Month: June 2014

TODAY THE WORDS are FORGIVING YOURSELF.  This topic was suggested by a wonderful friend and it woke me up with a strong need to write it today and I am waiving the topic I had in mind to bring this one. Some people have a hard time to forgive others; others forgive others easily but fail to forgive themselves. How is it easier to forgive others and so hard to extend that same courtesy to the most intimate person we know? Let’s take a look at why this might be harder, but is totally necessary for our lives to be complete. We, even though we feel we know ourselves inside and out, have a problem recognizing our weaknesses. To forgive others is to pull out the old underwear in the drawer and see how many rips and tears are visible. We have to check to see how stretched out the elastic in the waistband. We have a tendency to want to hold on to those old “undies” or as I am actually referring to are old feelings of resentment because we are more familiar with those feelings but once we have made a decision to throw them out and bring in new, fresh new feelings which stem from forgiveness, we are so happy with our decision we have made. There is however, this one pair and most of you if not all of you will recognize, we have a hard time throwing it out. So we end up throwing all of the other old, worn out “undies” while still leaving one pair which is thread worn but we refuse to give up that last pair and it stays worn and torn in the midst of the new ones. We glance at it every time and we think we should have thrown it out with the others; it is making the entire drawer look out of place. It sticks out like a sore thumb and hinders our view and our good feeling. Now for the deeper thought……that last pair of undies is forgiving ourselves. We have accomplished forgiving others but want to hang on to the guilt, the tears, the unraveling, the holes of our underwear of life (our souls) and we feel we will lose ourselves in the changing of our lives when we have received forgiveness from God and others. We know these undies better than anyone; we know they need to find the trash where they belong and when we finally remove that last pair, our self guilt and feel the freshness and the newness of an undie drawer all clean as our souls should feel after redemption; we smile and start to find the joy of salvation. Live life; love life; and live life to the fullest by not forgetting to forgive yourself. (Special note of thanks to my FB friend who inspired this message JA)

TODAY THE WORDS are LENDING YOUR HEART. There are times in our lives when we find ourselves in situations in which we are called upon to be mentors, advisors, friends, family counselors, and almost to the point of being therapists to others. What do we do when asked to lift up another individual? What do we share with others? What is the best way to encourage? If I may share a little story with you on how lending your heart and not necessarily your head can be an experience in a lifetime. A young man seemed to have an anger issue and was having difficulty at work. One minute he could be the nicest young guy you could ever be around; the next he could almost seem postal (ready to go off at anybody). His work became affected due to the sudden outbursts and it became necessary to reprimand him. His supervisor didn’t want to lose him as the employee was a vital part of the success of the business. The supervisor decided to give him a verbal reprimand and this is how it went. “I once was where you are now. I had a good heart and I shared with others. I did a good job and I was always there early and would gladly stay late. I seemed to be the best employee I could be. I only had one thing that was stalling me from accomplishing all I wanted to be; it was my temper. I got mad over anything; I slammed doors; I said words my mother would have washed my mouth out; I argued over the most useless issues; I made mountains out of molehills and I was sad because other people didn’t seem to understand me. One day I woke up and thank goodness, I heard a voice deep within my soul which said, ‘what are you trying to do, run everyone who cares about you away?’ This radiated from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet and it didn’t go away. Each time I would start to act out; this voice would come back to me and I became less angry and I found life to be easier to live.” The supervisor then stopped, took a moment and looked at the young man in the eyes and said, “I see you in me so I am lending you my heart so you may hear this voice and may it help you as I feel you are worth helping.” This young man was speechless, walked away, and the supervisor thought, “Now you will hear the voice that has been hidden but it will be loud in your heart.” The young man over a period of time learned to control his temper and found a young lady to share his life and love. We need to share our hearts and not always share our minds. The voice in your heart has such a lovely and meaningful melody and can soothe the soul and soften the words coming out of the mouth. Live life; love life; and live life to the fullest by sharing your heart and love with others.

1 Peter 3:15                     

TODAY THE WORDS are FRESH BREAD. This morning, my husband said as he went to work, “It’s a brand new day.” I thought about this inspiring statement and for some reason, my thoughts went to the idea of a brand new day, a fresh start, a new beginning, an end to the last day and the many distractions, problems, and/or emotional issues. Fresh new start was a wonderful thought and to begin a new fresh day is a wonderful feeling and that is when “Fresh Bread” came into my head. I am eating whole grain bread when I do eat bread so the idea of fresh bread has a different cogitation than the firmer whole grain bread. We are in our fresh garden tomato (or as we say in the South, “Mater”) season and we have the pleasure of Mater sandwiches. I have written about this before but today I am focusing on the fresh bread which is used. My daughter came home from California and of course, she loves tomato sandwiches. I went to the grocery store and saw some great sour dough bread and thought she would like it. Oh no, I made a grave mistake as it didn’t have that soft white bread texture which is almost squishy and it wasn’t the same. She went to the store and got the right kind of bread. This brings me to my deeper thought…..There is no substitute for freshness of anything and the right kind of spiritual freshness flows down into our souls.Think about a bit of fresh air; fresh vegetables; fresh sheets on a bed; fresh ocean air; and a fresh new spirit. Our bread of life can become stale and it can sometimes lose that freshness we experienced when we first received our blessing of salvation. As life progresses, if we do not twist Our Savior into our souls and seal the package tight to maintain what we obtained; contaminants can stale our spirits and we don’t “taste” as Christians as good as we once did. Again, freshness is important and we can stay sealed in God and also not expose ourselves to the contaminants of evil. As the fresh bread completes a “Mater” sandwich, all ingredients must come from the garden of God. Even if the bread is fresh, the tomato has to be as fresh as well. I use the choice of spouse in this comparison. Our spouses need to have fresh spirits too and then we have the perfect ingredients and God can “spread” His blessings on us. Live life; love life; but live life by sealing our freshness in Our Maker.

TODAY THE WORDS are WORDS WITHOUT MEANING. With social media allowing us to go to many countries, and even different regions of our own USA, we are finding out words in different areas mean something entirely different. I was looking at some of my quotes I had posted on Google+1 and saw some of the people from other countries which have joined my circles and their remarks. They were kind comments so it wasn’t a factor of their intentions but with the difference in how we say things, it could be easily taken as a strange interpretation of what I had posted. It got this ole gal wondering; if I think this way, do they do the same when they see my posts. Do we interpret others’ words, even if they are in the same language in an alternate meaning from what the intention was directed? To give you an example, I would like to reflect on watching a television show or especially a comedy show. Watch everyone’s face as a joke is told; some get it and laugh; some others don’t get it and their faces show confusion or even anger or frustration. They listened to the same words but the interpretation was entirely opposite. Sermons are another example; the words are the same; but wow, can the interpretation be very contradictory. I watched a cute video the other day with a baby who was giving a lazy bulldog on a sofa a piece of its mind. Babbling away and using her hands, this little gal apparently did not use English as we know it. She, however seemed satisfied her message had been sent. In other words, her words were without meaning but relayed her thoughts anyway.

Now, for my deeper thought…..Words without meaning or babbling on about something can relay the wrong message and even a word spoken without consideration may produce irreparable damage to another. We use words loosely and sometimes very carelessly. Another second of thinking before we speak may keep a relationship intact where words spoken in haste may destroy a valuable relationship in a second. Words may seem like words alone; but the interpretation or perception may mean more than intended. If we choose our words with more meaning and caring, life can be a symphony of life’s music with sweet notes to our ears. I realize life calls for direct messages to be given at certain times to have a strong impact but every conversation is not meant to be confrontational. Live life; love life; live life to the fullest by filling your life with meaning.

TODAY THE WORD is CREDITS. I remember when my daughter was young and was in some commercials. We anxiously watched the commercial for each move she made and the video which was the commercial plus the “credits” at the end (which aren’t visible on the actual commercial). When we saw Missy’s name on the screen, we let out a big yell and it was a sign of recognition and somewhat of an applause of sorts. Credits is the theme of the blog this morning and hopefully it will be a thought provoker. I looked up the meaning for movie credits and according to Wikipedia, the definition is: 

TODAY THE WORD is THINK. I was given a great book a little while back, HOW SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE THINK by John C. Maxwell and it got me to thinking. The phrase, He or she wasn’t thinking and that is not a true thought. We all think; but how do we think? One of the phrases which stuck in my mind was the one by David Schwartz, “Where success is concerned, people are not measured in inches , or pounds, or college degrees, or family backgrounds; they are measured by the size of their thinking.”

I would like for us to think about this phrase for a few seconds or if you are really serious about being successful; think about it for several minutes and dissect it by sections. Success means what to you? Is it monetary, educational, spiritual (and I have this one high on my list) or relationships? Then let’s think how we can measure our success in the preferred fields. I have seen people with college degrees who are brilliant; I have also seen the same level of education people who couldn’t figure their way out of a dark room with a flashlight. I have seen people who come from a horrible family background rise above the crowds and create magnificent inventions, businesses, etc.so what made the difference. The phrase said it all: The size of their thinking is the key. Not the IQ, nor the environment, and not even the education level. The mind is capable of so much more than we give it credit and the only difference is people in any environment is how much they think how to better their situation. Let me go to a ridiculous example by remembering I said there are some people who couldn’t find their way out of a dark room with a flashlight. Here is how two people can look at this situation and come out with different results. 1) Person finds himself in a dark room and doesn’t know how to get to the door and leave the room; finds a flashlight and because it is dark doesn’t see the switch on the side; feels frustrated and throws the flashlight down thinking it doesn’t work. He struggles to find his way in the dark, falling over obstacles and hurting himself. 2) Person finds himself in a dark room and doesn’t know how to get to the door and leave the room; finds a flashlight and because it is dark, doesn’t see the switch on the side; stops and thinks every flashlight has a switch and he feels up and down the flashlight until he discovers the switch, turns the flashlight on and sees the light switch on the side of the wall. He walks toward the light switch and turns it on; turns off the flashlight for future use. He sees the door knob and opens it, turning off the light switch before he leaves the room. The only difference between the two men, both either uneducated or educated; whether brought up in a great environment or the worst conditions, was the amount of thought given to the situation. We should not be conditioned by surroundings; we should condition our thoughts. Thinking in a positive light, in a constructive light, in a spiritual light, and always in a humanitarian light will turn the light on in our minds. Use the flashlight instead of blaming the world for a dark room. Thinking is probably the best form of mental exercise our bodies can do; so think 1, 2, 3; think 1, 2, 3!

TODAY THE WORD is DESIRE. Since I have changed my eating to a healthier process, I have thought about the fattening, delicious foods which are no longer on my menu. I say this to certainly describe what I consider the perfect description of the topic of today, “Desire”. Oh, yes, I have desired those sugary, high fat foods, and especially junk food, but I “desire” good health more! I found a quote by Napoleon Hill describing how “desire” is so important to the achievement of any attempt. Here it is:

“The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small fire makes a small amount of heat.”

– Napoleon Hill (Think and Grow Rich)

I find this very important in our life. Let’s go to our thoughts for a minute and think back on our own history and how the events, challenges, goals, etc. were accomplished by a “desire” to make them happen. When we see disabled people, male or female accomplishing what society would deem impossible, and we look at their faces; see the desire and the determination. I feel determination is the dessert at the meal of desire; we want it (or desire) so much that we create a determination to achieve that desire. Desire can be an enemy of life if directed in the wrong direction. Desire for unhealthy foods; desire for popularity or center of attention; desire for inappropriate behavior; or a desire to be non responsible in a relationship, work, or community. Desire, directed into healthy, moral, kind, and/or charitable acts will develop an incredible determination to “make it happen”. We start setting goals, we start the action which will develop results, and we get the right mind set for success. Now for the deeper thought…..Do we condition ourselves to desire “unhealthy” things or actions or do we constantly keep our thoughts, mind, and souls desiring the healthy, moral, and charitable choices? God has commissioned us to seek the word and act accordingly. We have been given the choice of making choices. If desire is the starting point, I feel parents insert this action into their children. Are our children being exposed to good events, healthy food, moral issues, etc. or do we, as parents, only show our children the things popular with society and celebrities. When I look at the popular celebrities, I fail to see good examples with the exception of a very few. Desire the positive and be determined to build on the positive influence that goodness can develop.

 TODAY THE WORDS are PRISON BREAK. This morning, I read one of my friend, Michael Park’s post to his page, Why Walk when you can Fly With God and it inspired me with this message. He and some brothers in Christ visit the local jails and witness to the prisoners. When I read his inspiring message, I shared it on FB with this caption, “Many lost souls have found their way while brought down on their knees through prison bars. As God stayed with me on a lost path until I recognized Him standing next to me showing me the right path; they too are important to Our God.“ Once I posted his message, the thought occurred to me; we live in a prison of sin and we are the same in God’s eyes as a prisoner sitting in a jail or prison. We are bound by the chains of sin as are prisoners bound by bars, handcuffs, and or chains. When sin has imprisoned us and it does; we are not free to be happy. We may try to put on a face of happiness as prisoners try to say, “I am not guilty”. This is our attempt to act like all is okay with our lives; but we really know differently. In the still of the night or even during a quiet time of the day; our souls are trying to figure out how we can escape from this life of sin or in other words, make a prison break. The bonds of sin take us away from our family usually and we find ourselves in undesirable company of other sinners.We lose contact with our lifetime friends as they find it hard to accept our imprisonment and we feel unworthy and uncomfortable so we try to make light of our lifestyle. We get defensive when we go to “life’s trial” and proclaim innocence or even try to blame someone else (friends, ex-loves, parents, government, etc.). The worst part, and here comes the deeper thought; we begin to believe our own deception and our story has to be exaggerated and as most prisoners inflate their rendition of how bad they really are; so do we in our sinning world. You have to remember, I know because I have been bound by sin; I constantly have to pray to override temptations and I am as unworthy as any prisoner inside the walls because I am a sinner saved by God’s grace and not my own worthiness. If God had not planned my escape from the prison of sin; I would not be the happy person I am today; if I do not stand in His Light, my cell door would close again and I would be imprisoned for eternity. With God’s help, we can all be freed and the prison doors of sin’s bondage opened and we escape from doom to a bright, celestial eternity. That sounds so much better than prison bars and darkness. Live life, love life, and live life to the fullest free from any chains which bind you.

TODAY THE WORDS are MY GIFT OF LIFE. I was strolling through my blog messages and found the birthday tribute I wrote for my daughter last year and started to re-post it. I however choose to write a new message on how Missy was my gift of life and more than a daughter. I receive so many compliments on my writing from a lot of people and I am gratified by anyone who messages me expressing how a blog message touched their heart. However, it somehow pales in comparison when I spend time with Missy and I realize I will sound like so many Mothers and/or Fathers in relaying how they feel about their child. This only makes the point of this message. In life, we are given talents by God. We are sometimes able to sing, speak, teach, write, draw, cook, humorist talents, philosophically speak, etc. These are great talents and I know there are many others. We strive to be the very best we can be in those areas. Of all of these things, my gift of life, my daughter, is the highest level of pride I possess. From the first moment she was placed in my arms, I felt the ultimate love. I felt the motherly instinct to protect, to nourish, to elevate her to great levels, to instruct and guide, to be a comforter in times of pain, and to live up to the role God chose for me….Mother. I sought to enjoy my child; to laugh with her, to talk to her, and to cherish her for life and guess what? God gave me the ultimate gift of love bundled in a package called Missy. She and I have many one on one talks about many things in life and yes, we think differently on many topics; but we allow each other that freedom. We discuss things respectfully with acknowledgement of our generations. We find humor when I don’t get the draw of “Panic Couch Tours” but I understand she is in her element, living her life as she should, experiencing life as I did, and her spirit is free and is quite unique. The way I see it as a Mother; I am supposed to be a leaning post but not a brace. I am not to confine but help her define. I am to fulfill my receipt of such a beautiful gift with thanks and rejoicing from being chosen to be her Mother. When she told me she had been given the winning ticket when she got me as a Mom, I thought, same here my dear daughter. Love is a gift; children are the blessings we receive when we open our gift of life. Cherish the gift(s) of life; nothing compares with the smile and laughter; nothing hurts worse than the tears of our children. This message is dedicated to my gift of life, my daughter Missy who is celebrating her birthday today and is written with so much love and pride. I love you precious daughter and wish for you the best life has to offer.