Tag Archives: Joy

Discovering Your Joy Within!

12 Tuesday Dec 2017

Posted by in Attitude, Blessings, Celebration, Choices, Christmas, Contentment, Empathy, Encouragement, Giving, Goodness, Hope, Inspiration, Jesus' Birth, Joy, Love, Peace, Positivity, Seasons, Strength

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I mostly wrote this five years ago this very day, but it seems to ring even more true for the world we are living in this day! The greatest challenge and endeavor in life is to learn the vital lesson of discovering your joy within! With that comes the importance of holding onto that joy peacefully and consistently, no matter the circumstances you are currently experiencing, all while reflecting that contentment as a light back into the world. None of us is immune to hardships, traumas, and problems in life or the catastrophic events beyond our control, but we have shared enough similar woes and life experiences to know that our inner joy is truly not a reflection of what has or will happen to us as much as it is a reflection of our choice as to how and what we feel, think, and believe about these matters! We choose how to summarily view our lives based on how we feel about what has happened to us. If we always cede our joy to feelings of despair, worry, anxiety, sadness, constantly mourning what we’ve lost over time, we erode the sense of joy we are meant to experience just by living! It’s as if we forget that our lives were filled with both happy and sad, ups and downs, laughter and tears. Anchoring our joy within ensures us that we won’t look back upon our lives in misery and despair!

We’re so well-equipped to love, to empathize, to be the face of compassionate caring for others once we have assured all of that for and within ourselves, by recognizing our own ability to keep our peace, joy, and contentment alive within our own soul and spirit! It’s so easy to harden from within with each trauma and every downturn. Soon enough, we have lost our ability to enjoy our own life or to help others enjoy theirs! By instilling in ourselves an indefatigable and rebounding joy within, we make ourselves almost immune to that habit of dwelling in perpetual despair! We may for a time mourn, ache, or hurt, but it need not take our life’s joy for all time! Perhaps we need only shift our focus more to the bright moments, the great times, and the things which we consider blessings, rather than focusing more often on what has grieved us or made us sad. And in just a time, that becomes the new habit!  

Find and hold onto your joy from within by habitually deciding to do just that! And then be a purposeful light for others, assuring them as to what joy, peace, and contentment can be for many who possibly need your leadership in that regard! It takes faith to live as a light, but the Lord sets a great example for us as to why we should! Shine your light for all the world to see, especially during this season of Christmas! You never know who might be inspired and led by your example in turn. There is enough darkness and despair in this world, enough sadness and suffering, reflect for others the way which leads them to their joy and light! And have a joyous season celebrating Christmas!   

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Hope Is the Beating Heart . .

05 Wednesday Jul 2017

Posted by in Attitude, Choices, Contentment, Faith, God, Hope, Joy, Peace, Purpose

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Something sorely lacking from our society today is hope. Hope, the promise of something more than this life, something better tomorrow than today, is the fulfillment of God’s Word as truth. Hope is the beating heart which refuses to quit when every single impulse screams otherwise! Hope is looking through, beyond, and with your heart filled with promise because there is actually more than this, more than this one moment of pain, discomfort, failure, loss, and brokenness. Hope leads us each new day with faith into all the unknowns, beyond all our negativity, past our own emotions, and through all that seems to weaken our will. Hope. Hope in something more than this! Never cease in hoping, regardless those “realists” who insist that being hopeful is a weak man’s game played with no prize or victory in the end! There is always a reason to hope, and in spite of those intellectuals who insist otherwise, hope compels us to live with more joy, peace of mind, and contentment within. Hope is a reward in and of itself! A hopeful attitude keeps us afloat when others around us are drowning in uncertainty, despair, worry, or other temporary states of being! Hope within keeps us from letting our current emotions color our life for all time!

 

Sure, someone reading this may speak to the triteness of these expressions and adages regarding hope. They may have their own personal experiences to prove me wrong! They may have tried consistently to be hopeful, yet things never reversed or turned out otherwise! Perhaps they just let the world and their temporary circumstances define their lives in total. Letting others in this world, or even the present state of the world as you perceive it, dictate your emotions is like giving the keys to your home and car to another for safe keeping! Your emotions are in your control, they’re not contingent upon the actions, words, beliefs, or even emotions of others. Sure we may empathize or sympathize with others, we may share in many emotions such as joy. But we are the only ones who decide whether or not we are joyful, peaceful, content and hopeful about our lives now and in whatever time we face ahead! Hope is our choice to believe that this life is purposeful, meaningful, and even with momentary hardships, failures, or despair, that this life is worth living!  

A lot of what our lives become is in our will and hands to decide! Our emotions surely are, even if circumstances, events, and the state of the world overall are not. We could just go with the flow, allowing our lives to become purely reactionary in response, rather than purposefully choosing to be hopeful in spite of whatever happens to us or around us! Hope is God’s promises for our lives realized in our faithful perseverance through everything, knowing that we are ultimately here for His purposes! Things are not promised to us, our lives will not always be pain-free, happy-go-lucky, or even seen constantly through rose-colored lenses! Life happens, our duty is to learn, develop, change, grow, choose, and to move forward with hope. That is our chosen role. Hope for our own lives is not something we should leave to others who have their own lives to live. Hope is not a far-fetched concept only the lucky can master! Hope is merely a choice we make every single day to not just exist in our current state of being, but rather to look forward, through, beyond, and into the future with joyful expectancy as well as contented faith in God’s plans for us! Hope promises us that this is not all there is. Hope assures us that today’s events and our present emotions are not the sole markers of our lives overall. Hope affirms to us that life is uncertain, but the choice is always ours to be content, to stay peaceful, to stay joyful within, to feel what emotions we must for a time but then to heal and move forward. We owe it to ourselves to keep hope ever-present within, as it provides the comfort, compass, and blanket of rest over everything we experience and feel! 

Not Really Broken . .

31 Wednesday May 2017

Posted by in Attitude, Choices, Contentment, Discipline, Faith, God, Happiness, Joy

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Sometimes, things are not really broken, we just convince ourselves that they are! In the last few weeks, for example, I bought two solar spotlights for use in my landscape.  First of all, I was thrilled with the relatively inexpensive price I had to pay to try these fixtures. Other costly lights I have, which required wiring and significant installation, have stopped functioning, so solar lighting seemed the idyllic answer to a frustrating lighting issue! I bought two of the lights at my big box home improvement store and within a couple days had placed them where I thought they would receive sufficient sunlight to stay charged and to illuminate what I wanted to. Well, the first night I saw no light emanating from either fixture, so I assumed that they hadn’t had sufficient time to charge yet. So, the second night, I again looked out to see only darkness. I was starting to assume the fixtures were just cheap, possibly without functioning batteries or defective in some other way. I would probably be taking them back to the store the next day! Then it occurred to me to examine the fixtures more thoroughly, which then provided the answer! The lights were not broken, they simply had on/off switches which I hadn’t yet discovered or switched into the right position! My presumption of brokenness was in fact incorrect. I now have two lights which work just as they were intended and were really a great buy!  

Many things presumed to be broken these days aren’t in fact actually broken at all! A lot of things are fine just the way they are and have always been. I would suggest that many people just don’t understand why those things are the way they are. Like my lights, some people just haven’t discovered all the facts about how certain things work or lack an understanding of the reasons for things being as they are. So, to them, those particular things or situations are broken and need fixing. But, not everything we perceive as broken is actually broken and not everything needs fixing. Sometimes, things are as they are because others want them that way, traditionally they work just fine that way, or because we just don’t understand them well enough yet. So, the real issue often is our perception, our lack of understanding or our lack of acceptance, and not anything really being damaged, flawed, or broken!  

Recently, I had a conversation with a dear friend over a casual, long lunch about my faith and how my belief in the Lord intersected with my life when it comes to specific areas. To her, it seemed as though my faith was intrusive and overreaching in that regard, prohibiting me to some extent. To me, the Lord is the center of every single aspect of my life, there isn’t a choice as to which area(s) I give Him dominion. I’m here for His purposes and His will, not my own, and that realization saves me from a lot of grief! Putting God in the center brings me peace of mind, contentment, and has truly eased insecurities, neediness, as well as lessening any dissatisfaction I have had with my own life’s choices and myself. I’m happier! My life is more joyful because I have given God this top priority and everything else here on Earth falls into place accordingly in a lower priority hierarchy. She manages her life in a much different way than I do, perhaps giving God a more limited role. She’s not broken either, nor does she need me to fix anything, we just do things differently!  

In a broader scope, a lot of people in our world are busily attempting to actively and purposefully change things which work quite well for a majority of people, because they don’t believe the same, accept such things as normal, or understand the traditions already established which have worked for so many. Rather than letting others live as they choose, being desirous to learn more, or opening themselves up to new ways or beliefs, they insecurely balk at what they don’t know about, choose for themselves, or in which they don’t agree! I have come to see this stage of life here on Earth as a detour on the way to the ultimate destination. I have come to see this place and this human life as part of my learning experience on my way to an ideal destination, so I try to keep my peace, stay content, and remain joyful regardless the constant tidal influences from others who are always trying to shape us and this life into their vision of what and how it all should be! I keep my eyes focused on the Lord, and all the rest becomes less impactful and easier to withstand! I know I’m not broken because I know who I am in Christ, regardless how others view me or esteem my life choices. All I care about is Him, what He thinks of who I am and what I do! If there’s nothing broken, there’s no need for a fix!  

The Last Gasp of Spring . .

16 Tuesday May 2017

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I don’t wish to proclaim this week’s weather as the last grasp of Spring, but at today’s high of 77F, it is possible that this weekend’s 102F will only be the start of the Summer heat wave coming here in the South-west. It happens every year here in the desert, and after all the years I’ve lived here, I know that daily consecutive highs near 120F are coming eventually. May can be a hot month, hence today’s pleasant coolness on a mid-May day is a cause to celebrate! Most Summer days will fall anywhere between 105 and 115F on average. The sun is unrelenting here in Summer, up early and refusing to go down gently or coolly! It heats things up and keeps them heated from early morning until well after the sun has set like a typical desert. Often our nighttime lows won’t drop below the high 80’s to mid-90s. So, I cannot help but wish the days like today would linger a bit longer, as this weather seems to a gardener like me much gentler and easier than the hot days which are coming. But that is probably unreasonable just a few days away from the Memorial Day holiday weekend. The heat is inevitable, and I must savour this day and this cooler week while I can!  

The windows of my house have been open all day and I stayed home after an appointment earlier today just because I wanted to relish this weather! I began my day working out in the garden as I knew today would be advantageous for such activity! Next week this same time, the windows will be closed and the air conditioner will be running round the clock. And I probably won’t be out in the garden much past 9 a.m. in the morning. I am not a big fan of the heat that is coming, but I tolerate it and accept it every Summer because I get the great mild weather the rest of the year. Many people love the heat which closes up our houses in air conditioned comfort for months on end, but I really prefer the kind of weather like today’s which permits me to tend to the garden all throughout the day and to enjoy the songs of all the birds while breathing in fresh, cool air through open windows. That is not possible once the air conditioning days settle in, as the windows will be closed up tight 24 hours a day. Those days will then endure continuously until around October, as that is usually when the heat breaks, as the days shorten again and the nights start to cool. But that Autumnal break is months from now, and today is a gift I’m languishing in with gratitude as a swansong to Spring!  

Each year I feel the tease of Spring’s turn to Summer and Summer’s hopeful turn again towards Autumn. A desert Summer is an endurance event for my garden and for the gardener, me, who tends to all the plants! I must water potted plants daily, as to miss a day in Summer can mean a plant succumbs to desiccating dry winds and intense heat. I can’t do my usual chores without considering when and for how long, as the days heat up quickly and wear a gardener out quickly! I suppose a desert Summer is similar to Winter restrictions elsewhere, limiting and harsh by nature. Plants can go dormant, and I, in part, do as well! So today I am lingering under my open windows, out among the plants and animals,  loving every moment of this glorious return to Spring! 

Unwelcome Wind, Refreshing Rain . .

03 Monday Apr 2017

Posted by in Attitude, Blessings, Change, Choices, Joy, Lessons, Positivity

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Just about the time I was going to complain about the winds which had picked up this evening, I noticed the fresh scent of rain in the air wafting in through the open window. I went outside to check, to my own disbelief, it was in fact, raining lightly upon me and all the world around me! Those winds were worthwhile as they surely brought with them those few moments of bliss in the form of a stormy weather cell! And that’s a lesson for life. Often what we endure brings us a reward, a lesson, or some result which is beneficial! Those winds enabled us to have the fresh, clean scent of rain falling. And even though the rain only lasted for a short while, it was delightful!  

In studying life, don’t we often find that what we endure produces some beneficial lesson or experience from which we can gain something positive? Even in the worst case scenario of death, loss, illness or some other tragedy, there are positives hidden amongst the seeming perils, hardships, stones and thorns. We just have to look for the hidden treasure of a benefit to reshape what we perceive as negative into something positive instead! And we can utilize this trick for small difficulties and significant problems equally.

I had started out by being annoyed by the wind picking up, as I had just finished creating two big piles of plant trimmings near the sidewalk out front. We have scheduled uncontained trash pickups every quarter, which enables us to put out plant trimmings as well as a lot of other items which won’t fit in our garbage cans. It’s a benefit our city offers, scheduled by the area of the city in which we live. In my area, we’re preparing for our pickup next week. So I was able to do a lot of Spring yard clean up in anticipation of this particular quarter’s uncontained trash pickup. The piles I made contain mostly pruned branches and assorted cuttings from plants in my yard. There are two piles of limbs, branches, as well as several trash bags filled with leaves. Unfortunately, the wind means my piles might blow around or shift from their present location! So I became a bit agitated at the thought of the mess I might have until I smelled the rain through the breeze that is!  

And now as I’m reflecting upon the change the winds brought, I can even still hear the thunder clapping outside a few hours later! It’s a pleasant surprise from what began first as an annoyance. The wind wasn’t entirely welcome, but along with it, was this storm cell offering up scents, sounds, and a refreshing change! I’ve learned to look for the benefit in things, in even the worst case situations in life. There is always something positive and beneficial to be found in everything, even in tragedy or great sadness or in our problems! It might require significant, heartfelt searching to find that benefit or to see the positive in something seemingly or overwhelmingly negative, but to do so ensures that we’ll have more joy and/or contentment in life! Instead of making ourselves miserable, especially over things we cannot change, we create more joy or at least don’t destroy our existing joy!

The wind was threatening after so much work creating those piles, after all, I worked hard to rake up leaves, bag them, cut branches off trees, then move it and stack it all at that spot in my yard near the street. But without the wind, I wouldn’t have had the rain tonight! So I welcomed the wind because it brought the rain and stormy weather. Often, without the negativity or the pain in life, we wouldn’t know how to truly value the blessings we have! Learning how to see life through rosier lenses is a gift for sure! It just takes looking past what at first seems to be less than rosy, positive or promising! Shift your focus and you’ll see everything differently, from a new perspective.   

Oh, the Joy! My Soul Is Restored . .

29 Wednesday Mar 2017

Posted by in Happiness, Joy, Love, Nature, Passion

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Oh, the joy! For a gardener who is also a plant specimen collector like me, there is nothing like the joy of a plant sale at a botanical garden. And just coincidentally, there was one at a favorite botanical garden on a visit I recently made to Los Angeles, California. To my delight, I approached the ticket window to find parking signs for plant sale purchase loading. I could scarcely wait to enter not only the garden, as it is truly one of my favorite destinations while visiting my sister in Los Angeles, but now I was so eager to first shop the plants! And shop the plants first I did!  

Now those who accompany me to any public or private garden collection like this one or the Huntington in San Marino, which we had just done two days prior this visit, are themselves eager to stroll garden pathways and to experience the ever-changing seasonal nature of the various planting collections. There is always something in bloom, always something exotic or unique to see in the way of plant specimens. At the Huntington Library and Botanical Garden, there is even a Carrion Flower,(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrion_flower), the plant which smells like a rotting carcass upon blooming. I believe it bloomed a few years ago, a rare experience which draws numerous visitors just for the sake of seeing it. Although I missed that, I have visited the Huntington and other botanical gardens I favor in Los Angeles and elsewhere as often as I can each year! Usually, those family and friends who accompany me to botanical gardens know my passion for plants, so they accept any foray to such places, as well as the coincidentally timed plant sales we precipitously discover!   

At this particular garden and plant sale, I decided to browse the sale prior to walking through the garden. The plants are limited in quantity which encourages me to shop early to have a better selection. And conveniently, the staff at the sale were able to accommodate browsers by holding plants in a secure room for a later time that same day. So we walked around the room with all the plants, large and small, and I found four plants in rather quick fashion which I believed would do well here in the desert! I study plants, having read a lot of books on them, and know botanical names. I am well-prepared because of my passion for plants, reading and learning about plants, as well as collecting unique specimens which I cannot find at my local nurseries or garden centers. I shopped rather quickly, and then we walked the garden pathways for several hours in the lovely Spring weather that particular day!

Because I live in a desert, most plants I am able to purchase locally are drought-tolerant and specifically known to grow here with our extreme conditions. That makes sense! But I want to discover plants from other origins which I might be able to grow here too! And so I collect plants specimens, I take chances and I push the parameters of what will grow in my desert garden. I do so without a built-in watering system, and with the limitations of weather and sun exposure found in a desert location. But I have gotten many plants I purchased in other states to work here where they aren’t found naturally in our desert or readily available for purchase! Botanical garden plant sales are a fabulous opportunity to discover yet unknown or hard to find plants. They often have plants which haven’t made it to the commercial nurseries because they aren’t yet as requested by customers. And for a visitor from another state, they offer a chance to try something completely new!  

Shopping for plants at the Southcoast Botanical Garden just a few miles from the Pacific is in itself a risk because it is in such a mild climate compared to mine, but I found four lovely one-gallon specimens to buy. I am taking a chance, but the unique nature of the plants, some familiar, some not, are the biggest thrill for someone who collects! Two of the four are known to me, I have their plant relatives in my garden. They are cultivars with distinction and unique features, though. Of the remaining two, one is an unknown entity, and I will plant it in a protected location for now. I bought it based on its description and appearance, only to discover it will have beautiful scented blue flowers one day! The other is a member of the bulb family, so I know from experience that it can be divided and regrown year after year. It will make a great potted plant because it flowers intensely for a brief period. 

For a plant nerd, aka collector, like me, a botanical garden is a place of great beauty and wonderful discovery! It can also be a place of wondrous reward when offering up a bounty of beauty to members and guests through annual or bi-annual plant sales. If you enjoy plants as much as I do, I encourage you to frequent your local botanical gardens and to visit those in other areas to which you travel. Because I am often in Los Angeles to see family and friends, I frequently visit several lovely gardens there. The experiences for me have been rich and rewarding, varying by the season and the nature of plant growth during seasonal influences. I get lost in those gardens, I am inspired by those gardens and my soul is restored in those gardens! And I love a good sale, especially when it comes to plants!   

 

New Day, New Week, New Season . .

20 Monday Mar 2017

Posted by in Attitude, Contentment, Faith, Gratitude, Joy, Peace, Uncategorized

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A new day, a new week, a new season, this day represents a new start for so many reasons!  Actually, every day is a new start.  We needn’t believe only certain days are important or more meaningful. Every single day we breathe and have life is important, meaningful, and truly exciting for the potential it represents! It’s just our perspective and our attitude which enables that mindset!  Every morning, upon awakening, it is our choice to view the day ahead with dread, in our despair, with our worries, or by choice, with the eyes of gratitude!  

If we begin each new day with the sense of how very special a gift it is, for the renewal and possibility it represents, we cannot help but be more grateful, more appreciative and also more excited to see how it plays out!  Too many of us begin our present day with the remnants of utter dread or despair from something hanging over from our yesterdays or with the fearful threat of all the unknown of our tomorrows.  Looking backward or forward all the time causes us to neglect the here and now.  That habit also causes us to dwell almost continuously in guilt, shame, regret, fear, and worry rather than trusting calm and peace.  And now is really all we have, even if we want to cling to our regrets or wrap ourselves up in our fearful worries! 

Our propensity to dwell in the past, to hang onto days we can no longer change, or to constantly evoke our inner fears about what is yet to come, is often the source of a lot of our life’s pain! The past is over and done! We can go forward, but we cannot change what occurred back then. And we cannot know exactly what will happen tomorrow or years from now, so why do we give so much of our today thinking we do? We cheat today of its fullness and its promise because we aren’t present! We lock ourselves up in emotional prisons of our own making, focusing only on things we feel about our past or things we dread about our future. We must learn the faith-filled habit of trusting God for all of our days, especially for our today. His grace is enough for today, and tomorrow, His grace will be new and provide for us then.  God’s grace is the key which opens our self-made prison cells. If we turn to Him for our keeping, letting our yesterdays have less weight upon our souls and giving every tomorrow a rest until we actually encounter it, we can turn our emotions towards all that brings us peace and calm within!  

I know, some of you are doubtful! You’ve carried those weights and burdens so long, they are now your badges of honor! You should take comfort in that which you’ve overcome, and surely you should feel what you must as things occur, but you shouldn’t let your emotions from one moment in your life hold you hostage for the rest of your life! And the fears you have about what may be in the future cannot and should not take one moment of your joy and peace from today! 

Today is the new day, a new week has begun, and a new season lies ahead! But today is the day! As each day begins, remember to center yourself in the purposeful awareness of how special, important, meaningful and promising that day is! God gives us each day as a gift, even if we’ve never seen it that way!  Let us endeavor to celebrate each new day as it is, for what it is, and to show our gratitude by making today a priority over all other days past and future!  Spend some time right now wherever you are focusing on today.  And anytime you choose to focus on your gratitude, you add infinite value to your life!  Gratitude always evokes emotions within us which are more positive, uplifting, calming and joyful! Today’s the day, get at it!  

Strength in Weakness . .

16 Saturday Jul 2016

Posted by in Choices, Contentment, Faith, God, Inspiration, Lessons, Peace, Positivity, Strength

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Sometimes our prayers for healing or removing the burden which vexes us isn’t answered the way we would like because often the Lord uses what we endure and the burdens we carry to teach us more about ourselves and surely about Him than we would know without having that burden or enduring our woes. It’s not His will to make us miserable, but rather it is, in my opinion, His desire to have us draw closer to Him, to watch us overcome because of His help, and to rise higher than an affliction or a vexing situation.

strength from God

I’ve witnessed this in my own mother’s life for years. She has had to endure crippling arthritis in her hands especially, but also in most of her joints and throughout her body. But when I say crippling, I mean that in our estimation. Even though her hands, wrists and other joints are visibly altered, she hasn’t let it cripple her, nor has she let the bumps, inflamed joints, or alignment imperfections change a thing about her life! She worked as a nurse until she was 79, which was last year. She has been active, even until the present time. She has never let the pain I’m sure she has endured, given the mangled state of her fingers especially, stop her, nor has she languished in it with self-pity. I’m not saying this to declare her a saint, but rather to share her example in confirming this message. She has learned to not only live with her impairments and her ailment, but she has learned to live with it all with a good attitude and a peaceful acceptance! God didn’t heal her perhaps because He was able to show others through her that often what we mere humans believe about our limits is just false! And by not healing her, He was able to convince my mom that her life was still valuable and worthy of her peace of mind, her joy of spirit, her faith in Him and her contentment through it all. There are many people with much worse arthritis, who are much more crippled physically by it and other diseases, and those who have other really bad disorders or ailments through which to contend. This is by no means meant to disregard or disparage their pain, their situations, or the very real difficulties and challenges presented by their afflictions. I relate this as a means of suggesting that a lot of what we deem insurmountable is truly a source of strength, courage and an overcomer’s tenacity if we turn our perspective. 

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Paul, formerly Saul, who wrote several books of the New Testament, was also given such a measure – for which he too accepted the absence of healing as a means of showing God’s great glory and strength! From 2 Corinthians 12: 7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.  Take it from Paul, perhaps what you’ve been all-too-accepting as a weakness is really a source of great strength if you just choose to make it such!

An Easy Escape . .

18 Monday Apr 2016

Posted by in Attitude, Choices, Contentment, Escape, Gratitude, Happiness, Joy, Peace

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When we feel the pressures, stresses and fears of life pushing inward upon our souls as well as our spirits, we have only to seek out nature and a quiet calm surrender within it. When we don’t feed our spirits or our souls with the nutrients of life – the beauty and tranquility into which we can easily escape even for a moment – we deny ourselves an idyllic meditative and prayerful place. Yes, you may encounter imperfections in nature . . you may find yourself in a sneezing fit from flowers that are blooming, or you may find a critter scampering near you that startles you a bit, or you might feel vulnerable just from the sheer quiet. But in truth, I find nature no more or less threatening than the city streets clamoring with traffic and noise.  1_flickr_mathhew_paulson_embed

I escape to the quiet surrender of mountains, streams, deserts, ocean vistas, and meadows. I find such great delight in the quiet of a forest, the gentle lapping of a stream against rocks, the wind caressing the petals of wildflowers in a faraway meadow, the desert filled with cacti unique and surreal. These are the places we have near. For myself, I also have made an effort to surround the house in which I live with those same things . . variations in height for interest, trees to provide shade and shelter for wildlife, the greenery of all variations and types for a never-ending blending of leaves, colors and textures, cacti of all sorts, as well as plentiful flowers to bring scent and beauty with each new bloom. I also have added features with the sounds of water moving and a bird bath to attract nature’s visitors during all times of the year. My goal is to make my yard not only a sanctuary for many of nature’s creatures, but for anyone who is here! I still enjoy greatly my trips to surrounding mountains, streams, lakes, meadows, and wilderness, but at least I have some place to easily escape here too.   20140608-115131-42691870

It’s amazing to me, how even just a block from a major street, life can seem completely tranquil amidst the beauty of nature all around me! I would suggest to everyone who struggles with the stresses of life to create for themselves, even in a small space, a tranquil retreat, a quiet spot to just be . . for nature is an abundant resource for our pleasure! And escape to nature often too . . it awaits you somewhere not too far away! There you will find a great place to calm your nerves, soothe your spirit and to connect with the Creator.    Signature02

Do We Believe?

03 Wednesday Feb 2016

Posted by in Attitude, Choices, Contentment, Discipline, Faith, Freedom, Growing, Joy, Maturity, Wisdom

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I believe that part of the problem of our society today is that we don’t either believe we have to grow up, or we have doubts about the promises in which we have put our trust and faith. Do we believe what we say we do? Or do we spend too much time musing or too much energy fretting on the things we see happening around us here in this world? God is not faltering. He never fails us. Why do we persist in doing things for ourselves because we start to doubt Him? And why do we doubt Him just because things aren’t happening in the time frame or in the way we think they should?

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Rest, be at peace, remain content and joyful . . in spite of the world around you. For IF you believe, why would you be anything but trusting, faithful and peacefully content, resting in Him?! If we say we believe, do we then hold ourselves accountable for actually believing in Him more than the things of this world, ourselves, our own abilities or those of people around us? We either decide to grow up spiritually, letting God be God in our lives totally; or we live a life fraught with unease, worry, doubts and disappointments of our own making because we refuse to do what it takes to grow up spiritually!

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It is not an easy journey, for in growing up spiritually, we will have to let go of things which probably have served us and mean something to us. But the trade-off in our emotional control, as well as our sense of inner peace and joy, is worth all the effort and obedience such a choice requires! Not to mention the great joy we have in our obedient pursuit of growing nearer and falling more in love with the Lord! He’s not asking us to do anything to earn His love; but by our desire to show Him our love, we pursue a life devoted to Him. We can allow many precious days of our lives to be ruined by our own emotional storms, small and great. Do not spend too much time flitting between this world’s travails or in choosing to trust in the Father to take care of you. It is hard to live with one foot here and one foot firmly rooted with faith in Him. Take the leap of faith, fully plant your life totally in His loving care! You will be able to have more days of rest, contentment, peace and joy for the sake of having made that choice today!    Signature02