Be Careful What You Wish For

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This is a short chapter from my book My Precious Life. It just goes to show how sometimes our wishes do come true, one way or another. Happy Saturday.

Give Me a Break

I was overwhelmed trying to balance home, family, work and extra curricular activities. I prayed night and day to get a break from it all. I needed a rest.

While shopping one evening I spied a book titled Slow Me Down Lord. I promptly bought it, enjoyed reading it and made that my daily prayer.

Not long afterwards I slipped on the lunchroom floor at work and landed flat on my back. The pain! X-rays showed a fractured tailbone. Treatment? Stay off my feet and complete rest for two weeks! Doctor’s orders…or God’s?

As I settled into recuperation, a pile of good books at hand, I chuckled to God, “I asked you to slow me down, Lord, not put me out of commission.”

Two weeks of complete rest and relaxation renewed my spirit but the pain lingered for months.

Be careful what you pray for; God is always ready to answer….His way.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest….”Matthew 11:28

Free Vector | Cute girl falling down cartoon illustration

The Upside of Grief

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People all over the world die every day. But when it hits close to home death becomes different; personal, sadder, even poignant.

It happened to me this week. Two of my very close friends died within three days. One was a friend of fifty years and the other’s friendship entwined my life for sixty years.

I will miss these ladies and their enduring friendship very much to say the least. But I take comfort in the fact that they are now truly home. Yes, I do believe in life after death.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25,26

I also take comfort in knowing that my loss is God’s gain. And that’s the upside of grief.

Happy Sunday.

Come Saturday Morning

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When you hear the name Sandpiper, do you think of the bird or the singing trio who began their career in the mid-sixties? This morning I am thinking of the the three young men who released this song in 1970. It seems to fit this Saturday morning for me because it brings back a memory of my wedding day, May 8,1954. Even though it may be afternoon in other parts of the world it is still morning here in Canada. Happy Saturday.

It’s a New Day

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Every day is a new day if we get to live it. Being thankful for each new day is one of the best ways to show God our appreciation for it. I like to start my day with this lovely little prayer: “God, grant me the grace to live this day in your strength.” This way, no matter what the day holds, I feel empowered to meet it without further thought. Here are some messages from scripture on the subject.

This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

A new day will dawn on us from above because our God is loving and merciful. Luke 1:78

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22,23

Happy Sunday.

It's a New Day - LetterPile

A Change of Mind

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Have you ever wondered how you got mired in a certain way of thinking without giving it any thought?

It came to me one morning back in the eighties, when a scripture I had read or heard somewhere popped into my mind. “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind….” (Romans 12:2). I actually stopped what I was doing at the time and thought about what that might mean. And so I tried it. It meant monitoring the daily words that inhabited my mind, and choosing only the ones that could enhance my life rather than degrade it.

This is not a one-time exercise. It is an ongoing challenge, sorting thoughts, changing the words to speak, goofing up, and going back to the drawing board.

For instance, have you ever said to yourself, “I’m going to give so-and-so a piece of mind!” Well, you can bet your bottom dollar that that piece of your mind is not going to be a good piece.

In Isaiah 55:8 God said: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts…” Too bad, eh?

Happy Saturday.

More Powerful Words

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Our pastor recently mentioned a quote by Winston Churchill which made me think of the battle we are fighting in today’s world.

“Never was so much owed by so many to so few” was a wartime speech made by the British prime minister, Winston Churchill, in August 1940. He was referring to the pilots of the Royal Air Force, who fought so fiercely in the Battle of Britain. They were sorely outnumbered.

To me, this applies to all the front line workers who are too few for the too many who are suffering from the corona virus. Doctors, nurses, all medical and scientific personnel waging war against the battle of Covid, to save lives while risking their own.

As the RAF crews experienced victory in the past, may those on this new frontier experience the same victorious outcome as new battling words are spoken: “Mask up, keep a distance, wash your hands.”

“Never was so much owed by so many to so few.”

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The Power of Words

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When I hear or read the words of those who speak from the heart as well as the intellect, it always gives me pause to ponder and reflect. Following are words spoken by a President, a Civil Rights Leader, and a Poet. Each put their thoughts forward for the rest of us to think about. Pastor Duncan’s Sunday sermon included reference to these people and the power of their words and I can’t help but share it.

“Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” John F. Kennedy, U.S. President

“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.” Martin Luther King Jr. Minister and Social Rights activist.

“We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another” Amanda Gordon, Poet. Amanda recited these stirring words at President Biden’s inauguration.

Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Jesus in Sermon on the Mount

To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: Ecclesiastes 3:1

Today I am going to delve deeper into the power of words.

A Question of God’s Gender

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The question crops up periodically about the gender of God. We can see by Genesis 1:26 and 27 that God created man in his own image. He also created woman, presumably also in his image; (if not, why not?)

Genesis 1:26…And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them….(27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

We are told repeatedly in scripture that God is in us, Jesus is in us, Spirit is in us. In John 14:20 we read: In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

It is written that Jesus was born of Mary, a female and of the Spirit, supposedly male and therefore would encompass both.

We know we are born of a man and a woman, our mother and father, and therefore have both female and male in our makeup.

If we have both female and male in us and are born in God’s image, does that answer the question of God’s gender??

Happy Sunday.

Think Good Thoughts

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Most of us know that with this world-wide pandemic going on, along with other unrest of many kinds, it is sometimes difficult to hold good thoughts in our minds. I came across this long forgotten scripture the other day and will try to follow the timely advice it contains.

 Philippians 4:8: “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

May your day unfold peacefully as you think good thoughts.