TODAY THE WORD is WHAT IS A PERSON TO DO?  In this world, with all of the politically correctness or as I choose to think, “politically incorrectness”, I have started to wonder “what is a person to do?”. If I believe in freedom of speech, and I do, I believe that all people have a right to express their feelings, opinions, likes or dislikes. Did you think that way too? Someone forgot that “all” people should be able to say they disagree with issues and now, this “freedom” only applies to anyone who is different from the normal mainstream population. I need to say now, I am not a hater of any kind, but I do not advocate any lifestyle that would hurt others such as murderers, sex offenders, domestic violence offenders, etc. I do want to get some people thinking however, so if we are to accept all lifestyles, why do we not have to accept these people….oh no! People who advocate tolerance want their cake and eat it too. They will readily “hate” the murderers, the sex offenders, and domestic violence offenders, and I agree to “hate” their actions; but aren’t the tolerant people being intolerant in this thinking? Also, how tolerant is it for them to say Christians are the intolerant ones when they are voicing their intolerance to the actions and not the person. Now, I am not blind to the fact there are haters in this world; Christians too, are being attacked for our beliefs. How about that for intolerance. I think, before you can express your feelings on anything, be sure you truly believe in what you are saying. I don’t have all of the answers, but I have my beliefs and whether or not, you believe or don’t believe the same way, I am going to respect we disagree on issues, but also respect your beliefs, even though I disagree. Are you following me this morning? I am saying that in a society, where we have so much diversity, we are not ever going to agree on everything. I also say that we have to find a way to “agree to disagree” in a respectful way. God gives us a choice of how we live our lives and I am not telling anyone else how to live their life as I am a person who strongly believes I don’t have that right. I have the God given, constitution protected rights to believe the way I want to live my life and that is all I am saying. As people are reading this, some are going to agree, some are going to disagree, and that is okay with me. Remember, we are all God’s children, and God loves us all, but He may not agree with how we live our lives either. Live life, love life and live life to the fullest!
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
1 Peter 4:8          

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

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

TODAY THE WORDS are WHY SHOULD I?  No, I am not getting on a soap box for any particular issue, “why should I?” Gotcha on that one, didn’t I ? What I am going to ask you and myself this morning is “why shouldn’t I?” In this life, we are blessed with so many things and no matter your faith unless you are an Atheist, you know that a higher power exists who gives you these blessings. What do we have to do to receive blessings, you might ask? I feel, and you may feel differently, we are blessed by God for many reasons. Some are blessings that God gives to all of us, such as the beauty of the earth, the warmth of the sun, the waters, the soil, etc. Some are blessings we may not fully understand why some of us are born to parents of common wealth, while others are born to wealthy parents with that “silver spoon”. Some of us are born healthy while others have to struggle coming into this world and the struggling continues during their sometimes short lives. Others are taken out of this life early by either fatal health conditions while others are taken by tragedy. Now, starts the questioning, Why should I? People of all cultures, walks of life, wealth, health, have someone they have lost and that certainly doesn’t seem like a blessing and one starts to wonder why should I try, why should I accomplish anything, or why should I overcome my loss?
If all went well, and blessings were not taken away sometimes, would we appreciate all of the good things as much? Now for my deeper thought…..Let me give you my take on this, which are my thoughts entirely, but when rain has fallen for days or weeks and the Sun has been behind the clouds; our spirits become more subdued. We have a tendency to forget our pleas for much needed rain and wonder when the Sun is going to shine. How soon we forgot to continue to praise Him for giving us the rain? The Sun finally peeps out from behind the clouds and we thank God for the Sun. Do we continue to thank God for all things, the rain and the Sun? Our health is good and then something changes, and we have to go through a sickness. God blesses us to recover and we thank Him. But “why should I” continue to thank God afterwards? And I say, “Why shouldn’t I?” To all of us, we should thank God and praise God for every little thing as it is important in the long term life, for us to be conscious of every breath, every accomplishment, every stride, every recovery, every avoidance of tragedy. God listens to our prayers and within those prayers of asking for His mighty blessings or His Eternal Grace, “Why Shouldn’t God hear Thank You for Your Blessings on Me and Others?” I SHOULD!
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
Ezekiel 34:26  King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.) And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.

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

TODAY THE WORDS are KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN. Let’s take a walk down memory lane and bring up some thought provoking memories. As a small girl, my family lived in Chicago for several years and they had a large amusement park, Riverview. It had rides and rides and more rides! This was an exciting adventure and I was fairly young. I wanted to go on the big rides, but when it came to the roller coaster, which at the time, was the highest and fastest in the country and maybe in the world. It would start with a few smaller climbs and then drop and climb again. I had a tendency to close my eyes when we started down and I would open my eyes when we would climb. For some reason, it took the fear out of it for me if I closed my eyes. I would miss part of the ride by closing my eyes, but I didn’t seem to care about that. Now, on to the movie theatre. Scary movies seemed to be our preference (this was probably due to our uncles scaring us with those ghost stories when they babysat us) and again, at a certain point in the movie, according to the music getting louder, we closed our eyes. Then, and I think this is so funny, we would ask the one that didn’t close their eyes……What happened? In life, sometimes we think it is easier if we close our eyes to what is happening around us. I am not referring to literally closing our eyes, but refusing to actually see what is going on. Young people need direction, even if they say they don’t. Children, when they misbehave, need to know that parents see their behavior and check it if it is not appropriate. We need to have our eyes open when policies and rights change in this country and keep our eyes and minds focused to the very things that make this country great and be willing to say how we feel about what is going on. In our relationships we need to keep our eyes open (and not roll them at our spouses) and be aware of the love we share. In our faith, we need to keep our eyes and hearts on the heavens. Life can be beautiful and we need to see all of God’s beauty. I usually pray with my eyes closed, and I had a deeper thought….as in my younger days, when I wanted to shut out things I couldn’t feel safe about; I shut my eyes. When I pray I am shutting out all of the distractions and things I fear. I am seeing without my eyes; I am seeing with my faith.
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.) Matthew 6:22
The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

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

TODAY THE WORDS are COOKING GREENS. You are reading the words of a person who loves to eat greens. Mustard greens, turnip greens, collards, cabbage, kale are all good to me and this brings me back to one of the best memories of my Step Mom, Martha. My Dad had a massive stroke which paralyzed him on his right side. He was able to sit in his lift chair by a lift which he was lifted from his bed and pushed to the chair and lowered into a sitting position or more like a reclining position for the day. I lived a distance away and would travel to spend some time on the weekend with Daddy and Martha during the day and at night at my Mother’s house in the same town. I tell you this to get to the cooking greens theme of the message. How many of you have prepared greens to cook? It is quite a job to “look over” the greens and then go through several washes to remove any sand, dirt, or any debris in them. There are several methods, but I can assure you, each method is still time consuming. There is usually meat to season them; although more and more people are using other seasonings for health reasons. Martha, barring all others, could cook greens better than any other person I have ever known. Her greens were so delicious I could eat them cold; that’s right, cold. She always fried pork chops and other great side dishes with the greens. This had to be a full day of preparation and do remember she was taking care of my Dad at the same time. Now for the deeper thought……She waited for me to smile at the first bite and it seemed to give her as much joy as it did me eating it or even more if that was possible. It was tiring for her but she made me feel so special when she cooked me greens. When my visit was through and they were telling me to be careful on my trip home and gave me my container of greens to go with me; I love them, cherished my time with them and I was so thankful for Martha’s sacrifice and love. She loved Daddy and she loved her family and that always included us. Great restaurants are so enjoyable; Martha’s greens were true love! God wants us to “cook greens” for others. I am using a metaphor as God wants us to do whatever we can to help others; make others feel special; be charitable; be loving and kind. Today and every day, may we borrow a little spirit from Martha who is in heaven with Daddy, and “cook up some greens” for someone we love or a stranger we don’t know but needs our help. (DEDICATED TO MARTHA THOMAS LOTT, our STEPMOTHER)
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
Hebrews 13:16 ESV
Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
(c) copyright 2012 Arline Lott Miller. The material here copyrighted, use only by permission.

TODAY THE WORD is SUPERGLUE. This is such a “sticky” subject but this is what came up this morning. When I was young, there was not superglue available and we used Elmer’s glue and airplane glue, etc. Dr.Harry Wesley Coover first happened upon the super-sticky adhesive — more formally known as cyanoacrylates — by accident when he was experimenting with acrylates for use in clear plastic gun-sights during World War II. He gave up because they stuck to everything they touched. In 1951, a researcher named Fred Joyner, who was working with Dr. Coover at Eastman Kodak’s laboratory in Tennessee glued two expensive lab lenses together and they could not be separated…..SuperGlue was born by destroying an expensive piece of equipment. How many times has superglue come to the rescue in your life? How many things would have gone to the trash if it hadn’t been for the superglue. I can tell you I have even glued two of my fingers together and thought I was maimed for life, forever stuck. Fortunately, I was able to get them apart. Now for the deeper, stickier thought……..In your life, there have been several times that you felt you were coming apart and would be in broken pieces forever. Your heart may have been shattered in a thousand pieces; your financial world fell into only mounds of pennies; your family may have been torn apart and you may have felt it impossible to put it together again. Trust me, I have felt this way and I even felt that no superglue could mend my life together. Then I got acquainted with the best SuperGlue in the universe….Our God. He started a piece at a time, carefully matching all of the fragile edges, holding it into place until the glue secured and dried (I think of the drying of all of my tears) and I had a few signs of where I had been put back together but I was useable again. It doesn’t matter how badly broken a soul is, God has the strength far superior than “Gorilla” glue and mends us in a way that we actually are chip proof with His Love and Care. Today, if you are broken, try God’s bottle of SuperLove Glue and allow God to mend all of your chips and breakage. You will be better than new; you will be on your way to rebuilding your life in a protected way.
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:

Job 41:17 King James Version.

They are joined one to another, they stick together, that they cannot be sundered.

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

TODAY THE WORDS are CAST THE NET. This morning, it seems as if casting the net is the selected topic. As I understand from reading and watching people on the beach casting the net and catching fish, it looks like it could be a good sport. Cast nets are one of the oldest and most efficient ways to catch large amounts of small- to medium-sized fish. The ancient Polynesians who first settled Hawaii between the 4th and 9th centuries probably brought the skills and technology of cast-net fishing with them. I feel it takes some practice and experience to become proficient in this sport; that is the same in all sports people engage in. I feel confident there are few who on the first throw get it perfect. I would prefer to think it takes several throws before it becomes somewhat of an art. The purpose of casting the net is to capture a lot of fish at one time and sometimes that is exactly what happens. Other times, only one or none are caught. However, we are focusing on the ability to catch several fish at one time in this message. Now for the casting of the net…….In our lives, we see schools of problems swimming around us. It seems as if there is never enough money; every thing costs more; children seem to be out of control; the world is going crazy with people killing people for no reason; relationship problems; politicians can’t get our economics straightened out; health care issues; civil rights; right to bear arms; etc. and etc. Large pools of problems and these are not necessarily the most emotional ones we face. They are surrounding us, and sometimes it can seem as if it is impossible to capture them and remove them from our immediate lives. I say cast the net and when you get them in the net; remove them from your life (or mind). Do I think you are going to catch all of them on the first cast; No but you might can get at least one problem out of your sea of life. Cast that net again and again. Some tries will not produce any results; try again. The more you practice removing things from your life that either have any meaning or ones that are keeping you from a clear view of the beautiful sea; the better you become at casting the net. We spend so much time giving unimportant issues; we waste a lot of time we can be acquiring the very things we desire such as peace, love, comfort, charity and integrity. When we cast our soul nets, let us cast for more wisdom coming from the wisest; giving until we become great givers; trust in the right way so that others may trust what we say and do; and love as we have been taught to love by the God who gave us love in our hearts. Cast your net upon the sea of life and catch God’s love in your soul!
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
John 21:6 KJV

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

TODAY THE WORD is MISERY. Isn’t this a switcheroo? Miss Positive herself, is writing about misery. I was driving yesterday for several hours and this word came to mind about how people encourage misery in their lives. Why, you may ask, would anyone encourage misery since no one desires to be miserable. I don’t know if any of you watched the movie, Misery, with James Caan, Kathy Bates, that was filmed in 1990. It is a grueling story of how one fan became so obsessed with an author she kept him captive and made him write the next book. She subjected him to so much misery and pain. I see people who subjectively put themselves in misery and pain by the choices they make. Life throws people enough curves on its own without us making it simpler for life to cheat us out of the blessings that are meant to come our way. How is this possible for one to encourage misery as it seems more natural for us to want happiness, peace and contentment? For some reason, and it may be subconsciously hidden, I think people who have low self esteem crave attention and that opens some doors that should remain shut. Any attention is better than none; and therefore the problem manifests itself. The victim status comes into play. No one likes me; I am not pretty enough; I can’t find a job; my spouse doesn’t treat me right; I am too fat or I am too skinny; and on and on until the person starts believing they are a victim. I am a compassionate person but I say do not encourage “playing victimitis” when you hear someone make the comments seeking attention. True hardships as I was speaking earlier warrant our compassion while at the same time, compassion given to the attention deprived victim is harmful. In place of the compassion, give encouragement in the good things about the person to build the self esteem is my philosophy. Why add misery to misery by agreeing with a trivial whine? Could we try when someone says something negative, to say something positive? Misery loves company, so help that person out of their “misery status” to a more productive status. “I can’t find a job” may be an opening to “Where have you been looking” or “Have you tried there?” instead of “I know, you won’t be able to find a job in this town”. Happy people have bad days too: they just deal with them better. Don’t invite Misery in for dinner; it may never leave!
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
Proverbs 15:15-16
15 A miserable heart means a miserable life; a cheerful heart fills the day with song. 16 A simple life in the Fear-of-God is better than a rich life with a ton of headaches.

TODAY THE WORDS are TIMES ARE DIFFERENT; GOD IS NOT.  I have several friends who have blogs for ministry work and many times, we seem to go in the same direction. In my blog, I am sharing mostly inspirational but God is always there in every lesson of life I have experienced. Today, I am looking at our world and usually more times than not, I hear someone use terms like it is different than when you were young; it is not the same; it is a different world; or kids have changed; or that is not how it goes, etc. I understand there are changes that take place, especially with new technology, more communication through media and social networks, but I am not sure if the basis of life ever changes; people change. Morals have diminished with all of the “freedom” of thoughts and family life as we used to know it has lost its top billing as we see thinking changing to “it’s okay if the parents are not married” or it is okay if couples are not man and woman. I believe that those choosing different lifestyles are asking society to say their lifestyle is the same as a traditional lifestyle and are not willing to accept themselves if they have to change into “traditional couples”. No, I am not meaning to get on a soap box, as I am only speaking of differences only. Children are given different upbringing now, some of it good and some of it questionable to older people such as myself. Marriage is not as “forever” and I speak from not being wise but experienced. It is just plain and simple a different world; an exciting place from so many angles and a dangerous environment at the same time. Now for the deeper thought……During all of this change, God has not changed. He has not disappeared; He has not lessened His Power; He has not gotten new standards by which He wants us to live. He has stayed steadfast and His Guidance is the same. Love each other as He loves us! What was right in the beginning is still the right thing to do. Life is evolving’ people are changing the way we do things. Times may be different; God is not different. When things seem cool and they may be tempting; think a little farther down the road. Do you want your destination to be the same or do you want it to be different?
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
Revelation 1:8
King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

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

TODAY THE WORDS are CHECK THE TIRES. I think that my Dad left a lingering mechanic’s thinking. He always said, “If a person keeps water in the radiator, keeps the oil and filters changed, and always check the tires, a vehicle will run forever.” I enjoy our car a lot and it has been such a good car that I haven’t done the “Arline has to have a new car” battle and I have kept this car a lot longer. As I was taught, and as my husband Greg thinks too; we change the oil, keep all fluids in it, rotate the tires and keep them balanced (in other words, check the tires). When I was in the car business, I saw the good and bad of car and truck maintenance. People would buy the top of the line vehicle only to neglect the maintenance and low and behold, they would come in fussing about how sorry the car was. Dad’s words rang clearly in my mind when this would happen and even though we, at the dealership, would go over the normal maintenance and what is recommended by the factory, they would disregard the mileage warnings, the lights, etc. and drive it as if it would go on and on without proper care. Junk yards are full of those vehicles but I was almost amused at the “deer in the headlight look” when the technician would explain the problem and what caused it. Now let me put my “dip stick” in a little deeper…….Our lives are like this……we start out healthy (normally) and we throw caution to the wind. Our bodies or our “vehicles of life” run great and we rev our motors up and run wide open. We eat what we want; we go past the normal wear and tear; we forget to change the oil and we don’t check our tires. Our ride through life starts to be rough and not nearly as smooth as it was earlier in our life. We start complaining about how it handles differently than it used to do. We start going to our vehicle “mechanic” or doctor and finally, we start changing diets, exercise more, or worse, we have to start adding medications to get it running better. Our souls or as I like to think, our engines are even more neglected if we are not careful. This is what I feel is the reference to “Check the tires”. Good tires, balanced and properly inflated, are like our faith if regularly checked insure us of a smooth ride through life. They take the road of life more smoothly, take the roughness out of bumps that we encounter. As a saintly woman said, “God smooths out the rough spots”. Today, before we start our journey, let’s be sure to check the oil, check all fluids, and don’t forget to Check the Tires!
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
2 Corinthians 13:5 King James Version

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

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

TODAY THE WORDS are WHAT IS A SOUTHERN BELLE?  I was listening to a great recording of an interview this morning with my mentor and life long friend Peggy Mercer with Beat Magazine and Southern Belle popped into my mind. Peggy, would rather be considered a cowgirl having grown up in a rural environment, but I was seeing the silhouette of a true southern lady. Talented but humble, confident but kind, a force to be reckoned with if you mess with her values, and loving spirited lady who tells it like it really is in this world; there it is a picture of a southern belle. I thought I would share some thoughts on how we as Southern ladies look at things in the South. I feel there are exceptions to this description; however, most of the women who are reading this post in my home state of Georgia will relate to this message. Even though there are silver spoons in existence, a lot of us never used them growing up. We had the more practical flatware, silver plated at best. We worked along side others starting out young; we had chores to do before school and after school. We were taught respect to our parents, as well as other adults, and even to each other (now we might have stepped over a few boundaries in the school yard once in a while). Our brothers and sisters were our own individual “army” and we would fight if someone hurt one of us. It was common courtesy to say Yes Ma’am and Yes Sir; Thank You and You’re Welcome. As is obvious, we have a southern accent but it was made for us to slow down and think about what the other person was really saying to us. Listening to Peggy, she was also gracious to her host and that may be fast becoming an endangered  species, someone who is gracious and not overbearing and self centered. Scarlett O’Hara was the picture of a true Southern belle also and we saw a woman who, during the hardest and most difficult times, was steadfast in her mission, who could be tender one minute and ready to fight the next. Now for my deeper thought….Take away the Southern accent and look around as God wants us to be fearless in our lives, well mannered and even gentle to others, kind in our actions but steadfast to our beliefs, giving and charitable but protective with our rights and family. Maybe in our faith, we take the stand of a true Southern Belle!
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
 

Proverbs 31:30  King James Version (KJV)

³⁰ Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.

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