Community Chat

[gloriajean]

Hello my friends! Well today before the rain, got the rest of the garden out, and we froze the kale, collard and spinach all together - blanched it for 2 min. and just before putting it into the vacuumed sealed bags, I food processed them into smaller - they were huge, and now they are all in the freezer. Hope this works out now. This is the first time for this. It's a blessing from God to receive garden supplies we can use for the year! Praised be Jesus! As this thread originated six years ago by counting our blessings, I wish to ask you to post your blessings also - another one would be Darla's message about St. Thomas I wrote on the last thread. We await to see what God has in store for her for her back - as the test for her freezing the nerves failed she said as she saw her doctor this morning. Now she talks about doing the injections. Please pray for her healing and I thank you so much in advance!!! Praying for all your needs as well.

By being less judgmental of others, you will eliminate much frustration.
Lord, I pray for the peace that comes from understanding and compassion.

Scripture for the day:

"And the one who was seated on the throne said, 'See, I am making all
things new.'" ~Revelation 21:5

Meditation for the day:

"See, I am making all things new." When we change to a new way of
life, we can leave many things behind us. It is only the earth-bound
spirit that cannot soar. We can loosen somewhat the strands that tie
us to the earth. It is only the earthly desires that bind us. Our new
freedom can depend on our ability to rise above earthly things.
Clipped wings can grow again. Broken wings can gain a strength and
beauty unknown before. If we will, we can be released and free.

Prayer for the day:

I pray that I may be freed from things that hold me down. I pray that
my spirit may soar in freedom.

Prayer on the Beatitudes

Lord Jesus, You said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven." Keep us from being preoccupied with money and worldly
goods, and with trying to increase them at the expense of justice.

Lord Jesus, You said, "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the
earth." Help us not to be ruthless with one another, and to eliminate the
discord and violence that exists in the world around us.

Lord Jesus, You said, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be
comforted." Let us not be impatient under our own burdens and unconcerned
about the burdens of others.

Lord Jesus, You said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice,
for they shall be filled." Make us thirst for you, the fountain of all
holiness, and actively spread your influence in our private lives and in
society.

Lord Jesus, You said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive
mercy." Grant that we may be quick to forgive and slow to condemn.

Lord Jesus, You said, "Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see
God." Free us from our senses and our evil desires, and fix our eyes on you.

Lord Jesus, You said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called
children of God." Aid us to make peace in our families, in our country, and
in the world.

Lord Jesus, You said, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of
justice, for the kingdom of heaven in theirs." Make us willing to suffer for
the sake of right rather than to practice injustice; and do not let us
discriminate against our neighbors and oppress and persecute them.

Who you are

Who do you think you are? Are you the problems you encountered yesterday, or
are you the positive possibilities that exist today?

Are you the limitations that others have convinced you to adopt? Or are you
the person who can work your way through whatever obstacles may confront
you?

Are you the shortcomings and disappointments you've known? Or are you the
most magnificent, most treasured dreams you can imagine?

Are you the empty, meaningless pursuits of the materialistic culture that
surrounds you? Or are you the deeply held, lasting values you know to be
truth?

Who you think you are can make all the difference, in this moment, in your
life. Because who you think you are is who you constantly work to more fully
become.

Who do you think you are? Choose right now to be the best you can imagine.

-- Ralph Marston

A Little Wisdom

A mirror is only as good
As the reflection in it.

Worry enough to anticipate trouble
But not so much as to bring it about.

Look back to where you have been
For a clue to where you are going.

Melt the icy fingers of fear
With the sunshine of hope.

Step by gentle step,
You can overcome the greatest sorrow.

The sweetest grapes
Are picked from the vineyard of friendship.

Find something you truly believe in,
And everything else will have meaning as well.


The Smell of God
A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the doctor
walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. Still groggy from
surgery,her husband David held her hand as they braced themselves for the
latest news.
That afternoon of March 10 , 1991, complications had forced Diana, only
24-weeks pregnant, to undergo an emergency Cesarean to deliver the couple's
new daughter, Danae Lu Blessing. At 12 inches long and weighing only one
pound and nine ounces, they already knew she was perilously premature.
Still, the doctor's soft words dropped like bombs. "I don't think she is
going to make it," he said, as kindly as he could. "There's only a 10%
chance she will live through the night, and even then, if by some slim
chance she does make it, her future could be a very cruel one."

Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor described the
devastating problems Danae would likely face is she survived. She would
never walk. She would never talk. She would probably be blind. She would
certainly be prone to other catastrophic conditions from cerebral palsy to
complete mental retardation and on and on.

"No! No!" was a Diana could say. She and David with their 5-year-old son
Dustin, had long dreamed of the day that would have a daughter to become a
family of four. Now, within a matter of hours, that dream was slipping away.

Through the dark hours of morning as Danae held onto life by the thinnest
thread, Diana slipped in and out of drugged sleep, growing more and more
determined that their tiny daughter would live-and live to be a happy,
healthy young girl. But David, fully awake and listening to additional dire
details of their daughter's chances of ever leaving the hospital alive, much
less healthy, knew he must confront his wife with the inevitable.

"David walked in and said that we needed to talk about making funeral
arrangements," Diana remembers. "I felt so bad for him because he was doing
everything, trying to include me in what was going on, but I just wouldn't
listen - I couldn't listen. I said, "No, that is not going to happen, no
way! I don't care what the doctors say Danae is not going to die! One day
she will be just fine, and she will be coming home with us!"

As if willed to live by Diana's determination, Danae clung to life - a
marvel her miniature body could endure. But, as those first days passed, a
new agony set in for David and Diana. Because Danae's underdeveloped nervous
system was essentially "raw," the lightest kiss or caress only intensified
her discomfort - so they couldn't even cradle their tiny baby girl against
their chests to offer the strength of their love. All they could do, as
Danae struggled alone beneath the ultra-violet light in the tangle of tubes
and wires, was to pray that God would stay close to their precious little
girl.

There was never a moment when Danae suddenly grew stronger. But, as the
weeks went by, she did slowly gain an ounce of weight here and an ounce of
strength there.

At last, when Danae turned two months old, her parents were able to hold her
in their arms for the very first time. And two months later-though doctors
continued to gently but grimly warn that her chances of surviving, much less
living any kind of normal life, were next to zero

Danae went home from the hospital, just as he mother had predicted.

Today, five years later, Danae is a petite but feisty young girl with
glittering gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for like. She shows no signs,
whatsoever, of any mental or physical impairments. Simply, she is everything
a little girl can be and more-but that happy ending is far from the end of
her story.

One blistering afternoon in the summer of 1996 near her home in Irving,
Texas, Danae was sitting in her mother's lap in the bleachers of a local
ball park where her brother Dustin's baseball team was practicing. As
always, Danae was chattering non-stop with her mother and several other
adults sitting nearby when she suddenly fell silent.

Hugging her arms across her chest, Danae asked, "Do you smell that?"
Smelling the air and detecting the approach of a thunderstorm, Diana
replied, "Yes, it smells like rain."

Danae closed her eyes and again asked, "Do you smell that?" Once again her
mother replied, "Yes, I think we're about to get wet. It smells like rain.
"Still caught in the moment, Danae shook her head, patted her thin shoulders
with her small hands and loudly announced, "No, it smells like Him. It
smells like God when you lay your head on His chest."

Tears blurred Diana's eyes as Danae then happily hopped down to play with
some other children. Thinking back on her daughter's word's it confirmed
what Diana and all the members of the extended Blessing family had known, at
least in their hearts, all along. During those long days and nights of her
first two months of her life when her nerves were too sensitive for them to
touch her, God was holding Danae on His chest - and it is His loving scent
that she remembers so well.