Month: February 2013

TODAY THE WORDS are GIFT OF SHARING. One of the truest gifts we can give is sharing. When sharing came to my mind, it brought back one of the sweetest stories my Mother ever shared with me. If you think I have gone down my memory lane, this one is going to go deep in the times around the depression. Mother was born in 1924 with her being the second child of a large family of nine children. These were very hard times, hard times indeed of which my generation and several afterwards have not seen. Momma and her siblings had usually a baked sweet potato and a biscuit in their pail for lunch and were happy to have that to eat. She, according to her, was slightly embarrassed as others brought better lunches causing Momma to sit away from the others to avoid them seeing her slight lunch. One young girl, an only child, whose family were affluent, came over to Momma and asked if she could sit with her and eat lunch. I can still see Momma when she was telling this, she was both excited to have a friend but somewhat caught off guard as this girl had great lunches. The amazing part of this story comes now. Momma’s new friend wanted to share her lunch and she had sausage, ham, and chicken (depending on different days) and sometimes sweet treats as cookies or cake. She insisted on Momma having lunch with her and it was delicious according to how Momma told it with a big smile on her face. As years passed, and they both married and went into different directions, they didn’t run into each other. Momma was in her mid 70’s when the chance meeting occurred in Holt’s Bakery (owned by Momma’s family’s restaurant) and while Momma was there having lunch, in walked the school friend from so many years. Momma, not able to walk fast at this time, managed to go to her friend’s table and started to tell her thank you for being so sweet and for sharing her lunch with her and the surprise reaction was incredible. Her friend stopped Momma and said these words, “No, it is me that should be thanking you. I was an only child and didn’t have brothers and sisters to play with and I was lonely. I looked forward to our lunchtime as the best time of the day and your friendship meant so much to me. I only shared my lunch; you shared your love.”
When Momma told me this story, and she told it several times, she would have a glow of love that made her eyes twinkle. Now the deeper thought…..it is not about money, it is not about what a person has or has not; we each have so much to give to each other. It doesn’t have to be wrapped and it doesn’t have to cost a penny, but God gave us the biggest gift of all when He gave us love. Even if we give away a ton of love; it replenishes with even more in its place.
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
Luke 11:3
 Give us each day our daily bread.

(c) copyright 2012 Arline Lott Miller. The material here copyrighted, use only by permission.

TODAY THE WORDS are DOODLE BUGS. This topic should convince even the hardest skeptic that I have no idea of what the topic of the message beforehand as doodle bugs are right up there with the other one that I still get amused when I typed “fat lighter”. So goes the plight of the doodle bug.
The doodle bug never received glory or fame like the prettier lady bug. More favorable visually, the lady bug has been deemed lucky while the doodle bug just kept getting less attention. Then, on a whim, the VW bug got pegged as a “doodle bug” and the doodle bug saga began. I know of people who have nicknamed a child “doodle bug”. What exactly does the doodle bug do with its life? It eats any decaying vegetable and unlike the termite, it will bore its way into mortar or masonry, but it doesn’t eat it like its competitor. So why the topic of the doodle bug? I thought of how it is a pretty ugly little bug, but it can’t help its homely look. It is not held in high esteem in the insect world. The doodle bug will never achieve Nobel peace prizes, it is not an entrepreneur, nor will it be a celebrity in its life. It lives a pretty normal life for a bug. Now for the deeper thought…..So do most of us! Not many of us will find fortune and fame; not many of us will have a lot of things named after us; maybe none of us will win the Nobel peace prize; and not many of us will lead a life like Mother Theresa; but we can live a good life full of normalcy. Why is there so much attention paid to celebrities, politicians, and the Donald Trumps in the world? Media folks, media talks and we listen foolishly to people that are media magnets. I say, pay attention to the little lady that has had a hard life; a man who fought in wars defending what he believes in; a teacher who has seen times change and not necessarily for the better; or the couple who have been married for half a century and I assure you that any of these people can teach us more about life and share wisdom far beyond any hype story you will see on television. We can use a good dose of the “doodle bug” medicine and be happy with our normal life. We can love our family and friends; pray for those in need; share our memories and thoughts to others; and most importantly, remember who we really are and not who we think we need to be. God is Our Creator and if he didn’t make us ladybugs, we can still do the best of what is the best for us. I remember something my Mother said, “There is nothing to be ashamed of if you are a ditchdigger; just be the best ditchdigger you can be.” See that is some of the little lady wisdom and we can learn from others.
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
Isaiah 40:22 ESV
“It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;”

(c) copyright 2012 Arline Lott Miller. The material here copyrighted, use only by permission.

TODAY THE WORDS are DRINKING FROM THE OLD WELL. I know that some of my regular readers are smiling and thinking, “well here she goes again, back to the good ole days”. I am taking the journey down the path to my childhood and that is becoming year after year a longer journey as I am getting older. One of the best memories was when we, as children, had played our hearts out in the country and had gotten hot. Instead of going in the house for air conditioning, oh wait, there was no air conditioning; we went to the old well out back. For some reason, and maybe it is only because we were so hot, the water that came out of the well and was dipped into a metal dipper was absolutely the most refreshing water in the world. We passed the dipper around and shared water and laughs with each other. Sometimes, we had to have the dipper passed around again for another taste of that water. I get a little tickled when I see bottled water thinking about the well water from long ago. At my desk the other day, I picked up the bottle of water and looked to see where it came from and believe it or not, it was my hometown, Douglas, GA and I smiled and thought, “had they tapped into the old spring?” I had gotten out of the habit of drinking water when city water never seemed to taste as good as the well water. Since I drink bottled water now and it has a good taste, but honestly, it doesn’t compare with the water from the well. Now, for the deeper thought……I had never had my thirst for life quenched until I drank from the living well! For all of you that have received this wonderful, refreshing, life changing God given water of life, you already know how it quenches your thirst and your life becomes a “well” for sharing this water with others. The water from the old well pales in comparison to one little drop of the drink from God’s well, so drink up, enjoy the refreshing change in your life and thirst no more.
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
John 4:14
King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

(c) copyright 2012 Arline Lott Miller. The material here copyrighted, use only by permission.

TODAY THE WORDS are IF ANIMALS COULD TALK. This morning I was reminded of the intelligence that God gave animals and how much we humans could learn from them if they could talk and teach us unconditional love. I saw a picture on FB stating that squirrels will adopt abandoned baby squirrels if the adults notice that the relative has not returned in a time period. I saw where dolphins made such a raucous that alerted beachcombers of a dog which had fallen into the water with no way to pull itself up the wall. I saw where a dog whose owner had died who found the grave and comes to the cemetery every night at 6 pm to lie on its grave, even though no one had shown him where his owner was buried. The stories go on and on about the unexpected loyalty, dedication, sacrifice about pets and each one of us has similar stories. We owned a German Shepard and a Pekipoo and they were inseparable, unlikely pair since the little one was such a little cute pest but Slade the bigger dog tolerated him like a child. I was traveling at the time and my family chose not to tell me that “Bandit the 1st” had gotten snake bitten and died. When I drove into the carport, I was met by Slade who showed me without a word that something was wrong by lying his big head in my palm and moaning. He literally grieved himself to death since his buddy had gone. I realize that we as humans have the capacity to love as animals do; care about others as our furry friends have shown us; and sacrifice our own needs to give to others but now for the deeper thought……Do we? I see occasional bouts of charity and sacrifice by some and that is a beautiful sight. I should do more and I am not grandstanding since I am speaking from my heart and in earnest this world would be such a better place if we stepped back from having to have all of the attention and goodies given to us and allow love to stand in our place. Others may not be as fortunate as we; we can be givers if it is only our time, love, or understanding. May I be as our Bandit the 2nd, when our sweet Whiskers was drawing his last breaths, jump up and lick his face and lie down beside him and say, “I’m here for you buddy!”
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
Isaiah 11:6 – The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.

(c) copyright 2012 Arline Lott Miller. The material here copyrighted, use only by permission.

TODAY THE WORDS are HISTORY LESSONS. As many of my regular readers know, I have no clue as to the topic of the day until my fingers hit the keyboard and sometimes I am even shocked when I start typing. This morning is a little different however, but I am still shocked. The inspiration on this one came as I was looking at the audience from last night and a new country for the blogs audience was Azerbaijan and I had to look up where it is (and I know that subject is really geography), but the memory of history lessons came to mind. My husband loves the History Channel and watches it continuously, or it seems that way. I did well in school in History, but it doesn’t intrigue me as much as many of the men in the family or friends. So that got me to thinking, why does it intrigue men more than woman? For my part, history is tied to wars and violence and therefore action. Boys like to play with soldiers, tanks, trucks and toy guns and usually, with some exceptions, girls hang around with the dolls, dress up, etc. History is a vital part of our existence and all of us respect the sacrifices that ones made during the course of history. We treasure our country’s formation with the founding fathers and their beliefs of freedom from oppression. Now for the deeper thoughts, our history as human beings……are we as proud of our individual contribution to this world? As I see it, we are making history every day, in every way and how we contribute is very important. I heard it said, “It takes a village” and this is true but each “villager” is responsible for their actions and families. God wants us to make history within our faith, by standing up for our faith, and insuring that history will reveal our character when “God’s history book” is opened and all of the facts are revealed. Make history by doing your best, making sure there is integrity in the data, and love being part of the longest running history of life, a faithful and dedicated person to God and our fellow man.
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
Mark 12:31 King James Version

And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

(c) copyright 2012 Arline Lott Miller. The material here copyrighted, use only by permission.

TODAY THE WORDS are COLORING IN BETWEEN THE LINES. When we were small children, coloring books were so important to us and most of us took pride in our masterpieces and wanted them hung or posted on the refrigerator or taped to the walls. Our parents would instruct and guide us on how to color within the lines and the better we stayed in the lines, the better our pictures would be. I admit there were some children with some anger to vent in their masterpieces and they grabbed their crayons with a death defying grip and went in vicious circles and paid no attention to the lines, their parents, teachers or the rest of the children. This gives me the focus for this message. Even though all of the children were given the same instructions, all of the pictures would turn out differently. Some colored with pastels and gave a more gentler touch; others pressed down and their pictures were more dramatic; while others mixed the light and dark and stayed within the natural colors and made the grass green and the sky blue. Then, there were the free lance artists who wanted to draw their own shapes, people, trees, and animals outside the preformed picture. I think it was a reflection of later life accomplishments or even signs of emotional intensity. Now comes the deeper thought…..We are still coloring in our pictures of life with God providing the color crayons and the coloring books. What we do with our coloring book of life is up to us as God only gives us instructions and guidance to complete our pictures. We can stay between the lines, we can mix our colors (life events), or we can go outside lines and view a conglomerated mess of our lives. We can be creative and create other pictures, shapes, or images (charity, volunteering, and hobbies) and extend our picture of life by adding things that allow us to feel like we are giving or adding to others’ lives. It is up to us as God provides the basics and gives us all of the ability to make the most of our lives. When we color, let us color with passion, creativity, dedication to being the best we can be, but express a lot of love and pride in the event that someone else is looking at our coloring book of life. The next time you look at a coloring book and crayons, think about how you are going to create a masterpiece of life for God.
Color a beautiful picture filled with love, hope, charity and faith!
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
Revelation 18:16 – And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!

(c) copyright 2012 Arline Lott Miller. The material here copyrighted, use only by permission.

TODAY THE WORD is RECESS. My thoughts go back to a time when I was in elementary school and especially recess time. We would have some classes and then it was time to go outside and have some time to play with other classmates, have conversations, and even disagreements between the more rowdy kids, usually the boys but occasionally girls. We made friends and had little groups that hung out together. We laughed, joked, and shared candy. This was a time in between learning, but sometimes I think we learned more life lessons at recess than we learned in the class. We had to learn interaction with others and used communication skills to get to know them. We learned to work as a team when we played games. Leadership development occurred as some classmates showed the initiative to take charge and others learned to follow instructions or directions. Other lessons were expressing our approval or disapproval and working through disagreement and compromise. This sounds different from our usual memories of recess. Our minds, over the years, want to only remember the fun; I bring the reality of learning the lessons of working together, playing together, and communicating. I think recess was formed for the teachers to have a break from teaching and allowing us independent education by interacting. You may be asking yourself, “why discuss recess”?
Life can be difficult and we need to step out of the classroom (work, home life, and other mandatory activities) and have recess. Sometimes, when we let our hair down and do something supposedly created for fun, we learn more about ourselves, our family and friends, and how to live with others. Recess is an essential part of our life education and without the brief periods of relief, we become too serious and forget how we are meant to enjoy life, laugh, and even do activities that may look childish to some, but may bond us with our children and grandchildren. We can function better after recess and we regain focus. Now for the deeper thought…..Sometimes, we need to have a recess period with God and take the time to appreciate all of the “fun” things that God has given us. We can enjoy the memories of the joyous moments in our lives. God gave us those times and we need to thank Him for each and every funny moment as our sense of humor came from our creator. I think we are sometimes so busy with the seriousness of life, we don’t take recess and play with the magnificent toys God has provided us. Lakes and ponds are made to be fished and how many times have you ever laughed when you caught a squiggly fish? Mountains are made to be climbed and trails are made to be explored. Children are made to tickle so that you can hear their giggles and the hugs that usually come when you quit tickling them. Take some time for recess; graduation from the class of life will be more gratifying when you have fun with life.
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
Romans 15:4 – For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

(c) copyright 2012 Arline Lott Miller. The material here copyrighted, use only by permission.

TODAY THE WORDS are BLOWING OUT CANDLES. This morning, congratulations are in order as I see where a dear friend of mine is celebrating her birthday and another friend’s Mother celebrated her 87th birthday and some thoughts came to mind about celebrations and birthday parties. Going back to a different time in my life, when my sweet daughter would have her birthday party, her blue eyes would widen when the candles were lit and she prepared to blow as hard as she could to “blow all of the candles out”. Everyone would sing and clap when the candles went out. Because she was young, she didn’t have as many candles to blow out as we have accumulated on cakes as we have gotten older. My thoughts go to the symbolism behind the blowing out of candles and how it applies to our lives. Each year another candle is added, meaning another year of precious life has passed and it is time to celebrate a new year filled with “a birthday wish” made before the candles are blown out. When a child makes a wish, it is usually filled with material desires and as we get older, our wishes sometimes change from material wishes to emotional wishes, such as good health, financial security, or relationship happiness. Now for the deeper thought…..Are we secure in our heavenly destination to bypass an opportunity to wish for eternal happiness? If we have used the last precious year to build an eternal relationship with Our Maker, we already have that wish fulfilled. Wishes are great, but prayer, repentance, and faithfulness work better. There is going to come a day when the birthday parties are over, all of our candles are blown out, and all of the guests go home after bidding us our last birthday wishes. Let us prepare for the first birthday party that will outshine, dazzle, and glow anything we have seen on this earth. All of our loved ones who have gone before will be in attendance to the party where no candles will ever have to be blown out and the birthdays will never stop. May you share many birthdays on this earth and may all of us receive invitations by God to have a great celebration in Heaven when this life is over. Blow out your candles, love life, live life and love all your family and friends, but always love God best!
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
Psalm 22:10

On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

(c) copyright 2012 Arline Lott Miller. The material here copyrighted, use only by permission.

TODAY THE WORDS are LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD. Here we go back to my childhood and probably your childhood too. Today we look at the violence on TV and in the movies as horrific but we had our share of violence in the fairy tales/books that we had read to us and ones we read as we grew. Think about it, in Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf planned on eating her and that is about as bad as it can get. It was fictional and far fetched and my thoughts are not going to the violence; I am thinking about the deceit and how the wolf is at our door full of deceit and intent to harm us. Little Red Riding Hood was at least observant and asked questions to determine the Big bad wolf was not Grandma. In other words, she was learning not to trust what the wolf was saying, but to look for signs of deceit and therefore the remark, but “what big teeth you have”. Now for the deeper thought….we are surrounded by the “wolves” of the world and they are master deceivers. Some of them are disguised as do-gooders, friends, employees, politicians (don’t get me started there), and the saddest, spiritual leaders. It would be such a beautiful world if we could go back in time when a person’s word was their bond; more typically now, if their lips are moving, they may not be telling the truth. This being said, we need to be more observant and ask those questions to find out if what we are being told is the truth. Because someone says one thing, look at their actions, their charity toward others, their environment, and how they process their thoughts into actions. Have I been deceived? Oh yes, plenty of times until I started putting on my little red riding hood demeanor and started asking questions. God wants us to love others and I believe this with all of my heart, but God’s word speaks of false prophets and wolfs in sheep clothing. This is a lesson for all of us to watch, listen, and find out people’s intentions before we risk our safety, love and family. Ask before you give, “Can I see your teeth?” and if they are big teeth, run!! Love is beautiful and can be the best thing in your life, but it can hurt if it is with the wrong person who doesn’t love you in the right way. God loves us in the right way and we never have to wonder about His Love!
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSES:
Matthew 7:15  
King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

(c) copyright 2012 Arline Lott Miller. The material here copyrighted, use only by permission.

TODAY THE WORDS are IT’S ALL ABOUT THE HEART.  With today being Valentines Day, I thought I would share my thoughts on our Hearts. Throughout time, we share on this special day our love and devotion to ones we care about. We, as children, sent the little cards out, childishly written, but ever so special to our classmates and hoping the one that we wanted to be valentines would smile at us, keep our card and send us one too. I remember my heart pounding with excitement and not understanding exactly why it was pounding. Without confessing, most everyone if not everyone remembers that “first love or infatuation” with a cute classmate. As life progressed, the little love became a lot more serious for most of us and our little hearts could be broken to pieces, shattered by rejection, and vowing to never love again. So much for that vow, as most of us have experienced love several times and hopefully found the love of our lives. Once that love is found, all others pale in comparison with the exception of the love of our God, our families, and sometimes, our friends. Some loves last a lifetime, some fade away. Now for my Valentines deeper thought…..our hearts beat for many reasons, not just for the obvious of pumping blood. My thoughts are God wanted our hearts to be a pump for a lot of things in life. As a pump, the heart can function to move things through our life; as a passion meter, it pumps harder with excitement and feelings of love. As a monitor, it keeps a guage of how loving we are to others. As a valuable emotional part of us, it keeps us really human as it “senses” hurt, shame, guilt, and on a more positive note……LOVE! We need to cherish our hearts and value its use and purpose in our lives. Scientists would disagree on the factual statement, but I am speaking from the heart that God placed our hearts in our chest to feel it beat and to know its purpose. Love today and everyday with the heart that God gave us!
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
Psalm 73:26          
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

(c) copyright 2012 Arline Lott Miller. The material here copyrighted, use only by permission.