Tag Archives: God

A Bouquet of Awards

Posted on by under Common Sense

Love

Love (Photo credit: praram)

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abc

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interesting-blog-award

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To win any award is a high honor for me. To win a bouquet of awards is beyond measure. I am very grateful to Chant D’Oasien for this bouquet of awards. He is one of my newest friends and has a blog that is totally different and very interesting. I am also learning a little French each time I visit him. Please, check out his blog. He has a beautiful motto concerning life.

The rules are: 1-Visit and thank the one who gave you the / distinctions. 2-Appoint 10 bloggers. 3-Copy and paste on your blog awards 4.-Answer questions.

QUESTIONS: 1-What is the meaning of life for you? My life means that God foresaw me and found value in me and created me to fulfill my purpose on earth. I am here to uplift, encourage, pray for and love my fellow man. Yes, I know, I fail miserably at times. Still, that is my purpose, so I try again tomorrow.

2What is happiness? Happiness is fleeting. It can be a day with my family enjoying something new or gathered around a campfire talking about sweet memories. Joy, however, is an everyday emotion.

3 Why did you create this blog? I wanted to connect with people around the world.

4 – What is the most important in your life: Love or fame? Love is the most important thing to me.

5-What is the thing you like about blogging? Writing allows me to express myself and learn so much about others and how we are so much alike, no matter how different we are.

6-What is the best decision you made? I have made many decisions that have affected my life. I would say the best one was the one that led to my two beautiful children.

7-Do you think unconditional love really exist in a relationship? Love, by meaning, is unconditional. If a person places conditions on his or her love, it isn’t love.

8-Do you believe in Karma? If yes then what is the good and the bad karma to you? Karma is about the same as good or bad luck. Whatever happens to a person in life are the consequences of his own actions. We make our own karma or luck by the life we live.

9-Do you believe in rebirth or life after death? If yes, then why? I am a child of Jehovah God. When I die, I will rest until Jesus comes in the sky and calls me forth to live again in my glorified body with him and all those who have believed in him.

10 – What is the best time of your life? I believe now is the best time of my life. I am free to do what I please.

My choices for the bouquet of awards are:

http://ranthegaunlet.wordpress.com/

http://gongjumonica.wordpress.com/

http://cindyknoke.com/

http://lesleycarter.wordpress.com/

http://justafterwords.com/

http://imdbwords.com/

http://albegee.wordpress.com/

http://friendnature.wordpress.com/

http://soulgatherings.wordpress.com/

http://justmikemon.wordpress.com/

God’s Green Earth: Nothing can grow unless it is first buried.

Posted on by under Common Sense

Butterfly feeding from butterfly bush

Butterfly feeding from butterfly bush (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Nothing can grow unless it is first buried. Stop and think about this for a second.

I feel so close to God when I am gardening. Life began in a garden and God so loved to talk with his created there. I love the scripture in Genesis where God walked with man in the cool of the day. Can you imagine?

Actually, we can have this same experience. God and I talk as I plant, weed, harvest and just appreciate the beauty of my roses, gardenia bushes, hydrangea and multitude of other flowers. I tell Him how fascinated I still am at the miracle of a tree inside a tiny seed.

Nothing can grow unless it is first buried. The beans can’t grow until you dig the earth and bury the seed. Sometimes, God uses the birds to drop the seed. Other times, He uses the animals who eat the berries and nuts, then redeposit them through their dung. Doesn’t sound too appetizing, I know, but wonderful fruits grow from the waste of animals.

It may take decades, but a 100-year-old Live oak began as a buried acorn. The cycle repeats itself over and over, all over the world. What about you? Are you growing?

What do you need to bury in order that you might grow? Are you still angry because you won’t let go of the injustice of a husband who cheated on you? Are you still hurt that your parents beat you as a child? Does anger still well up inside you every time you are reminded that your sister was the favorite and inherited all of mom and dad’s wealth? What are you still angry about?

Whatever your hurt or the injustice of your situation, you will not grow until you bury the feelings that are strangling you. Do not misunderstand. I don’t mean that you should bury those feelings inside yourself.  Never do that. Take those emotions out and have a good look at them. Have they ever made you feel good about yourself? Have you been able to move on in life despite these emotions? How do you bury them?

Accept that the past happened. You were helpless at the time. We live in a cursed world that will never be perfect, just or honorable. You can’t undo the mistakes you made or change the way you grew up. What you can do is decide what kind of person you want to be, where you want to go in life and how you want to treat others. When you look at the past hurts, examine them well.

Go ahead and think about what happened, how you felt and what resulted. If you need to, go to the person who hurt you and let them know how much you were hurt by their actions. Forgive them. No, forgiveness does not mean it was ok for them to do what they did. It means you are taking away  their power to hurt you further. If it were a game of checkers, you would call it a draw.

With all the pain and ugliness before you, go outside and dig a hole. How deeply you dig depends upon how much hurt you need to bury. When the hole is ready, pick up a handful of soil and say, “God, I am burying my anger today so I can grow. Throw the soil into the hole. Pick up another handful and say, “God, today I am burying the fear and control that the person(s) has had on my life.” Throw the soil into the hole.

When the hole is half-full with soil, plant a shrub, bush or tree and finish burying your pain, stress, shyness, etc. If you would rather plant a seed, wait until all the soil has been returned to the hole and place the seed inside your thumb print in the soil and cover it. Water those dead emotions until something beautiful begins to grow.

You can’t drag the pain of the past forward in life and expect to grow. Visit your tree or plant and note how well it grows. That buried seed or roots of a plant represents you. You are now free to move forward and grow in your relationships.

Remember, holding on to the anger, bitterness, stress, anguish and/or fear will not allow you to become who you can be. It was wrong what they did to you. They should have to pay, you say. They are paying, whether they are aware of it or not. If they don’t pay today, they will pay tomorrow. God promised that the unjust will not go unpunished.

Now, walk in your garden in the cool of the day and have a talk with your creator. Let Him put His arm around you as the two of you admire how much you have grown.

If you don’t believe in the creator God, I pray you do believe in something. I can’t imagine not having someone to talk to about all that I am feeling. I suppose you can still bury your pain and grow, no matter what you believe in. Let go and live. It is what you do with your life that God will hold you responsible for, not what someone did in your past.

Happy gardening everyone. I love you. I hope to meet each of you in God’s new garden of Eden one day.

 

 

 

 

 

On Receiving The Best Moment Award

Posted on by under Common Sense

Spotted forms of Aloe vera are sometimes known...

Spotted forms of Aloe vera are sometimes known as Aloe vera var. chinensis. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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MY ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

I am flattered to have received another award, however undeserving it may be. Michael is a fine man of God, grounded in the wisdom of God and very professional. That he thought I deserved this award is an award in itself. For those unfamiliar with Michael’s blog, he explores scripture and gleans the wisdom of God’s Word to use in his own life. Readers will be inspired and find help in their own Christian Walk. Please check out his blog at http://justmikemon.wordpress.com.

Now, I am to entertain and inspire you. Did you know that milk can ease the pain of sunburn? It contains an anti-inflammatory that keeps the swelling down and soothes the skin. Once, when I was in my early twenties, I stayed out in the sun all day and cooked myself. I couldn’t even bear the weight of my clothes touching me. I would bathe myself in Aloe Vera gel and lie on top of the sheet most of the day. After the second day, I was able to get dressed and function quite well. Whatever kind of burn you get, use Aloe Vera immediately. If you do, there will be no scarring.

MY NOMINATIONS:

http://cindyknoke.com/

http://ardentpt.wordpress.com/

http://mustardseedbudget.wordpress.com/

http://dearkitty1.wordpress.com

http://imdbwords.com/

http://rhema3one7.wordpress.com

http://5kidswdisabilities.com/

http://saccsivdotcom.wordpress.com/

http://85degrees.wordpress.com

http://transcendingbordersblog.wordpress.com/

The rules:

Winners re-post this completely with their acceptance speech, which can be written or recorded.

Winners have the privilege of awarding the next awardees! The re- post should include a NEW list of people, blogs worthy of  the award, and winners notify them of the great news. However, blogs that follow each other will be notified automatically.

The source:

What makes a good acceptance speech?

-Gratitude-Thank the people who helped you along the way.

-Humor-Keep us entertained and smiling.ng

Inspiration – Make your story touch our lives.

Get an idea from the great acceptance speech, compiled in MomentMatters.com/speech.

Display the award’s logo on your blog/website, downloadable in MomentMatters.com/Award.

Thanks for being a part of this moment.

What if God needed a friend?

Posted on by under Just Sayin'

God the Father 05

God the Father 05 (Photo credit: Waiting For The Word)

This was posted to my Facebook page from Friendship Fortune Cookie:

You have a great friend who is always there when you are down and is always there to listen to your problems. Make sure you treat your friends the same way.

God is my best friend. What would He tell me if He told me about His problems? Would these subjects be mentioned if God just needed to vent? Homosexuality, immorality, adultery, idolatry, greed, stinginess, abortion, deceit and pride…

Would God just need someone to listen to the things He has to put up with? Not that God has to put up with anything, He just does. God doesn’t zap us dead when we disobey because He has hope that we will change and besides, if He zapped people dead every time they disobey, there would be no one left to talk to by the end of the week.

Another reason God doesn’t kill us the second we disobey is because of this scenario: A person tells a lie, God zaps them dead instantly and everyone else obeys out of tremendous fear. They would worship God out of fear also. This isn’t what God wants. Do you want your children to obey you because they saw what happened to Sally when she lied about her bad grade in math?

God is more like us than we realize. We are created in His image, making us similar to Him. All the things we love about life, God loves also. He loves the brilliant sunsets, the fragrance of lilacs after the rain, a walk along the beach with the warmth of the sun on His back and the scent of lemons in the lemonade.

He doesn’t have a physical body, you say? Sure He does, He lives in the body He gave you and the one He gave me. We are intertwined, God and I. He always lives up to His side of the covenant, but I let Him down quite a lot.

If I could God one thing, I would give Him my ears so He could tell me how disappointed He is in all of us. I would listen as He cried in despair when He talked about abortion and the divorce rate. I would lend Him my shoulder to lend on as He spoke about the sorry state of government and the state of churches that are putting their seal of approval on all manner of sin.

You know, I think I can give Him that. I believe I can hear Him talking about these things now and asking me, “Do you feel the pain of all this sin, as I do?” God is asking us, “Are you as disgusted as I am? Are you ready for the new world order that Christ is bringing with Himself?”

Listen. If you get still and listen, you can hear the sadness in the heart of God. Talk with God and share your day, but listen to Him when you have finished. After all, that is what friends do for each other.

Do you know me?

Posted on by under Just Sayin'

Cover of "I Love Being a Woman (Focus on ...

Cover via Amazon

People are such strange creatures. We take forever sizing up a person before we let them into our private lives, if ever. We categorize people as far as who gets to see us do what. The mail carrier probably knows more about us than we would like, but he or she doesn’t get to see us in curlers, nor would we invite him to go fishing with us next weekend, unless he happened to be a close friend to begin with.

We go to church with many different people. We love them. Some of them are close friends, while others are acquaintances. We really wouldn’t want those we aren’t close with to just pop over to our homes after church. Maybe we left everything a mess. Maybe we were hoping to change from church clothes into really comfy clothes (read, no bra). Maybe the reason we aren’t close friends is because we have heard their views on life and we know we have too many differences to overcome.

We’ve seen certain people every week for years, at the drug store, the gas station, the post office or video store. We know each other by first name. We’ve shared personal information about ourselves and the lives we live. We have laughed together, cried together when their dog died after 25 years, and shared valuable information that has helped them and us. Still, do we send them an invitation to our daughter’s wedding or our son’s graduation?

Everyone on planet Earth has done the close friend, mere acquaintance, beloved family member and barely know their first name, dance.  They have heard our good news. We’ve won the lottery. They all believe themselves to be our very best friends. Surely, we will share – quite a bit, actually – with every person we have ever known and thousands we did not know existed.

We may not know ourselves as well as we think. We may believe we would willingly give ten percent to the church, ten percent to charity and several thousands to people we know who could use a friendly hand out. No matter how well we think we know ourselves, God knows us better.

Maybe we don’t win the lottery because God knows it would cause heartache when we learned our favorite brother was expecting more than the piddling amount of $200,000 we gave him and he no longer wants to associate with us. He feels slighted. God knows that our parents would be hurt that we did not send at least $25,000 to each family member back in Italy – France – Mexico – Poland – Iran, etc.

You know more about me than many people I see in person. Still, there are things you don’t yet know:

  1. I am the most forgiving person you will ever meet. Just ask for forgiveness and you are forgiven.
  2. If I have only enough bread and meat for one sandwich, I will give the sandwich to you and say, “I am not hungry.”
  3. I believe we are living in the last days of the Age of Grace. Soon, God will remove Grace from the face of the earth.
  4. My feelings can be easily hurt, but I will never let you know that you hurt my feelings. Maybe it was not intentional.
  5. If you buy a present for me that does not fit, is not a color I like, I can’t use or isn’t something I would hang on my wall, you will never know. If you bought or made a gift for me, you thought of me. That is enough.
  6. If we disagree on politics or religion or both, I won’t argue with you about these things. We just won’t bring up the subject. I don’t want to argue. Life is too short.
  7. Don’t hurt my family. I would die for them. That should tell you how unpleasant your life would be if you hurt them.
  8. I believe in romance. I believe you can be married one year or fifty, but the romance can be as strong as it was the first day you met.
  9. I believe divorce is often unavoidable, but it is not a part of God’s perfect plan. God knew how difficult it would be for children. He does not want the children hurt by divorce. However, sometimes divorce is needed to save the children from the abusive parent.
  10. I cry when people dump cats and dogs as if they were unfeeling insects. They love you. They thought they were loved by you. They are as innocent and as helpless as small children. If you can’t take care of them, take them to a shelter.
  11. You don’t have to like me, but don’t pretend that you do. I would rather have one true friend than five hundred people who say they are friends with me, yet treat me as if my time and thoughts were nothing to consider.
  12. We can disagree on a matter and still be friendly toward each other. Heck, no two people ever agreed 100% of the time on 100% of things. Life would be boring if we all thought alike and acted alike.
  13. I am not superstitious. I don’t care that you sent me an email about acknowledging Jesus and receiving a blessing when I forward it to 12 people. God doesn’t work that way. Do you really believe God will punish you for not forwarding an email? He won’t rain down blessings because you do, either. That is just phishing. Someone wants your email address to sell you something
  14. I am old fashioned. I love being a woman. I love the role God gave me. I don’t want to be just like the men. I understand there are some things women aren’t suited for. There are many things men aren’t suited for. I do believe both sexes are intelligent. Both should be paid the same if both jobs are the same and both do the same amount of work.
  15. I may not ever get to meet you in person, but I love you. When you hurt, I hurt. When you rejoice, I rejoice. If I hurt you in any way, let me know. I want a chance to say I am sorry.

Do you know me? Not yet, but you are beginning to know me better. I hope you continue on this life journey with me. Who knows what we may discover together.

Asteroid predicted to strike New Jersey

Posted on by under Just Sayin'

Timelapse of Asteroid 2004 FH's flyby (NASA/JP...

Timelapse of Asteroid 2004 FH’s flyby (NASA/JPL Public Domain) 2004 FH is the centre dot being followed by the sequence; the object that flashes by near the end is an artificial satellite. Images obtained by Stefano Sposetti, Switzerland on March 18, 2004. Animation made Raoul Behrend, Geneva Observatory, Switzerland. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Asteroid predicted to pass by Earth: Nasa says there is no danger that the asteroid will hit earth on February 15. In an article found in The Guardian, “Although they wouldn’t cause a global catastrophe if they impact the Earth, they still do a lot of regional destruction,” said Lindley Johnson, who oversees the Near-Earth Object Observations Programme at Nasa headquarters in Washington DC.

A dear friend of mine told me about 18 months ago that an asteroid would strike the earth near the end of 2012 or the early months of 2013. Jerry said it would hit New Jersey. Jerry happens to live in New Jersey.

Jerry has never predicted anything that hasn’t come true. He spends about eight hours a day in meditation and prayer with Jehovah God. Jerry saw the destruction in a dream he had several days in the same week. He has been preaching and teaching people in New Jersey about the coming destruction. God gave Jerry a mission to fulfill.

Scientists say the asteroid will not come close enough to earth to strike it. Given a choice between scientists and God, I listen to God every time. Scientists have told too many whoppers for me to start believing them now. Have you ever watched some of the documentaries where scientists claim to pinpoint the day something happened 300 million years ago through carbon dating?

Scientists are people who make up stories to receive grants so they can continue to pretend they actually work. Who is going to dispute what they report? Its a great job if you can get it. In fact, they only predict how far from earth they think the asteroid will pass by.

Let’s say that the scientists are spot on about how far away the asteroid really is. What would happen if it struck something else in its path? Could something like that cause the asteroid to turn, ultimately striking New Jersey? I think it could. God created the earth, I think he could do whatever He wanted to do. In fact, God doesn’t even need a plausible reason for the asteroid to strike earth.

For the sake of New Jersey, I hope Jerry is wrong. Still, it gives me chills when I think of the conversation Jerry and I had before the asteroid had been discovered. What are the odds that Jerry would have a vision of an asteroid striking earth about this time and there being an asteroid predicted to come closer to the earth than any other asteroid of this size?

Savior and friend

Posted on by under Just Sayin'

Lord Howe

Lord Howe (Photo credit: Roberta W.B.)

With broken heart,
I came to thee.
With clouded eyes,
I could not see
the depth of your humanity.

I cried for you
in childish fear,
to fix my hurt
and dry my tears
as one who suddenly appears.

You heard me pray
for inner peace,
for conflict now
forever cease
to live a life of sweet release.

For all, you came
and gave to me
my strength, my hope,
ability
to find you for eternity.

My love, my Lord,
my hope, my all,
how glad I am
I heard your call
to come nigh you lest I should fall.

With broken heart,
I came to thee.
With opened eyes
I now can see
the height of your supremacy.

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This word called hate

Posted on by under Common Sense

As a child, I would often get angry with my older sister and say that I hated her. A wise woman explained to me that Hate was a powerful word. She would quote from the bible, 1John 3:15, “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer:  ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” She would then ask if I wanted my sister dead. Of course I didn’t. I just wanted her to leave me the heck alone.

It isn’t any surprise that we hear all manner of people today talking about hate. We even commit another of my great-grandmother’s sins. We attribute an emotional feeling toward inanimate objects and things. We say that we hate a particular food or that we hate doing the laundry. As Ruth would say, “How can you hate broccoli when the broccoli has done nothing to you?” It took me awhile, but I finally understood that I just didn’t like the taste of broccoli.

We say that we hate democrats or republicans, white people or Asian people or the next door neighbors. The truth is, we may not understand their ways or like their politics, but we don’t wish them dead. At least I don’t.

When we become angry with a spouse or a co-worker, we may say that we hate them. This isn’t a true statement. We don’t wish them dead, we would just love to vote them off our island for a while, or maybe forever. My point is this, because the word ‘hate’ is such a powerful word, why waste it on something you just dislike, disapprove of, like less than or on something you have grown tired of, as in tv commercials.

We teach our children to hate when we don’t even hate to begin with. If you disapprove of the lifestyle of your great Uncle Joe, don’t say in front of your children that you hate Uncle Joe. You may disapprove of him, but you don’t wish him dead. Don’t teach your children to hate.

No one on earth wants to hear, “I hate you.” Hate is so powerful. It causes riots, it causes the borderline insane to do crazy things such as to murder innocent children. Hate stirs up the people to go and lynch a person, usually based on false information. Don’t hate. Every time you catch yourself saying, “I hate…,” stop and say, “I didn’t mean that, what I meant to say was, “I dislike…”

We aren’t ever going to totally agree with any other person that walks this earth. The most we can hope for is to get along. Sometimes, that means leaving someone alone. Stop aggravating them. If you always disagree, why are you constantly in their business? You stay on your side and I will stay on mine.

If you find that you truly do hate someone, get help. You need to talk to a counselor. Christ told us no one ever purposefully killed another person without just cause unless he first hated the person. Emotions fuel the engines that run our bodies. You first hate, then hate leads to murder.

There are many organizations, individuals, agencies and philosophies I disagree with, but I don’t wish anyone dead. I firmly believe they should have to live long enough to suffer every misery God has planned for them. Life is the ultimate revenge.

The difference between happiness and joy

Posted on by under Common Sense

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Everyone wants to be happy. That is a given. Ask people what it means to be happy and you will likely get a different answer from each one. Depending upon what we already have, perceived needs and our area of interest, we will give an answer based on who we are at the moment. Since every life is fluid, the definition of ‘happy’ is ever changing.

The feeling or emotion we call ‘being happy’ is a fleeting emotion. No one can be happy all the time. I know this because people die and this makes us very sad. We get hurt or become ill and there is nothing to be happy about in those situations. Even if you love your job, there are days when you just want it to be over so you can go home, kick off your shoes and collaspe on the sofa.

You may love your spouse and your children, live in a comfortable home and lack nothing, but you still will not be happy all day long every day of the year. Happiness is an emotion. Emotions change constantly. Joy is a state of being.

My children and grandchildren bring me joy. I enjoy gardening, making things with my own hands, writing, living in the mountains and going to church with my fellow Christians. I enjoy watching the deer graze in my front yard and knowing that a black bear cub makes his rounds through the edge of my property where he robs the wild honey bees every summer.

There is much joy in my life. I am content most days to do the things I normally do. I don’t live in a fancy house or drive the newest vehicle. I don’t have everything I want or many things that would make my life easier. I do have joy in my life.

Learning that a friend has overcome an illness and is back at work makes me happy. Seeing my children and grandchildren makes me happy. Winning the lottery would probably make me happy. Being happy comes and goes. God never promised us we would always be happy once we became Christians. He did say we would know peace and joy.

No matter what happens in our own lives or what happens in the world, we can live in peace and joy. The kind of peace that comes from knowing there is nothing too big for God to handle is the ultimate peace. It is a lasting peace. We can have a lasting peace and lasting joy in our lives by knowing that God is in control of everything.

We won’t be happy every minute of every day. There is too much life in living for us to always be happy. We have to earn money to pay bills and buy food. We have obligations that come even when we don’t have the energy to deal with them. We will have our hearts broken by people we thought we could trust and believe in. We will experience great sadness when those we love die. No, we just can’t be happy all the time. But, we can know joy every day.

Does the beauty of a sunrise or sunset bring you joy? Do you know joy when a cool breeze touches your face on a hot summer day? Can you feel the joy on a late summer night when the heat begins to wane and the crickets sing? Maybe you feel the joy when it rains at night or when you hear your child say something that proves he does listen to you after all.

Joy can fill your day. Happiness comes and goes. Don’t expect others to make you happy. It is not their job. It is not your job to make others happy. You can make them comfortable. You can feed them good food. You can make their lives easier, but it is not your job to make them happy.

Enjoy the riches of your life. You don’t have to be wealthy or be the prettiest or most handsome to know joy. Accept what you have and be at peace with who you are. If you believe you need to change, change because you want to change. Don’t change who you are to make someone else happy. Happiness comes and goes. People come and go. Sometimes, it is just time for them to go. Let go. You may be sad for a while, but sadness comes and goes also.