Hello my friends!!! Today's blessings was our first Anniversary card from a friend! Then we had Ray and Ann over for supper, chicken on the grill, mashed potatoes (from the garden), beans (from the garden) and lettuce salad with cuke and tomatoes from the garden. Being he can't have anything gluten, we don't have desserts, but just my raspberries, and she surprised me by bringing some blueberries they picked! Having them both together in a dish was great! He cannot have sugar either, so no ice cream. Had a wonderful visit as usual! They surely are best friends and what a blessing from God!! Ann and I are planning on seeing Wanda next week sometime.
Prayer helps us see that God is not the cause of unpleasant happenings, but
the healing of them. Lord, I trust in You for the right outcomes in all
situations.
Scripture for the day:
"My vows to you I must perform, O God; I will render thank offerings to you.
For you have delivered my soul from death, and my feet from falling, so that
I may walk before God in the light of life." ~Psalm 56:12-13
Meditation for the day:
I will never forget to say thank you to God, even on the grayest days. My
attitude can be one of humility and gratitude. Saying thank you to God is a
daily practice that is absolutely necessary. If a day is not one of
thankfulness, the practice has to be repeated until it becomes so. Gratitude
is a necessity for those who seek to live a better life.
Prayer for the day:
I pray that gratitude will bring humility. I pray that humility will bring
me to live a better life.
U Turns
"Thanks for inviting me to go to church with you next Sunday, Uncle Al." Tim
and his uncle were on their way to Bonny Lake. They had heard the fishing
there was great. "I... I don't want to hurt your feelings," continued Tim,
"but... well... I'm not sure I want to get into this religious stuff.
Besides, Mom and Dad don't think it's a good idea."
"Oh?" asked Uncle Al in surprise. "I thought you said that your parents
wouldn't mind if you went with me. You sounded quite interested last week.
You even said the Gospel was beginning to make sense to you."
"Yeah, but since then I've done a lot of thinking," Tim said slowly. "I
don't think I feel like getting 'saved' right now. The crowd I hang around
with at school wouldn't understand, and I like being with them. Someday I'll
start going to church, but I think I'll just go on the way I am for a while.
I know I'm not perfect, but I'm not so bad, either."
Tim's uncle drove on silently for a few minutes. "Oh, no!" he exclaimed as
they passed a road sign. "I was so intent on our conversation that I missed
the turnoff! We should have gotten off this road five miles back!"
"Guess we'll have to turn around and go back now, huh?" asked Tim. But Uncle
Al shook his head. "I don't feel like turning around right now," he said. "I
guess we'll just keep going this way. I kind of like this road, and the
scenery is nice."
Tim looked at his uncle in amazement. "But we have to turn around to get to
Bonny Lake," he protested, "and the longer we keep going this way, the
longer it will take to get back. If we wait too long to turn around, we
might not even get there in time to fish."
Uncle Al smiled at Tim as he slowed down for the next turn. "You're right,"
he said, "and what you said just now is exactly what I've been trying to
tell you about spiritual life... that when you're traveling down the wrong
road, the sooner you turn around, the better. If you wait too long, you
might never get to your goal: Heaven."
- - -
Proverbs 20:4 - A farmer too lazy to plow his fields at the right time will
have nothing to harvest.
PINEWOOD DERBY
Author Unknown
PINEWOOD DERBY (The wisdom of a child)
My son Gilbert was eight years old and had been in Cub Scouts only a
short time. During one of his meetings he was handed a sheet of paper,
a block of wood and four tires and told to return home and give all to
"dad".
That was not an easy task for Gilbert to do. Dad was not receptive to
doing things with his son. But Gilbert tried. Dad read the paper and
scoffed at the idea of making a pine wood derby car with his young,
eager son. The block of wood remained untouched as the weeks passed.
Finally, mom stepped in to see if I could figure this all out. The
project began. Having no carpentry skills, I decided it would be best
if I simply read the directions and let Gilbert do the work. And he
did. I read aloud the measurements, the rules of what we could do and
what we couldn't do.
Within days his block of wood was turning into a pinewood derby car. A
little lopsided, but looking great (at least through the eyes of mom).
Gilbert had not seen any of the other kids' cars and was feeling
pretty proud of his "Blue Lightning", the pride that comes with
knowing you did something on your own.
Then the big night came. With his blue pinewood derby in his hand and
pride in his heart we headed to the big race. Once there my little
one's pride turned to humility. Gilbert's car was obviously the only
car made entirely on his own. All the other cars were a father-son
partnership, with cool paint jobs and sleek body styles made for
speed.
A few of the boys giggled as they looked at Gilbert's lopsided,
wobbly, unattractive vehicle. To add to the humility, Gilbert was the
only boy without a man at his side. A couple of the boys who were from
single parent homes at least had an uncle or grandfather by their
side, Gilbert had "mom".
As the race began it was done in elimination fashion. You kept racing
as long as you were the winner. One by one the cars raced down the
finely sanded ramp. Finally it was between Gilbert and the sleekest,
fastest looking car there. As the last race was about to begin, my
wide eyed, shy eight year old ask if they could stop the race for a
minute, because he wanted to pray. The race stopped.
Gilbert went to his knees clutching his funny looking block of wood
between his hands. With a wrinkled brow he set to converse with his
Father. He prayed in earnest for a very long minute and a half. Then
he stood, smile on his face and announced, 'Okay, I am ready."
As the crowd cheered, a boy named Tommy stood with his father as their
car sped down the ramp. Gilbert stood with his Father within his heart
and watched his block of wood wobble down the ramp with surprisingly
great speed and rushed over the finish line a fraction of a second
before Tommy's car.
Gilbert leaped into the air with a loud "Thank You" as the crowd
roared in approval. The Scout Master came up to Gilbert with
microphone in hand and asked the obvious question, "So you prayed to
win, huh, Gilbert?"
To which my young son answered, "Oh, no sir. That wouldn't be fair to
ask God to help you beat someone else. I just asked Him to make it so
I wouldn't cry when I lost."
Children seem to have a wisdom far beyond us. Gilbert didn't ask God
to win the race, he didn't ask God to fix the outcome. Gilbert asked
God to give him strength in the outcome. When Gilbert first saw the
other cars he didn't cry out to God, "No fair, they had a father's
help!". No, he went to his Father for strength. Perhaps we spend too
much of our prayer time asking God to rig the race, to make us number
one, or too much time asking God to remove us from the struggle, when
we should be seeking God's strength to get through the struggle. "I
can do everything through Him who gives me strength." Philippians
4:13
Gilbert's simple prayer spoke volumes to those present that night. He
never doubted that God would indeed answer his request. He didn't pray
to win, thus hurt someone else, he prayed that God supply the grace to
lose with dignity. Gilbert, by his stopping the race to speak to his
Father also showed the crowd that he wasn't there without a "dad", but
His Father was most definitely there with him. Yes, Gilbert walked
away a winner that night, with his Father at his side.
May we all learn to pray this way.
THE ' L I T T L E ' THINGS
As you might remember, the head of a company survived 9/11 because his son
started kindergarten.
Another fellow was alive because it was his turn to bring donuts.
One woman was late because her alarm clock didn't go off in time.
One was late because of being stuck on the NJ Turnpike because of an auto
accident.
One of them missed his bus.
One spilled food on her clothes and had to take time to change.
One's car wouldn't start.
One couldn't get a taxi.
The one that struck me was the man who put on a new pair of shoes that
morning, took the various means to get to work but before he got there, he
developed a blister on his foot. He stopped at a drugstore to buy a
band-aid. That is why he is alive today.
Now when I am stuck in traffic , miss an elevator, turn back to answer a
ringing telephone . . . . All the little things that annoy me.
I think to myself, this is exactly where God wants me to be at this very
moment.
Next time your morning seems to be going wrong ,
The children are slow getting dressed,
You can't seem to find the car keys,
You hit every traffic light,
Don't get mad or frustrated;
It May be just that God is at work watching over you.
May God continue to bless you with all those annoying little things
And may you remember their possible purpose.
PINEWOOD DERBY (The wisdom of a child)
My son Gilbert was eight years old and had been in Cub Scouts only a short
time. During one of his meetings he was handed a sheet of paper, a block of
wood and four tires and told to return home and give all to "dad".
That was not an easy task for Gilbert to do. Dad was not receptive to doing
things with his son. But Gilbert tried. Dad read the paper and scoffed at
the idea of making a pine wood derby car with his young, eager son. The
block of wood remained untouched as the weeks passed.
Finally, mom stepped in to see if I could figure this all out. The project
began. Having no carpentry skills, I decided it would be best if I simply
read the directions and let Gilbert do the work. And he did. I read aloud
the measurements, the rules of what we could do and what we couldn't do.
Within days his block of wood was turning into a pinewood derby car. A
little lopsided, but looking great (at least through the eyes of mom).
Gilbert had not seen any of the other kids' cars and was feeling pretty
proud of his "Blue Lightning", the pride that comes with knowing you did
something on your own.
Then the big night came. With his blue pinewood derby in his hand and pride
in his heart we headed to the big race. Once there my little one's pride
turned to humility. Gilbert's car was obviously the only car made entirely
on his own. All the other cars were a father-son partnership, with cool
paint jobs and sleek body styles made for speed.
A few of the boys giggled as they looked at Gilbert's lopsided, wobbly,
unattractive vehicle. To add to the humility, Gilbert was the only boy
without a man at his side. A couple of the boys who were from single parent
homes at least had an uncle or grandfather by their side, Gilbert had "mom".
As the race began it was done in elimination fashion. You kept racing as
long as you were the winner. One by one the cars raced down the finely
sanded ramp. Finally it was between Gilbert and the sleekest, fastest
looking car there. As the last race was about to begin, my wide eyed, shy
eight year old ask if they could stop the race for a minute, because he
wanted to pray. The race stopped.
Gilbert went to his knees clutching his funny looking block of wood between
his hands. With a wrinkled brow he set to converse with his Father. He
prayed in earnest for a very long minute and a half. Then he stood, smile on
his face and announced, 'Okay, I am ready."
As the crowd cheered, a boy named Tommy stood with his father as their car
sped down the ramp. Gilbert stood with his Father within his heart and
watched his block of wood wobble down the ramp with surprisingly great speed
and rushed over the finish line a fraction of a second before Tommy's car.
Gilbert leaped into the air with a loud "Thank You" as the crowd roared in
approval. The Scout Master came up to Gilbert with microphone in hand and
asked the obvious question, "So you prayed to win, huh, Gilbert?"
To which my young son answered, "Oh, no sir. That wouldn't be fair to ask
God to help you beat someone else. I just asked Him to make it so I wouldn't
cry when I lost."
Children seem to have a wisdom far beyond us. Gilbert didn't ask God to win
the race, he didn't ask God to fix the outcome. Gilbert asked God to give
him strength in the outcome. When Gilbert first saw the other cars he didn't
cry out to God, "No fair, they had a father's help!". No, he went to his
Father for strength. Perhaps we spend too much of our prayer time asking God
to rig the race, to make us number one, or too much time asking God to
remove us from the struggle, when we should be seeking God's strength to get
through the struggle. "I can do everything through Him who gives me
strength." Philippians 4:13
Gilbert's simple prayer spoke volumes to those present that night. He never
doubted that God would indeed answer his request. He didn't pray to win,
thus hurt someone else, he prayed that God supply the grace to lose with
dignity. Gilbert, by his stopping the race to speak to his Father also
showed the crowd that he wasn't there without a "dad", but His Father was
most definitely there with him. Yes, Gilbert walked away a winner that
night, with his Father at his side.
May we all learn to pray this way.
A Prayer For Endurance For Christ
Precious Lord Jesus, Wonderful Holy Spirit, Awesome God,
I praise your name, O Lord, for you have given me life everlasting.
I praise your name, O Lord, for you give me meaning and purpose when there
would be only aimlessness.
I praise your name, O Lord, for I can feel the sunshine of your love within
my soul.
When the people I care for turn against me because of you, I can still feel
the warmth of your presence within me.
When the world makes fun of you and I feel anger because of their scorn, you
touch my heart and help me to be understanding and forgiving
When I look at the world and the world blames you for the world's troubles,
I can see the day of your return.
When it seems I am the only one left standing for you, embolden me,
strengthen me, and show me the legions of others in diverse places who are
standing firm for you as well.
When it seems there is no hope, show me the legions of my ancestors of the
faith who wait patiently in heaven for the day of our great reunion.
All these things I humbly pray in the name of my most Blessed Lord Jesus
Christ, my Mighty God, and my Ever-present Holy Spirit upon whom I can rely.
Amen
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