Nourish the Soul Quote For Today

 

Sleep that knits up the ravelled sleeve of care The death of each day’s life, sore labour’s bath Balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course, Chief nourisher in life’s feast. - William Shakespeare -

A Child’s Trusting Heart

The other day, at my part-time job, I was in a great deal of pain.  My job is very physical and I was working hard at smiling and reflecting Him but the pain threatened to bring tears.  I wrestled with this and was washing the floor by the drink station at work.  adjacent to this area is the door to the playground.  I suddenly realized a small boy of perhaps three years of age was outside, but not playing.  Instead, he was watching me mop the floor.  He opened the door and peering at the mop, asked “what are doing?” I responded “washing the floor.”  Keeping it simple, I wondered what he’d say next.  He then asked me why and I explained that someone had an “oops” and spilled something.  He came into the restaurant having lost sight of his mama.  He suddenly looked scared.  I saw her behind me ordering their lunch and pointed to her.  I then warned him to walk carefully as the floor might be a little slippery.  He stood very still then walked in a rather amusing way.  It was like a movie in slow motion.  lol  I saw the look of fear on his face, and said “do you want to hold my hand?”  He looked relieved and took it.  He reached his mom, reassured, he turned back to return to the playground.  This time he walked right up to me and extended his hand, knowing I’d take hold and walk him safely to the door.  He smiled and ran to the colorful slide.

I never did learn the small boy’s name.  I did, though, learn much from him.  Trust replaces fear with joy.  It really is that simple.

Testimony Time! What is God doing in your life?

Reblogged from Live and Laugh with Jesus:

It's that time of year!

I want to hear about what God is doing/ saying or has said/ done in your life.

Doesn't matter when it was from, it's time to testify about his greatness!

Either leave a comment or email me at jjdhali@yahoo.ca.

God bless and have a great weekend!

Read more… 3 more words

Please check out this post and blog! She is inviting us to share a testimony in this blog post in the comment section and I have done so. Please praise Jesus with us and allow us to praise Him for your own testimony. Surely there is some sweet blessing you'd care to share?

Season of Singing

“Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.”   Song of Songs 2:11-13

Not Invited to the Party?

Me either.

Life’s a funny thing though.  Sometimes, the invitations we do not receive tear at our hearts so.  Oh, we cry, we grumble, we do carry on.

You don’t?  I admit I have.  Funny thing though.  Sometimes the invite I didn’t get wasn’t withheld for any of the reasons the voice in my gut tells me.  You know that voice that lies to you?  It is in there.  I can assure of that.

Know what else?  Some of those invites I didn’t get were for parties I know deep in my soul that I wasn’t really excited to attend, but my ego was reacting to more lies:  ”they should want me” or “even if I didn’t want to go, they still should have asked me” or “everyone but me . . . “

LIES, LIES, LIES!

The trouble with lies like these is that if we listen to them and believe them they eat at our guts and make us miserable and TAKE OUR FOCUS OFF WHAT’S REAL.

That’s not all.  When we focus on the gift the Lord didn’t give us, or the invite we didn’t receive, we dead bolt our hearts so that we cannot accept the special gift He has JUST for us and which is more than we can ever conceive it to be!

So, what to do when you’re feeling left out of the fun?  Pray for those who are at the “other” party.  Pray for those who have never been to a party, and be thankful for the party the Lord has in store for you at the right time!  Tell Him how much you love the blessing of time together, just you and Him.

Oh, how He loves!!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Changing Seasons

Ah, I do love a challenge . . . there are many changing seasons going on in my life . . . spiritually, financially, and of course . . . it’s winter . . . which to face when they all must be faced.  Hmmmm . . .

Well, for starters, it is not and I do mean NOT flip flop season:

It is true.  I, a former yank (originally lived in MA) am now a southern belle (living in SC for 5 years) and I can tell newbie transplants from the rest of us because they still go without socks and wear shorts and flip-flops.  Not me.  My feet now get cold as early as December . . .

It’s true.  I’ve faced changes of season a plenty since coming here.  I’ve been seeking full-time employment for five years now and not found it yet . . . but I’ve had a number of temp jobs and at one I learned of a new kind of shoe . . . love shoes.  A category I didn’t know?  ”Dress flip-flops.”  It was on a dress code report.  I never heard of such a thing.  Cool.

I’ve enjoyed changes of spiritual season . . . being without income in a new place makes one realize, or it did me, what trusting in the Lord is all about and I sure learned my faith was weak, but I’m working on it. I believe He’s got a new season for me in my faith coming up soon along with the change in our weather . . . so I shall keep pulling up my socks and keep praying.  When I first moved here I didn’t wear socks until February and didn’t pray as much.  I’m learning.  I’m changing.

 Learning and changing are GOOD!  

The Truth We Refuse To See

Growing up, I was led to believe that my church did things right while others did not.  It doesn’t matter which denomination it is.  I’ve since found many denominations share this opinion about their own sense of what “the truth” truly is.

I came across this quote this morning:

Rivers, ponds, lakes and streams – they all have different names, but they all contain water. Just as religions do — they all contain truths. - Muhammad Ali -

It reminded me of some courses I studied in college.  I attended a Christian college and was “required” to take a world religions course.  I loved it and opted to take more than one such course.  You see, they taught us not only Christianity . . . not simply western religions . . . but eastern ones too.  It was truly a “world” religions course.  I was taught about some groups whom I’d been raised to believe were “evil” in their beliefs.

Know what?  When you are put in a position to listen, to truly listen, to the culture and values and beliefs of another, you learn that we are all far more alike than we are different.  I was amazed at the similarities I could suddenly so easily see as I compared and contrasted the many religions of the world.

This is not the place to delve into a long sermon on what I took away from each and every world religion I studied for it would be far, far too long for a blog post.  I write this because rarely do I pick up a newspaper, click to a webpage, or switch on the television or radio without finding the “different” among us being judged and found lacking.

We judge one another, but we also judge the church . . . in my mind that is much the same thing since WE are the church, not the brick or wooden building with a few trees and a parking lot.  You and I are the church and we carry its message to those who need to know it in our generation and the next.  How can we do so when we seek to relate hate and indifference rather than truth?  A tired cliché tells us the “truth will set us free.”  Sure enough.  Freedom.  Isn’t that what we all seek?

Yesterday’s Gospel reading at my church spoke of difference, of the truth, of freedom, and of healing.  You do not have to belong to my parish, my denomination, be a Christian, nor belong to any “organized religion” to admit those are things you seek.  We all do.  It was, in fact, creating a stir in the Gospel story told.  Someone seeking those things was not “one of us.”  He was overlooked, despised, an outcast.  What was Jesus response?

In the reading Jesus was surrounded by a vast crowd including His chosen 12 and oh so many others eager to meet Him, to hear Him, to touch Him.  One man, Bartimaeus, was blind.  He’d been the despised one of which I spoke.  Society at the time believed his condition surely was caused by some dreadful sin he or his people had committed?  He cried out to Jesus believing He would heal Bartimaeus.  Oh, the crowd had fits, even Jesus own chosen 12.  Jesus, though, called the man to come to Him.  Jesus didn’t care which “group” this man belonged to.  He surely wasn’t part of any.  Jesus didn’t overlook him as pretty much everyone else did.  He healed the man and told him that “your faith has set you free.”  Freedom, healing, acceptance.

We climb over, walk around, and pass by those who are different every day.  We wrinkle our nose at how they “smell” and cover our eyes at the way they look.  Our failure to accept them forces them to live as they do in many cases.  Why do we not look at them?  Could it be that if we looked into their eyes we’d see ourselves reflected there?  Could it be that we’d see our own human weakness, often denied, staring at us?  Could it also be that we’d see Jesus Himself looking back at us?  We would see the Truth staring back at us for sure.  We don’t want to see it.  It is time we stopped denying.  We are all different.  It is time to embrace this and to seek unity.

Waiting and Wondering

The slipper beneath the bed

Is empty,

Alone,

And seemingly without purpose.

It is lifeless,

Motionless,

And cold.

Morning breaks.

There seems to be movement nearby.

Sure enough . . .

Now the slipper is no longer empty,

Is no longer motionless,

And has purpose.

Did it not have purpose all along?

By Martha L Shaw – Copyright 10-25-2012

A Tuesday Quote On Compassion

Have compassion for everyone you meet, even if they don’t want it. What appears bad manners, an ill temper or cynicism is always a sign of things no ears have heard, no eyes have seen. You do not know what wars are going on down there where the spirit meets the bone. - Miller Williams -

Friday Quote On Comfort

It is refreshing to see upbeat and positive words spoken on the differences among us.  We were given different gifts by the same giver.  This was God’s design and it is perfect!

I know there is strength in the differences between us. I know there is comfort, where we overlap. - Ani DiFranco -