Rise With A Song And A Prayer

How we feel does not need to rule the day.  Hope is within us.  Pray with me . . . Lord, I give my all to you and ask that you enable me to reflect your joy and hope on this day and always.

In you, Lord my God,
    I put my trust.

Psalm 25:1

Miracles Happen Every Day – Quote of the Day For Tuesday

Wow, what a quote:

For the person for whom small things do not exist, the great is not great.  - Jose Ortega y Gasset -

 

This one speaks hugely of God’s love and of the miracles happening to us every day.  How often have I missed them.  Yet, I speak the truth.  No matter how broke I am, no matter how swollen my foot is, no matter how much it hurts, no matter how unfairly I’m treated . . . God Is.  Jesus still died for me.  Manifestations of that exist in every homent – the good ones and the “BUT WHY LORD” ones.  It can be a great challenge to notice.  Make the effort.  If I sit and whine over the huge life changing event that I want, I miss the kisses from God which He sends to me all the day long.  Those are truly a BIG deal.

Eyes of the Heart Quote!

Wow, this is so true.  We have all read this sort of message in the Bible, sang of it in praise songs, etc., but I wonder as I think of some of the decisions and false judgments I have made whether “hearing it” requires a bit more thought.

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.

- Antoine de Saint-Exupery -

Quote of the Day – Money

Money often costs too much.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson -

I can remember, in another life as they say, working hard and being so hungry for the VP title.  Those who had it said “it means nothing.”  It wasn’t until I had it that I realized how right they were.

As I write this and contemplate Emerson’s words, I do so having, in the past, had not so much to worry about and having now the constant awareness of my financial concerns.  As with the fancy title, money really doesn’t matter all that much.  True, knowing I could pay my bills felt good and now the monthly “I wonder how” is showing me a different viewpoint, but honestly?  I was more stressed back then even than now.

One way or another, the Lord provides in ways most important and I am a flawed human who needs constant reminder of His love.  His mercy is UNCEASING though and while I learn more and more about our relationship, His and mine, and grow deeper and deeper with Him – learning anew what the word trust means, He understands, loves, forgives, and provides.

Emerson’s right.  Money truly does cost too much.  It’s all about trusting the Lord and reflecting His love.  I can’t afford to deal with the rest of it.  He’s handling it.

Pull Weeds - Cultivate Joy

Reblogged from In Love With The Lord Poetry and Prose:

Psalm 30:5 tells us that “weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”  Oh, joy!  Sure.  You know, sometimes life deals us moments of spectacular and sometimes not so much.  It seems to me that it’s easier to hold onto the “not so much” than it is to hold onto the joy.  Why is that?  It seems simple enough to understand that some of the things that make us weep, and these relate to the Psalmist’s words here, are anger, hurt, and discouragement. 

Read more… 485 more words

The Lord has reminded me of this recently . . .

How To Change the World Quote of the Day

How do you say “thank you” for sunshine or health…for clear days or gentle rains…for happiness, joy or love? You say it by sharing what you have. You say it by making the world a better place in which to live.  Thomas D Willhite

Rumi Quote of the Day

Something opens our wings. Something makes boredom and hurt disappear. Someone fills the cup in front of us: We taste only sacredness.  - Rumi

I’ve so often told folks that following the Lord in my life means that even if I go over the cliff, He will give me wings!  The challenges in my life continue, but His love, provision and constant presence will NEVER fail me.  Things don’t always go according to my plan.  I don’t always see the ways in which He has redeemed some of the stuff I’ve lived through, but I have NO doubt that His purpose will be met in all my stuff and that He did bless my mess of the past and use it!  His love NEVER ENDS.

Quote of the Day – Image

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 1 John 4:11-12

Such truth in those words and they speak of our true and created need for one another as the collective body of Christ.  We have not seen God but we are created in His image and thus reflect His splendor on one another.  If I look in my own mirror, I am far more likely to see what I am not, but when I look at you I see the great I AM.

Bible Quote of the Day – Encouragement

Ever have a day when you wake up battle weary?  I did today but this quote says what my soul knows is true:

Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

 

Nourished! Quote, Poem, Photography!

It has been gray and raining all day and promises to be like this for days. I decided I needed to see another color but gray, so I looked at my garden photographs from years past and thought I’d share a few as many of you are still buried under in lots of snow, or maybe getting tons of rain like me, or may just need to look at what God spoke into being  . . . words are powerful!  Enjoy!

²⁶ Since you cannot do this very little thing,

why do you worry about the rest?

²⁷ “Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin.

Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was

dressed like one of these.

²⁸ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field,

which is here today,

and tomorrow is thrown into the fire,

how much more will he clothe you,

O you of little faith!

Luke 12:26-28

Nourished  – A Tanka Poem

Rain . . . falling, falling

By my window day and night

Dry, hard ground softened

As gray tones shine with water . . .

Brings to mind Spring’s new flowers!

Poem and pictures by Martha L Shaw © 2-10-2013