Hello my friends! Well today went better. About 4 didn't want to send from my list so contacted the internet guys again and they got it fixed. My tablet quit sending from charter then too, those guy have nothing to do with tablets, just windows. So thought for sure we'd be taking it back to that place again to have the man fix it like before. I did say a prayer to St. Isidore, the Patron Saint for the internet, and guess what? It works again! I was really surprised when I could send out of there again this afternoon. God knew we just didn't have time to do this anymore, that place closing soon after he gets off work, tomorrow such a busy day - I wonder what it's like in Eternity - no rush, no time! That has to be peaceful. So - today was filled with many blessings!!! Supper tonight was chicken thighs in brown rice with mushroom soup mixed in, baked in the oven and mixed veggies on the side. Another blessing!!!
God gives abundantly to those who pass His gifts on to others. Lord, let
Your blessings flow in to me and then out from me. I will neither be selfish
nor let my gifts stagnate.
S C R I P T U R E F O R T H E D A Y
"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the
things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set
their minds on the things of the Spirit." ~Romans 8:5
M E D I T A T I O N F O R T H E D A Y
God can draw us all closer to God in the bonds of the spirit. God
would have all people drawn closer to each other in the bonds of the
spirit. God, the great spirit of the universe, of which each of our
spirits is a part, wants unity with God and all God's children.
"Unity of the spirit in the bonds of peace." Each experience of our
life, of joy, of sorrow, of danger, of safety, of difficulty, of
success, of hardship, of ease, each can be accepted as part of our
common lot, n the bonds of the spirit.
P R A Y E R F O R T H E D A Y
I pray that I may welcome the bonds of true fellowship. I pray that I
may be brought closer to unity with God and other people.
Ready For Christmas
"Ready for Christmas," she said with a sigh,
As she gave a last touch to the gifts piled high.
Then wearily sat for a moment and read
Till soon, very soon, she was nodding her head.
Then quietly spoke a voice in her dream!
"Ready for Christmas! What do you Mean?
When only last week
You wouldn't acknowledge your friend on the street."
"Ready for Christmas, while holding a grudge!
Perhaps you better let God be the judge.
Why, how can the Christ child come and abide
In a heart that is selfish and filled with pride?"
"Ready for Christmas, when only today
A beggar lad came and you turned him away
Without even a smile to show that you cared!
So little he asked, he could have been spared."
"Ready for Christmas! You've worked, it is true,
But just doing the things that you wanted to do."
"Ready for Christmas, your circle's too small.
Why, you are not ready for Christmas at all."
She awoke with a start, and a cry of despair,
There's so little time, and I've still to prepare!
"Oh, Father, forgive me, I see what you mean;
To be ready means more than a house swept clean."
"Yes, more that the giving of gifts and a tree,
It's the heart swept clean that he wants to see,
A heart that is free from bitterness, sin,
Ready for Christmas means ready for Him!"
~~Unknown~~
The Christmas Envelope
It's just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas
tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the
branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so.
It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas.
Oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it.
Overspending -- the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie
for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma -- the gifts given in
desperation because you couldn't think of anything else.
Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts,
sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike.
The inspiration came in an unusual way.
Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at
the school he attended, and shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league
match against a team sponsored by an intercut church. These youngsters,
dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing
holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their
spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes.
As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling
without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler's
ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford.
Well, we ended up walloping them, taking every weight class. As each of
their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with
false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn't acknowledge defeat.
Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, I wish just one of them could
have won; he said. They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could
take the heart right out of them. Mike loved kids-all kids-and he knew them,
having coached little league football, baseball and lacrosse.
That's when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local
sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and
shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church.
On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling
Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the
brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years.
For each Christmas, I followed the tradition -- one year sending a group of
mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a
pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before
Christmas, and on and on.
The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last
thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys,
would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope
from the tree to reveal its contents. As the children grew, toys gave way to
more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its allure.
The story doesn't end there.
You see, we lost Mike last year due to dreaded cancer. When Christmas rolled
around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But
Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the morning,
it was joined by three more.
Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on
the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even
further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed
anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope.
Mike's spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us.
May we all remember Christ, who is the reason for the season, and the true
Christmas spirit.
- Author Unknown
Meditations by Padre Pio
You must cultivate this well-formed heart, carefully, and spare nothing
which could be useful to its happiness. Even though in every season—that is,
at every age—you can and must do this, your present age is the most
suitable.
Mother Teresa Said...
As Christians, we have been created for great things. We have been created
to be holy since we have been created in the image of God.
MAYBE
Maybe God wanted us to meet the wrong people before meeting the right one so
that when we finally meet the right person, we will know how to be grateful
for that gift.
Maybe when the door of happiness closes, another opens, but often times we
look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one which has been
opened for us.
Maybe the best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing
with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best
conversation you've ever had.
Maybe it is true that we don't know what we have got until we lose it, but
it is also true that we don't know what we have been missing until it
arrives.
Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they will love you
back. Don't expect love in return; just wait for it to grow in their heart;
but if it does not, be content it grew in yours.
It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an hour to like someone,
and a day to love someone, but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.
Don't go for looks; they can deceive. Don't go for wealth; even that fades
away. Go for someone who makes you smile because it takes only a smile to
make a dark day seem bright. Find the one that makes your heart smile.
There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that you just want
to pick them from your dreams and hug them for real.
Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to
be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you
want to do.
May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you
strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to make you happy.
Always put yourself in others' shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, it
probably hurts the other person, too.
The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they
just make the most of everything that comes along their way.
Happiness lies for those who cry, those who hurt, those who have searched,
and those who have tried, for only they can appreciate the importance of
people who have touched their lives.
Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss and ends with a tear.
The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past, you can't go
on well in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.
When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.
Live your life so that when you die, you are the one who is smiling and
everyone around you is crying.
-- Author Unknown
Advent Day 17 - Joseph's Wait
Yesterday we explored how Abraham was compelled to wait for the promises of
God to be fulfilled, and today we turn to his great-grandson, Joseph, the
wearer of the multi-colored coat.
Joseph saw in a dream that he would be a powerful man and that his brothers
would one day bow down to him in homage. But the realization of that dream
came only after a long and terrible wait. He was sold into slavery by those
very brothers, falsely accused of sexual misconduct, humiliated, and finally
sent to prison for seven years.
Imagine what it must have been like to endure years in an ancient prison -
the discomfort, the total lack of privacy, the terrible food in small
amounts, sleeplessness, torture, and above all, hopelessness.
This is what Joseph had to wait through before his dream came true in a most
unexpected way. We've seen already this Advent how waiting is an "active"
discipline in the Christian life, but it can also be a difficult one.
Blogs & Forums
Forums
Blogs
