It seems to me …

It seems to me that …

1. Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
2. Time is nature’s way of preventing everything from happening at once.

3. The school should always have as its aim that the young man leave it as a harmonious personality, not as a specialist. This in my opinion is true in a certain sense even for technical schools… The development of general ability for independent thinking and judgment should always be placed foremost, not the acquisition of special knowledge. – Albert Einstein
4. Tobacco is a nauseating plant consumed by only two creatures: a large green worm and man. The worm doesn’t know any better.
5. Tolerance gets a lot of credit that belongs to apathy.
6. Truth is often violated by falsehood, but can be equally outraged by silence.
7. Maybe we were better off when charity was a virtue instead of a deduction.
8. We need education in the obvious more than investigation of the obscure. - Oliver Wendel Holmes II
9. Do it now! Today will be yesterday tomorrow.
10.Smooth seas do not make good sailors.
11.Part-time faith, like a part-time job, cannot fully support you.
12.Were it not for the doers, the critics would soon be out of business.
13.It is especially hard to work for money you’ve already spent for something you didn’t need.
14.The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies — probably because they are generally the same people. – G.K. Chesterton, 1910
15.It’s extremely difficult to sell anyone a product you’ve never used — or a religion you’ve never lived.

It's My Party!

This is the follow-up post from "Who Am I?"

It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to .......... You would cry too if it happened to you

Everybody remembers these lyrics to the song sung by Lesley Gore from 1965. The song depicts the humiliation of a teenage girl at her birthday party when her boyfriend (Johnny) disappears only to arrive on the scene a short time later with Judy, another girl, who is "wearing his ring" which seems to imply Judy has now replaced the birthday girl as Johnny's love interest.

The chorus, "It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to... You would cry too if it happened to you," became a part of American pop cultural language as a phrase that was used to describe being utterly humiliated and miserable during an experience that should be a joyful circumstance.

Well, during the past 24 hours I have surely experienced the feelings of humiliation, dejection, rejection, disappointment, and so much more. My pity party is over (for now!) but I still want presents!

So, here's my thought. (You ever wonder what kind of gift you can give someone who is so totally down on themselves that would cheer them up? I've got the perfect thing!) I need some -Encouragement - this

(To read the rest of this post, go to: Barefootpreachr.org)

Prayer Needed

We (hubby & I) have a very sweet special friend who we have just learned has Lou Gehrig's disease. This guy has had a tough life but has always shared with us his faith in Christ and his love for all of God's people since the moment we met him. He is facing family issues, job loss (and loss of medical insurance!) and this debilitating disease with his usual upbeat confidence of the Lord's provision. Please join us in prayer - for healing, restoration of relationships, financial provision, and whatever may come here on earth, may God be glorified.

And for our friend: May you be comforted by our mighty God and may you have His peace.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God.” ~ 2 Corinthians 1: 3-4

Masterpiece

I like to write, that’s probably one of the main reasons I started a blog. Why I like to write is what makes me continue this blog. You see, it’s not about who reads. It’s not about what someone else thinks about what I write. It’s not about popularity, or fame, or fortune, or … name something else. For me it is about exploring who I am. I mean, when I have passed through this world, have a left it a better place than when I arrived? Have I grown my spirit? Am I striving to be better today than I was yesterday? Am I becoming the masterpiece that my Master has seen? That is why I write, so I can please Him.

A master calligrapher was writing some characters onto a piece of paper. One of his especially perceptive students was watching him. When the calligrapher was finished, he asked for the student’s opinion – who immediately told him that it wasn’t any good. The master tried again, but the student criticized the work again. Over and over, the calligrapher carefully redrew the same characters, and each time the student rejected it. Finally, when the student had turned his attention away to something else and wasn’t watching, the master seized the opportunity to quickly dash off the characters. “There! How’s that?,” he asked the student. The student turned to look. “THAT…. is a masterpiece!” he exclaimed.

Find more at: barefootpreachr.org

Stinking Thinking

Tomorrow is trash pick-up day at our house and tonight is the night we spend some time cleaning out the fridge and gathering the scattered wastebaskets from around the house. Sometimes we have old smelly things that have been shoved into the back of a drawer or behind another container. We may have forgotten about that leftover and now it has turned into a smelly, moldy, unrecognizable mess.

Sometimes this also happens to our thoughts and affects our behavior towards ourselves and others. Have you ever found yourself spiraling into negative thoughts about yourself and/or others? Your day started all wrong - your alarm didn't go off at the right time, you were late getting out the door so you got stuck in traffic and were even later to your appointment. Then, while standing in line that woman in front of you kept asking a lot of questions, couldn't she just sit down and figure out the paperwork for herself? Finally you realize that she can't read and you are upset with yourself for acting like a fool so you mentally berate yourself until you are no longer upset with her, but are now upset with yourself. And the spiral of negative thinking has begun.

How do we stop this spiral of negative thinking? Oftentimes we don't even realize how our judgmental thinking is affecting our concept of God and of ourselves. God has given us the strength to live and grow in our relationship with him and has given us the strength to become more than what we are so we may become all of which we have been created to be. I have found that when I remember that we - this includes me! - are created in the image of God, I am able to accept my limitations and weaknesses so that God's strength can overcome my judgmental attitudes. I think this quote by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh says it quite well - "You are carrying a masterpiece hidden within you, but you are standing in the way. Just move aside, then the masterpiece will be revealed. Everyone is a masterpiece, because God never gives birth to anything less than that. Drop the idea of becoming someone, because you are already a masterpiece. You have only to come to it, to know it, to realize it. God himself has created you; you cannot be improved."

Oops ~ looks like it's time to remove the trash. Don't let trashy thinking litter your mind and ruin your life!

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." ~ Genesis 1:27