Hello my friends! Busy day here today - Canning tomatoes for the last time this year! It was just more barbecue sauce today - 15 pints today. Also we started another sauerkraut batch today. The other one got ruined so we're starting over. We haven't decided yet if we'll can it when it's ready or freeze it. And Lori did all the cooking here today too - she loves to can and she loves to cook - all healthy recipes. That's the way to go! She made a darn good pizza for supper using cauliflower for the crust - delicious! I'll have to get that recipe. We have lots of cabbage to freeze too, so we'll do that during the week. Love cabbage and it's so good for you, too. Hope everyone is having a good weekend! We are going to his brother's tomorrow for what they call their chokecherry fest - they have lots of chokecherries and she makes good desserts with them, plus their homemade wines. They live on a hobby farm an hour away from here. Good it's not bad weather yet. Blessings all day here today - Lori took me shopping and that was fun going out with her! She is such a blessing to us!
If you look for the light side in all things, you will keep yourself alive
and healthy. Lord, may I be able to see the good in my experiences,
even in my most challenging moments.
Scripture for the day:
I will give you the treasures of darkness and riches hidden in secret
places, so that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of
Israel, who call you by your name. ~Isaiah 45:3
Meditation for the day:
"I will give you the treasures of darkness and riches hidden in secret
places, so that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of
Israel, who call you by your name." We can dwell for a moment each
day in a secret place, the place of communion with God, apart from the
world, and there receive strength to face the world. Material things
cannot intrude upon this secret place, they cannot not ever find it,
because it is outside the realm of material things. When we abide in
this secret place, we are under the shadow of the Almighty. God is
close to us in this quiet place of communion. Each day, we can dwell
for a while in this secret place.
Prayer for the day:
I pray that I may renew my strength in quietness. I pray that I may
find rest in quiet communion with God.
Mother Teresa said...
Trust in the good God who loves us, who cares for us,
who sees all, knows all, can do all things
for my good and the good of souls.
One thing Jesus asks of me: that I lean upon Him;
that in Him alone I put complete trust;
that I surrender myself to Him unreservedly.
Heaven Is a Gift
There was a teacher who died recently and went to heaven. He came to the
door and Peter said, "Wait a minute! Come here! Where are you going?" "I'm
going in there." "Oh, no you're not." "Why not?" "It's not that simple."
"Why?" "Well, we have a points system here, you see: so many points to get
in."
"Oh, I didn't think that applied here. How many points," said the teacher,
"to get in?" "Well, you need at least a thousand," said Peter. At this the
teacher was a bit shocked but then came to himself again and Peter said,
"Okay, come on, come on, what did you do when you were down there?"
So he stuck out his chest and said, "I went to Mass every morning for 40
years." He thought that was his trump card. And Peter said, "Fair enough.
That's one point." At this the teacher's heart was in his shoes and so,
Peter continued, "What else?" "Well, I belonged to the Third World agencies,
the St Vincent de Paul Society and a couple more charitable organizations."
Peter said, "Hurry up - what else? How much money did you collect for good
causes over the years?" "Perhaps something like 25,000." "Not bad," said
Peter, "not bad. That's another point."
At this stage the teacher was completely deflated and muttered to himself
something like, "If this is the way it is, it's only by the grace of God
that I'm ever going to get in." On hearing that, Peter turned to him and
said, "Once you believe that, you've got the necessary thousand points. If
you really believe what you just said, you may go right on in. Because
heaven is a total, absolute, pure free gift of God."
To The Lord
Looking to the Lord--that is faith!
Turning to the Lord--that is repentance!
Coming to the Lord--that is conversion!
Adding to the Lord--that is adoption!
Singing to the Lord--that is devotion!
Heartily to the Lord--that is service!
Giving to the Lord--that is fellowship!
Cleaving to the Lord--that is dependence!
Faithful to the Lord--that is loyalty!
Attention to the Lord--that is discipleship!
Obedience to the Lord--that is Christianity!
Author Unknown
THE PERFECT HEART
Author Unknown
One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming
that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large
crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect.
There was not a mark or a flaw in it. Yes, they all agreed it truly
was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen. The young man was
very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart.
Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said "Why
your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine." The crowd and the
young man looked at the old man's heart. It was beating strongly, but
full of scars, it had places where pieces had been removed and other
pieces put in, but they didn't fit quite right and there were several
jagged edges. In fact, in some places there were deep gouges where
whole pieces were missing.
The people stared - how can he say his heart is more beautiful, they
thought? The young man looked at the old man's heart and saw its state
and laughed. "You must be joking," he said. "Compare your heart with
mine, mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears."
"Yes," said the old man, "Yours is perfect looking but I would never
trade with you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have
given my love - I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them,
and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the
empty place in my heart, but because the pieces aren't exact, I have
some rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the love
we shared. Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away, and the
other person hasn't returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the
empty gouges -- giving love is taking a chance.
Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me of the
love I have for these people too, and I hope someday they may return
and fill the space I have waiting. So now do you see what true beauty
is?"
The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He
walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect young and beautiful
heart, and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man with
trembling hands. The old man took his offering, placed it in his heart
and then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the
wound in the young man's heart. It fit, but not perfectly, as there
were some jagged edges. The young man looked at his heart, not perfect
anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man's
heart flowed into his. They embraced and walked away side by side.
How sad it must be to go through life with a whole untouched heart.
ACCEPT ME
Accept me as I am,
I have no guarantee.
A claim to perfection I have not.
Perfect I cannot be.
I, like you, am human.
Prone to make mistakes.
Failure is not a character flaw,
just a part of the human makeup.
I live, I laugh and I also learn.
My knowledge is incomplete.
I am searching all the time,
in waking hours as well as sleep.
I have a long road to travel,
as well as you do.
We learn our lessons on the way.
Wisdom we shall accrue.
So please accept me
as I am,
because I am just me.
No one like me in the world.
That is my only guarantee.
This is how I feel,
I have a heart, open it and see.
Please take care.
That's all I am, just me.
Author Unknown
And he said unto me,
My grace is sufficient for thee:
for my strength is made perfect
in weakness.
Most gladly therefore
will I rather glory in my infirmities,
that the power of Christ
may rest upon me.
2 Cr 12:9
Sometimes asking someone for help
Is Not a sign of weakness
But yet a sign of STRENGTH
Page By
Rick Moore
New Bern, North Carolina
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