lori informing me that our dear Joe passed away – He was
my nephew – and Lori’s cousin. She started to cry telling me that cousin
Joe died from carbon mon. at his cabin up north. He had a heater going, and
that was causing it. It took about 3 or 4 days before he was found on the
couch with the radio on a sports station. Joe was loved by all who knew
him. He was single, never married, lived simply, and he’d always show up
for family reunions and weddings etc. He was very special to my girls. This
hit them hard as well as Erma, his Mother, and four sisters. Darla plans to
fly home for the funeral – we don’t know yet when that will be but she
texted them asking if they could hold it until she got there. On the
positive side – good he didn’t get into an accident and have a violent
death! He was named for my Dad. I am still in the state of shock, friends!
Even though I got a blessing call from some friends who wanted to meet us at
Perkins as they are traveling thru our town – they were to see her Mom in
Mpls. who has stage 4 lung cancer. It was a nice two hour visit with them –
they live 4 hours away. Another blessing is that now she has a computer and
we can start to email. She teaches special Ed for many years. Her husband
is retired for health reasons.

Love Is With You


Pray for the faith to believe that the one you love is still
and will always be part of you deep inside your heart.

from Coping With Loss: Praying Your Way to Acceptance

Mother Teresa Said...
We have to give until it hurts. We need to give from the resources we would
like to keep for ourselves. We need to give to the point of sacrificing. We
must give something that we find hard to give up.

Faith and Pain by Clarita Calansanz - based on the book of Job

Some people become weak with suffering, others carry suffering courageously.
But all of us are affected every time we suffer. Suffering would be easier
to understand if only the bad were to suffer, and only the good were to
enjoy life.
But we know from human experience that this is not the way life is.
Sometimes the bad enjoy life too much.
And sometimes the good suffer so much. The bad ridicule them in believing in
God.
That is the mystery of human suffering. It does not choose the good. It does
not choose the bad. Suffering is for everyone and we can't take it away.
This is one of the first lessons Job learned. But Job was able to overcome
and be victorious over suffering because of that one beautiful virtue -
Faith.

We cannot run away from suffering, otherwise we would be running away all
the days of our life. But in the face of suffering, Job had faith. Because
he had faith, the sting of suffering was not there anymore. When we have
faith, "poison" or the sting of suffering cannot harm us anymore. When we
have faith, it is like a dog without rabies or a snake without venom. That
is what faith does to every human suffering.
Today let us offer our secret sufferings, I repeat, our secret sufferings.
Many people know how much we suffer by our own misfortune, but some people
do know know how much we suffer from within us. The problems we encounter
can be solved by a broader and deeper awareness of God's power, presence,
and wisdom.

Let us ask our Lord for faith so that the venom, the sting of suffering will
be taken away. And like Job, he can still say in the midst of suffering,
"Blessed be the Name of our Lord."

Jesus and the Mud Puddle,, please read
A great story..........

Howard County Sheriff Jerry Marr got a disturbing call one Saturday
afternoon a few months ago. His 6-year-old grandson Mikey had been hit by a
car while fishing in Greentown with his dad. The father and son were near a
bridge by the Kokomo Reservoir when a woman lost control of her car, slid
off the bridge and hit Mikey at a rate of about 50 mph.

Sheriff Marr had seen the results of accidents like this and feared the
worst. When he got to Saint Joseph Hospital, he rushed through the emergency
room to find Mikey conscious and in fairly good spirits.

"Mikey, what happened?" Sheriff Marr asked.

Mikey replied, "Well, Papaw, I was fishin' with Dad, and some lady runned me
over, I flew into a mud puddle, and broke my fishin' pole and I didn't get
to catch no fish!"

As it turned out, the impact propelled Mikey about 500 feet, over a few
trees and an embankment and in the middle of a mud puddle. His only injuries
were to his right femur bone which had broken in two places. Mikey had
surgery to place pins in his leg. Otherwise the boy is fine.

Since all the boy could talk about was that his fishing pole was broken, the
Sheriff went out to Wal-mart and bought him a new one while he was in
surgery so he could have it when he came out.

The next day the Sheriff sat with Mikey to keep him company in the hospital.
Mikey was enjoying his new fishing pole and talked about when he could go
fishing again as he cast into the trash can. When they were alone, Mikey,
just a matter-of-fact, said, "Papaw, did you know Jesus is real?"

Well," the Sheriff replied, a little startled. "Yes, Jesus is real to all
who believe in him and love him in their hearts."

"No," said Mikey. "I mean Jesus is REALLY real."

"What do you mean?" asked the Sheriff.

"I know he's real 'cause I saw him." said Mikey, still casting in to the
trash can.

"You did?" said the Sheriff.

"Yep," said Mikey. "When that lady runned me over and broke my fishing pole,
Jesus caught me in his arms and laid me down in the mud puddle .


Climbing the Musical Scale

DO- Do not worry over things that may never happen, and even if they happen,
worry will not help. Do count your blessings before you count cares.

RE- Radiate good will and a spirit of benevolence. Like laughter, it is
infectious and makes yourself, as well as others, feel better.

ME- Mete kindness, understanding, tolerance, and forgiveness generously. You
reap as you mete.

FA- Far-reaching things are the therapeutic benefits of spiritual thinking.
You become as you habitually think. Resentment, hatred, spite, envy, and
vengeance pack radioactive fall-out that gnaws at your vitals. They are
self-consuming.

SO- Sow the seeds of love, friendship, empathy, and helpfulness. These hardy
seeds take root in the crustiest ground.

LA- Laugh at yourself now and then. He who can laugh at himself is less apt
to be at war with himself. Laugh at yourself, even if you don't feel like
laughing.

TI- Teach yourself awareness and appreciation of all the wonders of nature.
Thank God daily for the precious gift of life. Genuine gratitude and
discontent are never found together.

DO- Do not expect someone else to open the door to happiness for you. You
must do it yourself. You alone have the key. Turn it.


- Author Unknown

A Prayer when feeling low


Loving Lord Jesus,
whose hands are underneath our lowest feelings
to support us as we rest in you.

Hold me in this dark place
and sustain my life with your hope.

Let the light of your love warm my heart,
and your Holy Spirit, the comforter,
be with me to lift me up.

Amen.

Our Relationship with God:

Dear Lord,

Our relationship with you is usually like this:

Just another day for me - plenty of things to do
Go to work, come home late, nothing really new

Sat in bed put my head to rest grabbed my mobile phone
About to call my girlfriend now to tell her I loved her so

But before I had the chance to phone I received an incoming call
I had to look twice at the Caller ID to see if I was sure

It was a friend of mine his name was John an odd call at this time
We haven´t spoken for years, busy I guess, we're all guilty of this crime

What does he want? I thought to myself, a favour he must need
So I answered the phone and said hello, the rest I'll let you read

Minutes went by, no favour so far, maybe I could be wrong
But there it was - the favour he needs - I knew it all along

That’s the reason why he called me today - I guess we all do the same
It´s only when we need something that we look to find their name

That’s the relationship we have with God - sad but it is true
We have to change the way we think - a message for me and you.

May we all have better tomorrows - may we all find His special blessings
tucked in our hearts.