Tag Archives: authors

Love Happens

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That’s the name of a movie I watched last night, starring Aaron Eckhart, Jennifer Aniston, and Martin Sheen, among others. It’s a romantic drama about an inspirational author who helps people deal with their grief after losing a loved one, while all the time harboring his own.

There were some offensive language issues to get past, but the plot was good, Jennifer was her usual relaxed and believable self, and Martin Sheen closed the decidedly moving movie with some gentle humor.

It is a movie that brought tears to my eyes, a smile to my face, and a few outright bursts of laughter. It is a feel good movie that I will definitely watch again.

This is not a review by any means…just another form of feeling the love. With Valentine’s Day just ahead, feeling the love is a good thing.

 

 

Gold Star Junkie

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downloadDo you like to be appreciated; to be told you’re doing a good job, to be loved for who you are?

I saw an interview with author Gretchen Rubin and Oprah Winfrey last night. Gretchen wrote The Happiness Project, a book about creating your own happiness by concentrating on what you can change in your life to make happiness a reality rather than a longing.

The following are some of the helpful hints mentioned in the book:

Be yourself (authentic)

Let it go (the garbage we carry)

Act the way you want to feel (sing in the morning)

Be polite and be fair (respect others)

Don’t be calculating (don’t expect return favors)

There is only love (love is the tonic)

Oprah asked Gretchen if she liked to be praised (don’t we all?) and Gretchen’s response was, “Oh yes! I’m a gold star junkie. I loved to see those gold stars on the top of my homework when I was a child.”

Someone once said to me, “You only like to hear good things.” Well, yes, I do. It makes me happy to hear good things. It makes me happy to be appreciated, to be truly loved for who I am. But it makes me happier to see others happy and to help contribute to their happiness in any small way.

While visiting someone in hospital, she made this remark, “It makes me happy to see your face.” Gold Star!

Yup, I’m a gold star junkie…and a gold star goes to all who read this blog.

Words to Live By

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Words have a way of wandering around my mind and looking for a place to plant themselves. That is when I grab paper, pen, pencil or keyboard and let them have their way.

I love words. They can decorate a plain piece of paper with wisdom, advice, humor, sorrow, poetry, profanity, romance, love…and tragedy. I heard these words of advice on CBC Radio One yesterday, from a call-in listener. The topic was the Syrian refugees and the photo of the little three-year-old boy who washed up on a shore in Turkey, from a capsized boat which would hopefully lead to a new life here in Canada.

The radio host lamented the fact that we don’t always pay close attention to world events until something like the plight of this innocent child brings us to attention…that we fail to take action when and where it is needed. The caller then made this comment: “Don’t look back at what you didn’t do in the past…look forward to what you can do now.” Words. Words to think by, words to feel by, words to act by, words to live by.

Words come in many languages, are spoken by many tongues, are heard by many ears, are written by many authors, poets, laymen, and preachers.

It is also written…In the beginning was the Word…

Word for word, those are words to live by.

Call on the Power Inherent in You

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Deep within us is a vast reservoir of untapped power waiting to be used…so wrote Norman Vincent Peale. I also wrote about this power within in my poem, All Things Are Possible, in 1984: to wit, all goals can be reached, all dreams can come true, when you call on the Power inherent in you. 

Here are a few Biblical points on power:

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. (2 Timothy 1:7 NIV)

A wise man has great power...(Proverbs 24:5 NIV)

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you…(Acts 1:8 NIV)

…I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you….(Romans 9:17 NIV)

And then there is this poem which I wrote in 1998:

THE POWER OF YOU

If you would be more powerful

release your ego

let it soar

let the roar of you subside,

look inside,

see the power of you

released

to empower others.

©1998

Empowering others does not decrease our own power, but on the contrary, seems to enhance it so that we are ready at a moment’s notice to boost those in need of a surge.

Go ahead, call on The Power.

 

 

 

 

 

My Precious Life – Book and Blog

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Product DetailsYesterday, My Precious Life, the blog, realized ten-thousand views. That is something I never dreamed of when I started blogging in April of last year. This is blog number two-hundred-and-ninety-nine, and let me take this opportunity to thank all who have followed My Precious Life and thereby contributed to its success.

As happy as I am with this accomplishment, it would bring even more happiness to have these numbers translate into book sales.

Here is a brief overview of the book for those who have not read it yet:

Pain and poverty paved the way to peace and spiritual prosperity in the life of the author, Patricia Ann Boyes, ordinary person.

In this memoir she takes us from a three-year-old child witnessing her mother’s brutal beatings, to a seventeen-year-old suffering the throes of childbirth; through a bitter marriage breakdown, and on to new love, entrepreneurship, and a battle with cancer. 

This memoir will not compare with that of the rich and famous or with the extraordinary drama of the Malalas of the world, but it may compare in some ways with the lives of other ordinary people who also have a story to tell, lessons to learn, and obstacles to overcome.

It’s a story of believing God’s promises and learning life’s lessons.

Someone once said, “Don’t die with your words or your music still in you.”

The author has taken this advice.

I also took the advice of Jeremiah 30:2 “Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you.”

The book may be purchased online or by ordering from a local book store. It is available in soft or hard cover and e-book.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_n_5?fst=as%3Aoff&rh=n%3A3048891%2Ck%3AMy+Precious+Life&keywords=My+Precious+Life&ie=UTF8&qid=1435275694&rnid=2941120011

http://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=node%3D934986&field-keywords=my+precious+life&rh=n%3A934986%2Ck%3Amy+precious+life

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=node%3D67&field-keywords=my+precious+life

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/my-precious-life?keyword=my+precious+life&store=book

Thank you and happy reading.

Just Say Yes

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Here is an excerpt from his book, “The Quest of Character” by Charles R. Swindoll. It was brought to my attention by the late Rev. Frank Conkey, a former pastor of my church, and later a guest pastor upon occasion.

“As the pages of the calendar turn, and turn again, we’re reminded of the Lord’s power to change the times and the seasons. Brisk blustery days replace hot, still ones. Flowers grace the fields and then fade away. Leaves bud on naked limbs, open wide to the summer breeze then die in a flame of color. Take time today to rejoice in God’s presence as you acknowledge his right to bring change into your life. Are you sensitive to his working? Are you listening? Are you available and open to change? Tell him today.”

Just say yes. “Yes, Lord, I am listening and I am open; let me hear your word.”

Here too, is an excerpt of a prayer by Rev. Conkey:

“We pray for men and women in middle life who handle adjustments wisely and skillfully, who not only enjoy success but carry defeats and losses with courage; for older persons who keep youthful in spirit and vision, and have steadfast faith in you.”

These writings came to me at a challenging time in my life and were very apropos. By listening and being open to change, we are able to make transitions in our lives with less difficulty.

Are you sensitive to His working? Are you listening? Are you available and open to change?

Just say yes.

For I Know the Plans I Have for You

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Have you read that verse in Jeremiah? Have you believed the promise of it? To me it is one of the most exciting verses in the Bible.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13

In my case I had called upon Him and prayed to Him before I knew anything about this verse. Although His plans were in place for me before I was born, they only became apparent to me in hindsight. But now that I know there are plans for my life it is exciting to live in the expectation of them.

It is a sure thing that my book, My Precious Life, was one of those plans. Another verse, Jeremiah 30:2 “Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you” was the message that prompted the book.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord…what a promise!

 

Soul Searching

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My soul has always held a deep fascination for me because I can never quite grasp the full concept of it. Therefore, I’m taking a six week course called Soul Keeping. It is based on a book by John Ortberg, pastor, writer, and speaker in Menlo Park, California.

Last night his video touched on a passage from Dallas Willard’s book, Renovation of the Heart:

“Our soul is like an inner stream of water, which gives strength, direction and harmony to every other element of our life. When that stream is as it should be, we are constantly refreshed and exuberant in all we do because our soul itself is then profusely rooted in the vastness of God and his kingdom, including nature; and all else within us is enlivened and directed by that stream. Therefore we are in harmony with God, reality, and the rest of human nature and nature at large.”

I also learned that the four parts of a human being are soul, body, mind, will. The soul encompasses the other three parts and the course goes into each of these aspects of our being. I was aware of these four parts but unsure of their order.

This course promises to be a very good learning experience and may give me the answers to my soul searching.

 

On Positivity

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A positive thinker does not refuse to recognize the negative; we refuse to dwell on it. Positive thinking is a form of thought which habitually looks for the best results from the worst conditions. Norman Vincent Peale.

I’m not positive, but I think thinking positive is positively the only way to think. Unknown source.

Have a positive weekend. 🙂